Southampton finally broke their winless Premier League streak with a 1-0 victory over Everton at St Mary’s on Saturday, courtesy of a late goal by Adam Armstrong.
The promoted side, who sit second-bottom with four points from ten matches, celebrated their first league win of the season, easing some pressure on manager Russell Martin. Everton, meanwhile, remain in 16th place with nine points.
The game opened with Everton taking the initiative, pressing forward in the early exchanges and testing Southampton’s defence.
Yet the Saints gradually found their rhythm, dominating possession as the first half wore on.
The best chance of the opening period came when Cameron Archer, sprinting past the Everton defence, fired narrowly wide of Jordan Pickford’s goal, offering a glimpse of Southampton’s intent.
After the break, Everton regained momentum, with Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale forced into action to deny efforts from Orel Mangala and Michael Keane.
Ramsdale’s sharp reflexes kept the game level as the Saints held their ground against the visitors’ attack.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 85th minute through Armstrong, who capitalised on a swift Southampton counter-attack.
Timing his run to perfection, the striker found himself in space inside the box and coolly slotted the ball past Pickford, igniting celebrations among the home fans.
The goal came shortly after Everton’s Beto saw his powerful header crash against the crossbar at the other end, a near miss that would prove costly.
Everton thought they had snatched an equaliser when Beto controlled a long ball and slipped it past Ramsdale, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.
The VAR decision left Everton frustrated as Southampton managed to withstand a final push from the visitors, securing a long-awaited victory.
The result not only ended Everton’s five-match unbeaten run but also provided a crucial boost for Southampton, who have struggled since their return to the top flight.
Saints boss Russell Martin, who guided the club to promotion last season, will no doubt be relieved by this morale-boosting win.
In his post-match comments, Everton manager Sean Dyche refrained from criticising his players despite the narrow loss.
Dyche, however, expressed disappointment over a few key decisions, particularly the lack of action against Southampton defender Jan Bednarek, who he felt should have been sent off for a challenge on Beto.
“We’d controlled a lot of the game,” Dyche remarked.
“We didn’t need to use the ball as much because they have the ball, but they never really opened us up. When we did have it, I thought we asked questions of them, we got in key areas.”
Reflecting on the late Southampton goal, Dyche continued: “It’s not really a sloppy goal, we should score at the other end and they get a breakaway.
“Sometimes that happens from a misshapen team with plenty of desire to get back and they get a goal out of nothing really at that stage of the game.”
“But the big key decisions went against us. The offside, that’s fine because I believe in VAR on offsides particularly, but VAR’s got to step in on the sending off. That’s a sending off for me.
Dyche concluded, “The performance was solid enough today…there were a lot of good signs, a lot of good play at times – certainly to make a lot of chances away from home. I always speak about quality chances. There was enough quality moments and quality chances and quality positions of course.”