Southampton: Hasenhuttl on why Saints performance vs Villa was “perfect”

Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl revealed why he thought his side’s showing against Aston Villa on Saturday was “perfect”.

Saints eventually claimed the game’s three points after securing a 2-0 win courtesy of goals from Shane Long and Stuart Armstrong at opposite ends of the 90 minutes.

The hosts seemed to make things harder than they needed to be after missing a number of good chances, but Hasenhuttl seemed pleased by his player’s application in getting a rare home victory.

Speaking to skysports.com after the match, the Austrian said:

"“I asked everybody to make St Mary’s a fortress again and the only way is for us to have the responsibility to show up and create chances all the time, to play quick in behind. This was a perfect performance from everybody.”"

He is certainly correct in saying that his side created a lot of chances throughout the afternoon.

Saints had 28 shots, with nine of those going on target and two producing the all important goals that won the game.

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The fact that the goals scored were rather unorthodox and that some of the best chances weren’t taken may concern Hasenhuttl a little.

Danny Ings and Jack Stephens probably felt that they could have done better with opportunities that came their way, but it would surely be more of a concern if Saints stopped creating at all.

Some really nice football was played during the game and further goals for Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg and Che Adams were only denied by good blocks or saves.

Rather than the performance as a whole, Hasenhuttl’s comments seem to be referring to the relief of his players being able to grind out a precious win on home turf.

This result sees them move 10 points clear of the bottom three and move back within touching distance of the top half.

Three defeats from four league games before last weekend had seen Saints hit a little rut, but getting this latest victory in front of their home fans can perhaps relieve some pressure.

This coming Saturday sees Saints head to West Ham at what seems a perfect time, with the Hammers looking in real trouble and Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men just beginning to get back to playing their best football again.