Southampton went into today’s Premier League clash with Cardiff City knowing that victory would see us move five points clear of the dropzone – defeat, however, could see us end the day back in the relegation zone.
After a goalless first half, and despite Southampton clearly dominating the games, it was the visitors to St Mary’s Stadium who took the advantage in the 69th minute.
The side kept going and got a deserved leveller in stoppage-time as Jack Stephens found the back of the net, but the relief at the goal was probably our undoing as two minutes later Cardiff had restored their advantage in the game to take all three points in a 2-1 win.
#SaintsFC boss Ralph Hasenhüttl on today's 2-1 defeat to #CardiffCity in the #PL:
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) February 9, 2019
Cardiff now jump out of the relegation zone and above us following their win and there’s no other way of describing the match other than hugely disappointing.
Speaking to the BBC following the game, manager Ralph Hasenhuttl said of the performance.
“Losing in that way is a brutal thing for me. It’s unbelievable how easy we gave those points away. We did it last week and the same again today. If we don’t stop this then we’ve no chance of staying in the league. It can feel like a win if you take a draw like that, and then you give it away in a way – that’s stupid and unbelievable for me. But it doesn’t change anything, we have to fight till the end, as I was saying in December. It’s very narrow, very close, but it was clear in December and it doesn’t change in February.”