Southampton: Hasenhuttl delighted with Saints display at Burnley

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl was delighted with his side’s performance in their 1-0 win at Burnley on Saturday evening.

Saints had to put in a strong defensive showing to hold onto the precious three points at Turf Moor and their pressing was much better throughout the whole game this time around.

Danny Ings provided the match-winning moment with Saints’ only shot on target but, as Hasenhuttl emphasises, this was more about the way his players fought for their first win of the season.

Speaking to southamptonfc.com after the game, the Austrian said:

"“It’s difficult to play here. I think we had a very good performance tonight, especially against the ball and out of possession. We defended a lot but deserved to win. We still can do it better; the pressure was getting up and up in the second half.“Yes, the goal was absolutely fantastic play. The deep run from Che was fantastic and the pass back in the area, fantastic goal from us. The work against the ball from the strikers was amazing and that was absolutely needed today.”"

Having been exposed at the back against Spurs last time out, it was good to see Saints respond well and a number of individuals put in performances to prove their worth to the team.

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Jannik Vestergaard was brought into the centre of defence as Jack Stephens dropped out and the Dane put in one of his best showings in a Saints shirt to date.

He and Jan Bednarek stopped the crosses and direct passes into striker Chris Wood superbly – stopping the main threat that Burnley feed off of at source.

The pressing of the front four of Danny Ings, Che Adams, Moussa Djenepo and Stuart Armstrong also helped in this respect because the Burnley defence and midfield did not have the time to pick their passes – the complete opposite to the freedom Spurs had at St Mary’s last weekend.

Another player who put things right was Oriol Romeu. The Spaniard had looked out of sorts since the start of the season but patrolled brilliant in front of the back four on Saturday and kept possession well when Saints needed to kill time.

After three straight losses before this game, this was certainly a big step in the right direction and confidence will be high ahead of a meeting with West Brom in six days time.