Ruthless double from Tadic keeps Saints’ dream alive
DUSAN TADIC’s double in this south coast derby gave a colossal boost to Southampton’s hopes of staving off relegation.
Manager Mark Hughes is justified in taking his share of the credit, too. Southampton were a sinking ship when he took over in March, and losing his first three league games in charge was hardly the start he will have hoped for. But four points from six has Saints fans believing.
‘There’s still a lot of work to do, but I think we all understood the significance of the result, it was vital we got maximum points,’ Hughes said.
‘This was huge for everybody. It’s not an easy situation to be in, we are all aware of our responsibility.’
Bournemouth went into the clash against their local rivals knowing that they are virtually certain of remaining a Premier League club next season.
And Hughes’ men looked nervy from the outset. Jan Bednarek appeared to suffer from the jitters more than most, the defender — under no pressure — nearly firing Lys Mousset’s cross into his own net in the 10th minute.
Slowly, though, Saints gathered themselves before making a 25th-minute breakthrough. If they’d been this ruthless all season, then they wouldn’t be in their current predicament.
Within seconds of defending a Ryan Fraser cross, Southampton countered, Nathan Redmond and, in particular, Mario Lemina deserving much of the credit, the Gabon international’s perfectly timed pass allowing Tadic to stroke past Asmir Begovic. The execution of the breakaway was cut-throat. St Mary’s was rocking.
Southampton could easily have extended their lead if it wasn’t for Begovic, who produced excellent stops from Charlie Austin and Lemina.
But when you’re in a relegation battle, life has a way of putting you in your place, with a bump. It wasn’t as if Southampton weren’t warned. Alex McCarthy produced an excellent pointblank stop to deny Nathan Ake, who skilfully turned Maya Yoshida in the 44th minute.
And then Bournemouth levelled in injury time at the end of the first-half, Josh King firing home at the back post after Simon Francis header from Fraser’s corner.
Credit to Hughes’ men, they mustered the most emphatic of ripostes to regain the lead inside 10 minutes of the restart.
From Bournemouth defender Steve Cook’s perspective, it was a disaster — his attempt to chest McCarthy’s punt upfield was almost comical.
Tadic’s cold-blooded execution to punish the mistake certainly had the Saints supporters laughing, the Serbian driving into the area before arrowing his shot past Begovic.
Had the Bournemouth keeper not made saves from Shane Long and Lemina, the hosts may have been spared the nervous finale.
Likewise, had Lemina and Long not been wasteful after Francis’ suicidal pass deep inside his own half, then Hughes wouldn’t have spent the final minutes anxiously pacing his technical area.
Wesley Hoedt produced an excellent last-ditch challenge to deny substitute Jermain Defoe in the 77th minute, before McCarthy produced another great stop, this time from Fraser in the final minute.
You can imagine the reaction in the stands and on the touchline when the fourth official signalled five minutes of added time. And you can imagine the reaction when referee Anthony Taylor blew the final whistle.