Brighton 0-1 Southampton: Saints claim another huge win in bid for survival
By Marc Walker
Southampton claimed another huge win in their bid for Premier League survival with a narrow 1-0 victory over Brighton on Saturday.
The game at the AMEX Stadium proved a real battle between two determined sides but a second-half strike from Saints captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg saw the visitors take a crucial three points.
Ahead of the game, Jannik Vestergaard – who had perhaps gone under the radar as part of a solid back three for Saints – dropped out of Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side through injury and that saw a change of system.
Hasenhuttl was renowned for playing a 4-2-2-2 in Germany and that seemed to be how Saints were lining up with Danny Ings and Stuart Armstrong coming in for Vestergaard and Charlie Austin.
The first shot in anger of the afternoon came courtesy of Nathan Redmond after 19 minutes.
Next. Saints Women's team enjoying superb first season. dark
More from Saints Marching
- Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 2: Arrivals
- Grading the Southampton Transfer Window Part 1: Departures
- It’s time to talk about Gavin Bazunu
- Rain clouds on the horizon? Southampton beat Plymouth Argyle
- A lament for Southampton legend James Ward-Prowse
After driving at his marker and working some space, he tested Matt Ryan with a fierce strike that was well dealt with by the home ‘keeper at his near post.
Most of the pressure was coming from Saints but chances were really at a premium for both sides in the first-half.
The best opening of the first period was presented to Danny Ings as he collected a pass from Stuart Armstrong and shot low, but a last ditch block from Bernardo saw the game stay level at 0-0.
One final chance for Redmond went wide before the break but it would be goalless at half-time, meaning Saints would have to take advantage of their opportunities and continue to keep Brighton’s attacks from hurting them to get the result they wanted.
Just eight minutes into the second-half and the deadlock was broken by Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg.
Fresh from netting for Denmark over the international break, the Saints captain received the ball from Redmond when breaking into the box and provided the perfect finish to a brutal counter-attack.
Having had the best of the game until that point, it was inevitable that Saints would face a backlash from Brighton though.
The hosts were inches away from getting back on level terms as Martin Montoya tried his luck from range and saw his effort crash back off the crossbar with Angus Gunn well beaten.
Despite having a potentially crucial lead, Saints were looking vulnerable and didn’t seem to have much to work with to get themselves forward.
However, they seem to have been able to rid their former bad trait of conceding late goals under Hasenhuttl and they held on for yet another three points.
They move onto 33 points and now have a cushion of five to Cardiff inside the bottom three, whilst results going against Huddersfield condemned them to top-flight relegation.