22 February 2025
Southampton 0 Brighton 4
The writing seems to be on the wall for The Saints’ Premier League status. Many have pondered whether they will record the worst-ever points return this campaign. If you look at this team from a neutral perspective, they look way out of their depth at this level for sure, but possibly less so than Sheff Utd and Burnley who had more hidings than Tina Turner during the Ike years last season.
Like many promoted teams now, they barely add to their squad that got them up from the Championship. Surely these club owners are not naïve enough to not know the gulf between the levels required in the two leagues. Without adding players capable of playing at the highest levels, there is no way you are staying up. Or maybe that is the business model, cash in on this solitary season.
They welcomed Brighton for a south coast derby. The Seagulls should be what newly promoted sides aspire to. Hurzeler’s side are a well run club, financially stable and have developed a squad of real quality. The visitors almost took the lead early on as Rutter muscled his way past Aribo to get a shot away that Ramsdale did well to block with his legs.
Brighton were too good for The Saints in attack. Hinshelwood whipped in a sublime cross to find an unmarked Mitoma at the far post. He looked to deftly slot it into the far corner but it narrowly missed the target. Moments later, Pedro was put through and he showed his composure as he waited for Ramsdale to commit to a dive before lifting it over him into the back of the net.
It was like a reoccurring bad dream for the Southampton fans. It must be hard to see their team taken apart so easily by sides every week. The step up in quality from Championship to Premier League has never been greater and it is now rare that we see a single team come up that have the ability to secure a second season.
The hosts tried desperately to find a way back into the game. Every time they looked to test the Brighton keeper, the visitors got crucial blocks in. The closest they came to scoring was when Wellington’s cross was mishit and nearly ended up in the top corner. Verbruggen reacted well to turn it around the post. The Saints just could not catch a break in the match.
After the interval, The Saints thought they had made the perfect start when Archer tucked the ball into the bottom corner. The flag immediately went up for offside before the attacker could even pull a celebration out of the bag. It was an early warning for The Seagulls that they could not afford to switch off for a moment, even against the side rooted to the bottom of the table.
As the visitors came forward for the first time since the break, a perfectly weighted cross gave Rutter a simple finish to double Brighton’s lead. The home faithful seemed to know that was the end of this game as a contest for their team. Moments later Lamptey should have scored, showing great skill to sit both keeper and defender down, before taking it around them. He tried to roll it in but it was cleared off the line.
The Seagulls started to try threading balls through the middle. It immediately paid off when Mitoma ran onto it before deftly scooping it over Ramsdale to score. It was a brilliant finish from the Japanese winger. Having turned down a big money offer for him in January from Saudi Arabia, that seems a really shrewd move right now.
Once this Southampton team reach the point where they feel the game is beyond them, The Saints seem to fold like a pack of cards and more goals follow in quick succession. A corner came through everyone to Hinshelwood, who drilled it into the corner of the goal to put the icing on the cake for their impressive performance on the road.
It will be hard to motivate this Southampton squad for the remainder of the season, with the reality sinking in that they do not have what is required to avoid the drop. Some players will see it as a shop window to try and get picked up by another Premier League team. Not that The Saints will want to lose anyone but sometimes the money is too good to turn down for such clubs.
While they were quick to sack Russell Martin this season, it did not have the desired effect to their plight. You wonder about the thought process of the owners in these situations, if they really believe this squad had the quality to stay up and the manager was the problem. They may have stood a better chance keeping him in the role, having built a relationship with his players.
The Seagulls are in ninth place in the table but it is incredibly tight in top half. They are only four points behind Man City in fourth spot, after other results went their way. Hurzeler has openly admitted that their goal is to secure European football for only the second time in the club’s history, having enjoyed their adventures in the Europa League a few seasons ago.
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