15 February 2025
Southampton 1 Bournemouth 3
It was a south coast derby at St Mary’s as Southampton welcomed Bournemouth. The Saints are rooted to the bottom of the Premier League table as their chances of survival lessen to odds higher than the earth being struck by a meteor in seven years’ time. Andoni Iraola’s side still haven’t written off challenging for the top four yet this season, for them a win was vital.
As was expected, The Cherries took the game to Southampton. They were passing the ball around at will as The Saints struggled to get out of their own half. Christie picked the ball up in a wide position and swung in a teasing cross. Ouattara rose to glance his header into the bottom corner to give the visitors the lead. The away end erupted as he wheeled away in celebration.
This is what is going to be one of the major reasons The Saints go down this season. They have a defence that was conceding goals at Championship level, let alone the top-flight. As well as they may play in the final third at times, no team in the world has the attacking might to outscore what they will concede over the course of a season.
As Bournemouth came forward again, a loose pass gifted possession to Bednarek. He looked to clear it but hit it straight to Kluivert. The Dutchman shifted it to Christie outside the box, who drilled a shot into the far corner, giving Ramsdale no chance in the Southampton goal. If one piece of play summed up a season, then this was it.
Even with just sixteen minutes on the clock, this game seemed dead and buried. Southampton fans could quite legitimately tell friends that they have started trying masochism as a hobby. Putting themselves through this week after week must be painful. It takes them longer to travel to the ground than their team are beaten currently.
Fernandes broke forward for the hosts on a rare counter-attack. The Bournemouth team seemed to back off him as they all followed their runners. He worked it out wide to Walker-Peters, who hit a low cross into the middle. Only a superb sliding tackle from Zabarnyi was to prevent it reaching its intended target. Great defending from The Cherries’ centre-back.
The visitors looked like scoring every time they came forward. Semenyo burst through the middle, Cruyff-turning Smallbone in the process. The Jonjo Shelvey impersonator was left in a heap on the floor. It was worked to Outtara in the box, who should have scored, but hit his shot straight at Ramsdale in the Southampton goal.
Jonjo Smallbone then gave the ball away, deep in the Bournemouth half after the interval. It allowed the visitors to break and Kluivert fed it into the path Semenyo out wide. He cut inside and weaved his way past four players before getting a shot off in the middle. It would have been a goal of the season contender if was not for the outstretched hand of Ramsdale, who turned it over.
Iraola’s side almost scored from the resulting corner. Christie flicked it on at the near post and thought it was in until Ramsdale came from nowhere to make a superb one-handed save. While The Cherries’ midfielder claimed it had crossed the line, the referee’s watch disagreed. The Southampton stopper was keeping his side in this game.
The visitors started to look a bit scruffy with their passing. Aribo intercepted and played it forward to Onuachu. He held it up well before laying it off to Sulemana. His quick feet saw him take a touch and then get a shot away in the blink of an eye. It was well placed enough that there was no chance of Kepa keeping it out of the Bournemouth goal. Suddenly, The Saints were back in this.
If it were not for the acrobatics of Ramsdale, this game would have been a cricket score before the hosts had even registered their goal. That is the importance of the former Arsenal man to this team. Iraola would be raging if his side took anything less than three points from this game, they had created more than enough chances.
Not content with the amount of shots his keeper had to save, as a cross came in from The Cherries, Walker-Peters headed it towards the top corner. A sprawling effort from Ramsdale managed to turn it over the crossbar. As opposed to thanking his teammate, the full-back could just be seen cagily saying ‘sorry’ to him.
Fortunately for the visiting fans, they did not have to wait much longer to have their anxiety ended. Semenyo played it into Tavernier, who shifted it onto his left foot before drilling a superb effort past Ramsdale and into the far corner. Over the course of the game, it was what The Cherries had deserved, only a stellar display from The Saints’ keeper had denied them more.
Victory took Bournemouth into fifth place, just a single point behind Man City in fourth. For Southampton, the Premier League table is something that is probably best avoided, it does not make good reading. It is hard to see where their points are to come from if they were to avoid the drop this season. It is like they are trying to bail water out of a boat riddled with holes.
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