Despite piling on the pressure late, Southampton lost once again, falling 2-1 to an off-form Stoke City thanks to goals from Mame Diouf and Peter Crouch.
It was the former Saint who typically come back to haunt his former side, as Southampton lost their third game in four at the hands of Stoke City.
Peter Crouch’s 85th minute tap-in turned out to be the decider, as Virgil van Dijk’s first start in nine months was ruined by a plucky Stoke side.
Despite being without Jese Rodriguez, Mark Hughes was able to field several players who were nursing knocks, with Kevin Wimmer and Geoff Cameron making Stoke’s defense much more sturdy.
The Potters’ win takes them level on points with the Saints thanks to a tally of eight, that sees them 13th with Mauricio Pellegrino’s side above them in 12th.
Another loss has seen fans start to call for the Argentinian’s scalp, after just two wins and five goals from seven games so far this campaign.
Xherdan Shaqiri proved to be the danger-man early on, creating chances and being the main catalyst of Stoke’s attacks. It was the Swiss winger’s cross that found Mame Diouf in the 40th minute – his header powered past a scrambling Fraser Forster.
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The big man between the sticks then redeemed himself somewhat however, by saving Sadio Berahino’s spot-kick just a few minutes later. It was the returning Virgil van Dijk who gave away the penalty.
Southampton finally got back into the game in the second half and brought themselves level through an impressive volley from Maya Yoshida after a cross was deflected into his path. It bounced in of the crossbar.
And despite bringing Manolo Gabbiadini on to play at the same time as Shane Long, Southampton couldn’t get themselves ahead and it came back to punish them, as substitute Peter Crouch pounced late on.
With just five minutes to go the former Saint scored a tap-in to decide to fate of the fixture, which condemned Mauricio Pellegrino to back-to-back league defeats for the first time.
Next up for Southampton – after the international break – are Newcastle United on the 15th October.