THAT’S A TAD TIMELY
Sparky hails Dusan double to give Saints hope
DUSAN TADIC gave struggling Saints hope of beating the drop with two gift-wrapped goals that brought Mark Hughes his first win since taking charge.
Mind you, if Southampton couldn’t win this one – given two goals that might as well have been tied up with red-and-white ribbons – they really should be booking their trips around the Championship.
But a side, which had thrown away six points from winning positions against Arsenal and Chelsea, showed they had learned some lessons.
However, Bournemouth boss Eddie Howe was left cursing as his team were left with one defender facing three attackers, following their own corner.
And then Steve Cook’s loose control – after trying to chest the ball down, instead of simply heading it away – made life all too easy for Serbian striker Tadic.
“It’s difficult to say what we deserved because I was so disappointed with our performance,” said Howe.
“The game was there for us, but we wasted the ball and made too many bad decisions.”
Whatever the scale of the gifts, you couldn’t criticise the quality of Tadic’s finishing.
And it made it all the harder to understand why the Serb had managed only four league goals all season before his double strike yesterday.
Left on his own, as Nathan Redmond and Mario Lemina broke away from Bournemouth’s corner after 25 minutes, he rifled his shot clinically beyond the reach of Asmir Begovic.
And the second, nine minutes after the break, was just as ruthless.
This time, he picked the ball up from Cook’s error and ran on his own for 30 yards before drilling it firmly into the bottom corner.
“Dusan was a player I’d always admired,” said Hughes (above).
“But, since working with him, I have been really impressed with his quality, his desire and his professionalism around the group.
“I’m pleased he’s starting to have this impact – it was a huge result and he has played a big part.
“You saw the reaction at the end, it was massive for everybody.
“This isn’t an easy situation and there’s a lot to do, but it was a big step in trying to make sure this club stays in the Premier League.”
Until that first goal, the game had been tight, with Bournemouth almost edging in front when youngster Jan Bednarek turned Lys Mousset’s cross an inch the right side – from his point of view – of the post.
But, once they got their noses in front, Saints should have scored more, with Begovic needing to produce good saves to keep out Charlie Austin then Lemina.
But a side that hadn’t won for so long were always going to be vulnerable – and right on halftime they made mistakes of their own. Lewis Cook’s corner was met by Steve Cook, whose header found Josh King completely unmarked at the back post to equalise.
Bournemouth really should have kicked on from there, but, instead, Cook’s mistake handed the momentum back to the home team and, for once, they clung on to keep the points.
“I will never criticise individual players for mistakes,” said Cherries boss Howe.
“You do ask players to take responsibility, if you want to play a football-based game and pass the ball – and sometimes that brings mistakes.
“Steve has been outstanding in the last few weeks and that is part and parcel of the game.
“Then it is about how your team-mates recover to help you out from that and, on this occasion, we weren’t able to.
“As for the first goal, well, we have looked vulnerable from our own set-plays and that is something we need to go away and reflect on.”