Report: Saints' winning home run comes to an end
Southampton suffered a rare St Mary’s defeat, as Hull City ended Saints’ 11-match winning streak on home soil with a 2-1 victory.
First-half goals from Anass Zaroury and Fabio Carvalho did the damage in an opening period in which Saints were strangely off-colour and the bright-shirted visitors had enough chances to score more.
A triple change at half time helped turn the tide in Saints’ favour, but Ryan Manning and Ché Adams shot wide, and Joe Aribo drove the ball into a sea of Hull defenders, as the Tigers kept Saints at bay until the 88th minute.
That was when substitutes Adams and Aribo combined for the latter to fire home in the box, but Saints were unable to find the equaliser as Hull hung on.
Russell Martin made three alterations to his side victorious at West Brom in an accomplished away performance on Friday night, restoring Manning, Joe Rothwell and Samuel Edozie to the starting line-up at the expense of Jack Stephens, Shea Charles and Ryan Fraser.
Saints were chasing a 12th straight home win, but found themselves behind early on. On-loan Burnley winger Zaroury had already flashed a long-range shot wide before making the breakthrough.
Saints might have been in front themselves after some great work from Will Smallbone to win the ball on the edge of the Hull box, presenting Rothwell with a one-on-one chance to beat Ryan Allsop, but the keeper got just about enough on his shot as the midfielder tried to thread the ball between his legs.
Instead it was the Tigers who struck first. Jaden Philogene was afforded too much time to line up a shot from 20 yards, which Gavin Bazunu parried only to the onrushing Zaroury, who gleefully slotted home to deny the Irishman a clean sheet on his 22nd birthday.
David Brooks was one of three Saints substitutes to be introduced at half time
Philogene blasted one over from a Carvalho cutback soon after, and then stung Bazunu’s palms from a tight angle, underlining the confidence of a visiting team chasing a fifth win in six games.
This was impressive stuff from Hull. Carvalho, rumoured to be a target of Saints prior to signing on loan from Liverpool in January, flicked a backheel through the legs of Taylor Harwood-Bellis and latched on to the return pass, setting up Abdülkadir Ömür to shoot wide.
It was all unusually disjointed from a Saints point of view, particularly at St Mary’s, where the goals have flowed for many months.
The Rothwell chance aside, the hosts were not able to test Allsop in a below-par first half, but just as Martin would have been hoping to get through to the break without any further damage, Hull scored again.
In the same fashion that Saints had nearly punished the visitors in the opening minutes, the shoe was on the other foot when Bazunu passed the ball out to Rothwell, who ran into traffic and was dispossessed on the edge of his own box by Philogene, who slipped the ball through for Carvalho to drill a low shot into the net.
St Mary’s was in a state of shock. Things might have got worse when Zaroury twice went close, firstly with an audacious lob when Bazunu charged out of his area and headed the ball his way, and secondly from a kinder opening that he steered wide when he should have picked out the bottom corner.
Saints might have been thrown a lifeline in first-half stoppage time when Hull captain Lewie Coyle clearly handled in his own box, but the defender was bailed out by referee Oliver Langford, who ruled he was pushed by Harwood-Bellis.
Joe Aribo, handed the captaincy at half time, pulled a goal back late on
Martin’s response was to make a statement at the interval. On came David Brooks, Aribo and Ché Adams, as Rothwell, Sékou Mara and Adam Armstrong were all withdrawn before the action resumed.
Straightaway there was more intensity about Saints. Aribo sprinted to charge down Allsop; Edozie raced to the byeline; Smallbone skewed a shot wide. It still wasn’t clicking just yet, unlike against Huddersfield from the same position of peril, but there were encouraging signs.
Aribo had energised the midfield, while Brooks helped create two chances in quick succession, first for Manning, who guided a right-footed curler a yard wide, and then for Adams, whose snapshot on the turn veered off target.
Fraser was also summoned from the bench before the hour mark, by which time Hull were being pinned back.
The winger was immediately involved when fed by Adams, returning the ball back to the striker, but his touch delayed the incoming Aribo, who might have hit it first time but was forced to find space before shooting against the legs of a defender, while Brooks volleyed the rebound over.
Aribo dug out another shot to at least force Allsop to make a save inside the last ten minutes, before Adams kept the ball alive in the box and cleverly dragged it back for the Nigerian to thump home through a crowded penalty area to set up a grandstand finish, but the visitors held on.
Southampton: Bazunu, Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Manning, Smallbone, Rothwell (Aribo 45), S Armstrong (Kamaldeen 70), A Armstrong (c) (Brooks 45), Mara (Adams 45), Edozie (Fraser 59).
Unused substitutes: Lumley, Stephens, Charles, Dibling.
Goals: Aribo (88’).
Yellow cards: Walker-Peters.
Hull City: Allsop, Coyle (c), Jones, Greaves, Giles, Slater, Seri (Morton 63), Philogene (McLoughlin 90), Carvalho (Traoré 83), Zaroury (Jacob 83), Ömür (Tufan 63).
Unused substitutes: Pandur, Docherty, Connolly, Sharp.
Goals: Zaroury (11’), Carvalho (36’).
Yellow cards: Jones, Jacob.
Referee: Oliver Langford.
Attendance: 26,834.
