Ralph: My best Saints game... the belief is back OPEN AND ‘HUTT CASE
RALPH HASENHUTTL claimed this James Ward-prowse-inspired victory was the best game of his reign so far.
England international Ward-prowse’s stunning long-range strike and a Lucas Digne own-goal helped Hasenhuttl’s Southampton heroes pull further clear of the relegation dogfight.
Hasenhuttl, who has now taken 13 points from eight games in charge, said: “‘I am absolutely happy. I think it’s the best performance so far since I am here as a manager.
“You can see that everyone believes in what we are doing and that it’s only a question of time before we start to score and start to grab the wins.
“It’s unbelievable how much the players worked in this 98 minutes. The fans appreciate what they are doing.”
Saints had gone 11 matches without a victory prior to Hasenhuttl’s appointment but look a different proposition now.
There were clear chances for Danny Ings and Nathan Redmond in the first half and it took until three minutes into the second half for the visitors to call Saints goalkeeper Alex Mccarthy into action.
Gylfi Sigurdsson thumped the ball goalwards and Mccarthy flung himself to his right to turn it behind for a corner. There was no stopping Ward-prowse’s 20-yard screamer seven minutes later which left Jordan Pickford stranded as Saints finally made their dominance tell.
Hasenhuttl added: “‘I asked James to be more aggressive against the ball.
“He’s a good footballer which we all knew. He scored a fantastic goal.”
Southampton doubled their lead when Digne’s desperate last-ditch challenge to deny Redmond – who had been played through by the lively Ings – sent the ball into his own net.
Pickford kept out Shane Long’s half volley 10 minutes from time before Sigurdsson’s goal in stoppage-time set up a nervy finish for the home side.
The Icelander fired home from the edge of the penalty area but Saints, who threw away a 2-0 lead in Wednesday’s FA Cup replay defeat to Derby, held firm.
The Toffees remain in the bottom half of the table and boss Marco Silva admitted: “I don’t think we deserved the three points.
“It is our challenge to be more consistent, and we came here to try and achieve a positive result. They were more aggressive than us, with the ball and without.”