Southampton 1-3 AFC Bournemouth: Cherries win at St Mary’s for the first time and climb to third

Southampton’s unbeaten run was ended on Friday evening as Bournemouth won at St Mary’s for the first time by a scoreline of 3-1.

First-half goals from Nathan Ake and Harry Wilson saw Eddie Howe’s side go into half-time with a good lead, and Callum Wilson’s third in stoppage-time rounded off the victory.

A James Ward-Prowse penalty helped Saints to fight back in the second-half but their efforts would ultimately go unrewarded.

Saints made a bright start and had the first half-chance of the game through James Ward-Prowse, but they went behind in the simplest of circumstances.

Bournemouth won a corner that was whipped in accurately towards the penalty spot by Diego Rico and Nathan Ake rose highest to nod a soft header inside the near post.

Following the open stages, Bournemouth seemed to be dealing with the Saints system well and thought they had a second after a quick counter attack.

Josh King was put through on goal on the left and curled a perfect finish into the far corner of Angus Gunn’s goal, but it was eventually ruled out by VAR with the forward’s boot offside when the ball was played to him.

As it was though, this didn’t cost Eddie Howe’s side too much as they duly doubled their lead after 35 minutes.

Midfielder Philip Billing broke through and cut a low cross back towards the centre of the area where Harry Wilson took full advantage of slow Saints defending to turn home.

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Nathan Redmond went close to getting a reply before half-time with a stinging effort from range but Saints went into the break with a sizeable deficit to turn around in the second-half.

Ralph Hasenhuttl sent natural left-back on in place of Kevin Danso as the teams reemerged and James Ward-Prowse went close as he turned a shot over from Cedric’s cross with the first chance of the second period.

However, he wouldn’t be denied his goal for long.

Che Adams raced towards the Bournemouth goal and was taken out by a late challenge from Steve Cook in the area, giving Chris Kavanagh no choice but to award a penalty.

Ward-Prowse stepped up confidently having never missed spot-kick for Saints and dispatched powerfully; sending the Aaron Ramsdale the wrong way.

Whatever Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl had said to his players in the dressing room at half-time had worked and they pushed hard for the equaliser in the remainder of the game.

Sofiane Boufal went close twice in a strong showing for him again, whilst Nathan Redmond was unlucky to see his volley blocked well inside the area.

However, as Saints pushed forward at the end, Bournemouth got their third through Callum Wilson.

The England striker took full advantage of a mix up between Angus Gunn and Jan Bednarek and had the simple task of rolling into an empty net in front of the joyous travelling support.

Saints team

Angus Gunn, Kevin Danso (Ryan Bertrand 46), Jannik Vestergaard, Jan Bednarek, Cedric Soares, Oriol Romeu, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, James Ward-Prowse, Sofiane Boufal, Nathan Redmond (Stuart Armstrong 87), Che Adams (Danny Ings 76)

Subs not used: Shane Long, Maya Yoshida, Alex McCarthy, Jack Stephens

Bournemouth team

Aaron Ramsdale, Jack Stacey, Steve Cook, Nathan Ake, Diego Rico, Philip Billing, Jefferson Lerma, Josh King (Andrew Surman 90+2), Harry Wilson (Ryan Fraser 62), Dominic Solanke (Lewis Cook 76), Callum Wilson

Subs not used: Chris Mepham, Jack Simpson, Artur Boruc, Jordon Ibe