Digne howler hands Saints victory
SCORING an own goal from 20 yards takes some doing. Step forward Lucas Digne.
Southampton’s fully-deserved victory over Everton yesterday provided their survival hopes with a huge shot in the arm. But this clash will only ever be remembered for one thing.
You couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the Everton defender. This was almost comical.
Inadvertently turning the ball towards his own goal after chasing down Nathan Redmond, you expected the ball to roll past the post or be comfortably saved by Jordan Pickford.
It did neither, the ball somehow nestling between the England No1’s outstretched right hand and the post to provide what turned out to be the winner. Digne could try it 100 times and couldn’t replicate it once. Sheer bad luck.
Not that Ralph Hasenhuttl had any sympathy. His team were well worth their 2-1 win, his fourth Premier League victory in eight since taking charge at the start of December.
It’s worth noting Mark Hughes managed just three in 22 games in charge before his sacking in November.
Just outside St Mary’s there’s an advertising hoarding that reads ‘Welcome to Ralphampton’. Absolutely.
‘It was the best performance since being here,’ the Austrian said. ‘We try to put everything on the pitch and I think the fans appreciate that.’
As for Marco Silva, it’s back to the drawing board. Two wins in 10 Premier League games doesn’t make pleasurable reading. But the Toffees boss can have no complaints, his side were well below par here at St Mary’s.
Silva said: ‘The own goal was one more thing that went wrong today. It was an important moment in the match because it helped them to play on the counter attack.
‘It’s not a normal goal but they were more aggressive with and without a ball. They deserve the three points.’
In truth, Everton should have been dead and buried by halftime. James Ward-Prowse and Danny Ings squandered early chances before Everton forward Ademola Lookman was denied by Jan Bednarek’s excellent block. Ings was denied again by Pickford in the 27th minute before Southampton twice hit the post before half time. Hasenhuttl may have been wracking his brains trying to remember whether he’d walked under a ladder or whether he’d encountered a black cat during the week. Had Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy not produced a brilliant stop to deny Gylfi Sigurdsson’s bullet header from Digne’s cross in the 48th minute then the afternoon could have ended differently. But two minutes later Southampton took a deserved lead, Ward-Prowse driving at the heart of Everton’s defence
before smashing his effort past Pickford from 20 yards.
And the Toffees sank to even greater depths in the 64th minute. Redmond wheeled away as if he’d doubled Saints’ advantage. He even had the St Mary’s PA announcer fooled. But replays confirm this was Digne’s moment to forget.
Surely a contender for the most bizarre own goal all season. Not that Hasenhuttl was bothered. Another three points, another step towards safety.
Sigurdsson slotted home in the 90th minute to set up a grandstand finish but anything other than a Southampton win would have been a travesty.