Saints Match Zone

Hasenhuttl Knew Southampton Had Blown It In The First Half But There Were Small Positives From Bournemouth Clash

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With seven points from the last three games, a more confident Southampton went into battle against Bournemouth earlier this evening in the Friday night camera slot.

Having taken a tough three points from newly promoted Sheffield United last weekend at Bramall Lane, we were back on St Mary’s soil for the visit of Eddie Howe’s side, and it was always going to be a tough one – but we did welcome back Nathan Redmond following his recent injury.

Unfortunately for us, they opened the scoring ten minutes into the game and the Video Assistant Referee technology did rule out a second for offside, but we were edging the game in efforts overall and possession.

That ultimately proved for nothing though, as they got the second ten minutes before the halftime break, and although James Ward-Prowse struck from the penalty spot in the 53rd minute, they restored to two goal advantage five minutes into stoppage time.

Far greater possession, far greater chances, but no end product is the only takeaway.

Speaking to the BBC following the fulltime whistle, manager Ralph Hasenhuttl said of the game.

“The finish was not important anymore. If you lose 2-1 or 3-1 it does not make too much difference. We lost the game in the first half. In the second half we were sharp. Had about 26 shots on goal to six from Bournemouth but the most important stat is the goals. They scored three, we scored once. We weren’t aggressive enough and too easy in the first half. It is not easy to be 1-0 down after 10 minutes. We had a lot of blocked shots and misses near the post. It was a good performance in the second half but without a result. For the second goal was had a lot of players in our attacking box so it was not easy to defend. We showed a good reaction because we knew we needed to be brave. We changed our shape and were aggressive for the second ball. It gave us 64% possession and we had a lot of shots. Maybe we didn’t deserve to take something because of our first half.”

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