Southampton relieved the pressure on boss Ralph Hasenhuttl with their first win in six games against south-coast rivals Bournemouth, who lost for the first time under interim manager Gary O’Neil.
It is hard to remember a time when pressure was not on Hasenhuttl, who has been in charge of the Saints since December 2018, but his side seem to grind out results when required and this was another example of that.
Che Adams’ first-half glancing header, after a left-wing cross from full-back Romain Perraud, was their first away goal in four games and ultimately proved enough as the Saints won for the first time since 30 August.
Hasenhuttl later said: “I am a proud man. I am proud for the boys for the effort they put in and this time we were absolutely ready for this win and the clean sheet. I think we deserved it today because we did a very good job.
“We analysed the last game very well and what was the problem after taking the lead and we tried to be a bit braver. You could see the confidence. All the things that we tried today worked, from the set-up, to the game plan, to the subs. Everything was perfect today I must say.
“It is big for us all – the fans and the teams. It is a good step in the right direction for us before a tough game at the weekend against Arsenal. We have shown we are able to win games.
“We have quality in the squad. We didn’t give a lot of chances away today and we had a few more chances to get a second goal and if we could it would have been calmer at the end. We showed patience on the ball and that is key to winning games.
“The work from our side never chances, we always focus on every game no matter how much pressure we have. That is the best way to do, focus on every part of the game you want to improve. We had a good meeting on Monday about the improvements we wanted to make from Sunday and the response from the team was perfect.”
