Southampton secured only their second away win this season against a struggling Huddersfield. A game that the new Southampton manager, Ralph Hasenhuttl, described as “a huge six-pointer.”
David Wagner will be disappointed by the performance of his players, as a home win against the Saints would have lifted them above their counterparts and also out of the relegation zone. However, it was Southampton who seized the opportunity to raise themselves further from the drop, now sitting three points clear.
It did not take long for Southampton to open the scoring as Nathan Redmond fired past Jonas Lossl from close range. Pierre Emile Hojbjerg was the orchestrator, slicing open the Huddersfield defence and finding the run of Redmond perfectly, who struck first time into the top right-hand corner of the net.
Southampton managed to double their lead through a Danny Ings penalty, which on replay, is hard to disagree with. Ings had the ball initially and attempted to play off Redmond, however, the pass was blocked. The deflection fell nicely into Ings’ path, who controlled and was then fouled by Zanka just inside the penalty area. The Englishman dispatched the penalty calmly into the bottom left, scoring his third penalty of the season; more than anyone else in the Premier League this year.
Huddersfield then clawed back a goal in the 58th minute through Philip Billing to give themselves a marginal lifeline. He was allowed to run with the ball through midfield and dispatch a fierce effort from 30 yards, which completely wrongfooted Alex McCarthy, zipping into the bottom left corner.
However, Southampton’s lead was restored only 12 minutes later through Michael Obafemi, who became the Saints youngest ever goal scorer in the Premier League at just 18 years and 169 days old. The goal came via tenacious work from Redmond down the right-hand side, who managed to squeeze in a low cross across the box. The Irish international took his first touch very well and fired calmly past Lossl to secure the three points.
“I’ll give it to Hasenhuttl”
After not managing to secure victory for a total of 15 consecutive games, things were looking pretty bleak for the Saints. However, the introduction of this confident, charismatic manager has seemed to completely rejuvenate the Southampton changing room, securing their first back-to-back wins since April 2017. Confidence is flowing through players, and one who stood out was Redmond. He scored only his second goal in 56 games and didn’t look for one second like he was a player who was lacking in confidence in front of goal.
The Englishman had not scored in his previous 27 shots at goal in the Premier League this season, more than anyone else. This stat can maybe be a personification of Southampton’s general form up until Hasenhuttl’s introduction.
In Need of Goals
Philip Billing managed to score Huddersfield’s fourth goal from open play this year, which is a stat that should severely worry anyone involved with the Terriers. The relegation battle this year is one that could go either way however Huddersfield seem to be lacking that desire to go and escape. Losing at home to a relegation rival is a fans worst nightmare; Billing, Aaron Moy and Zanka are all joint top scorers of the club with only two goals each. It’s a trivial statement that if you want to win games, you need to score goals.
Whether it’s a splash in the transfer window over January or a stern talking to in the changing room, something is going to have to change for Huddersfield or else they are going to find them in a very sticky situation come the latter end of the season.
Individual errors
It’s no secret that Huddersfield aren’t the most confident of sides in defence, conceding 31 goals this season already. However, Saturday’s performance can be described as nothing other than dire. For the first goal, on the surface it looked as though Saints worked through their midfield well, this is true. However, Ings was initially allowed to skip through tackles in the centre of midfield. Zanka didn’t track Redmond at all, a player who Wagner would have made their defence aware of, this then gave Redmond the space to finish.
The second goal was another defensive mistake by Zanka who fouled Ings in the box. The challenge never even looked like it was going to win the ball, as a lazy right leg dangled in front of Ings, who when travelling at speed, is going to feel the contact and go down.
The third goal came from Florent Hadergjonaj failing to clear his lines. While it was good closing down from Redmond, there were plenty of opportunities for the Swiss defender to clear the ball before Redmond was upon him. One positive from this is that individual errors can be fixed and solved with confidence ensued on the training ground. Something Wagner is going to have to address.
The stars of tomorrow
Hasenhuttl is already a massive success within Saints fans, due to the aura that he has brought to the club. Coupled with the fact, he has the Southampton mindset of bringing the youth players through the academy. Perfect examples of this are that Jan Valery and Obafemi have both been getting regular game-time under Hasenhuttl, which has evidently paid off. He also brings down academy players such as Kayne Ramsey to sit on the bench and take in the atmosphere of a Premier League game, before slowly introducing them into the side.
Hasenhuttl has managed to restore confidence into the players. As on two previous occasions this season, they have been two goals up and lost the lead. However, when their two-goal lead was threatened, they didn’t panic, they stayed calm and pushed for another goal, which psychologically will be extremely beneficial for the saints in the future.
