Rare Saints win cuts Pardew further adrift
RELIEF for Mauricio Pellegrino as Southampton won in the Premier League for the first time since November. Disaster for Alan Pardew as West Bromwich Albion suffered a defeat that cut them further adrift at the bottom of the table.
The Baggies had wished this match would prove a fitting tribute to Cyrille Regis, who was remembered movingly before kick-off, but as the final whistle sounded the desperate stares by Pardew’s players told a story.
West Brom are now four points behind their nearest rival and Pardew is dealing with an injury list that features seven firstteamers. Those absences led to a subdued performance, which drained away the positivity that had accumulated from wins over Liverpool and Brighton.
Southampton, however, were jubilant having ended a 12-game winless run in the League to move up to 14th.
‘I think it’s a really important win for us in many respects,’ said Pellegrino. ‘For the belief and confidence in what we can do on the pitch and to reinforce our identity.
‘When you don’t have good results, everyone is under criticism. But I try to persuade my players that our identity is to play with the ball, on the floor, and to create space. Today was really difficult, we suffered until the end. But we deserved to win.’
Pardew was without some major players, including Jonny Evans and Grzegorz Krychowiak, while he rested Jay Rodriguez after Wednesday’s efforts at Manchester City. Daniel Sturridge was given his full debut, but the move didn’t come off.
‘They looked fresher than us,’ said Pardew. ‘We were a little bit off the pace.’ He dismissed the idea the emotion of the day affected his players. ‘I don’t think we’re going to lean on that at all,’ he said. ‘I saw Cyrille’s family beforehand and it was a tremendous honour.
‘The lads said it was a little bit quiet but that didn’t really affect us. The early goal affected us more — it made us defend it at times.’
West Brom scored after four minutes when Ahmed Hegazi headed in a corner by Chris Brunt, but then failed to build on the platform and Southampton led by half-time.
Their first goal came from a corner after Ben Foster had reacted superbly to tip Guido Carrillo’s volley round the post. Sofiane Boufal passed to Mario Lemina, who took advantage of West Brom’s sluggish attempts to close him down by unleashing a rocket of a shot that flew into the top corner.
The visitors went ahead two minutes before the interval. This time James Ward-Prowse sent a corner into the middle where Jack Stephens guided a header into the far corner.
Ward-Prowse then stepped up himself to increase Southampton’s advantage with a good free-kick. He had done well to earn the right to take it in the first place, wrestling the ball off a determined Boufal.
When Ward-Prowse hit his effort low and past Foster, Boufal gave a conciliatory smile and ran to celebrate.
Pardew sent on Rodriguez and Oliver Burke and his side gained hope when Salomon Rondon closed the gap with 18 minutes to play. Brunt delivered another excellent cross from out wide and Rondon made connection with his shoulder to divert the ball in. But the West Brom fightback ended there.
WEST BROM (4-4-2): Foster 6; Dawson 6.5, McAuley 6, Hegazi 6.5, Nyom 5 (McClean 77min); Phillips 6.5, Barry 7, Yacob 5 (Burke 62, 6), Brunt 7.5; Sturridge 6.5 (Rodriguez 62, 6), Rondon 7. Subs (not used): Myhill, Field, Harper, Jameson. Booked: Phillips, Barry. SOUTHAMPTON (4-2-3-1): McCarthy 6.5; Soares 6.5, Stephens 6.5, Hoedt 7, Bertrand 7; Lemina 7.5, Romeu 7; Ward-Prowse 8, Tadic 7 (Redmond 88), Boufal 7 (Hojbjerg 85); Carrillo 6 (Long 75). Subs (not used): Forster, Yoshida, Davis, Gabbiadini. Booked: Bertrand. Referee: M Oliver 7.