Brighton 0-1 Southampton: Saints win it late through Austin header
By Chris Hughes
It took longer than many Southampton fans would’ve liked, but the Saints have their first win of the season courtesy of a late winner from Charlie Austin.
The Southampton forward was brought on with less than ten minutes to go after Manolo Gabbiadini enjoyed a difficult evening at the AMEX – a teasing cross from Nathan Redmond was perfectly met by Austin, who scored his first of the season with the strike.
Mark Hughes heavily rotated his side from the 2-1 loss to Leicester City at the weekend, with Steven Davis, Angus Gunn and Matt Targett all making their first appearances of the campaign whilst Jack Stephens deputized for Cedric at right-back.
Chris Hughton brought in some fresh faces following the 1-0 defeat to Liverpool offering starts for three Under-23 players whilst also bringing in Jurgen Locadia and Alireza Jahanbakhsh for their first starts of the campaign.
Next. Southampton 1-2 Leicester: Player ratings. dark
Despite a positive start to the encounter that saw Mohamed Elyounoussi have his effort saved by David Button, the first-half was without much action. The aforementioned Jahanbakhsh sent a stinging effort just over Gunn’s crossbar whilst Stuart Armstrong was lively for the away side, having his own attempt late in the first 45.
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In the second-half Hughes switched things up as Sam Gallagher came off the bench for his first appearance of the campaign, replacing Oriol Romeu as the Saints played two-up top for the last 20 minutes.
Playing in their infamous double-red third kit, Hughes brought on both Austin and Redmond as one last roll of the dice, in order to avoid a direct penalty shootout that would follow after full-time.
Redmond was lively upon his introduction and it was him who supplied the cross for Austin in the 88th minute, playing a nice ball in off of the left-flank which Austin nodded goal-wards – it got a touch off of Button but it wasn’t enough to deflect it wide.
The Saints are through to the third round as a result having been knocked out at this stage but Wolves last season.
The draw will take place of Thursday night as the Saints will find out their opponents for the next round.