22 FEBRUARY 2025
SOUTHAMPTON 0 BRIGHTON & HOVE ALBION 4
PREMIER LEAGUE -
at ST. MARY'S STADIUM, SOUTHAMPTON.
Buoyant Albion travelled West to meet bottom-of-the-table Southampton in a Premier League fixture at St. Mary's Stadium, the match being covered by BBC Radio Sussex Sport.
Last time out the Albion achieved an excellent 3-0 home win over Chelsea in the Premier on the 14 February and for the trip to Southampton had to make two enforced changes to their starting line-up from the Chelsea game, with Yasin Ayari and Joao Pedro replacing Joel Veltman and Danny Welbeck.
Southampton had gained promotion to the Premier by virtue of a May 2024 play-off final win over Leeds United at Wembley Stadium. Brighton-born Russell Martin had guided Saints to their promotion but after making a very poor start to their Premier League campaign the services of Head Coach Martin were dispensed with at the end of 2024 and Martin was replaced by Ivan Juric.
Earlier this season the teams had played out a 1-1 draw in the Premier at the Amex on the 29 November 2024 with Kaoru Mitoma (29m) scoring for the Seagulls and Flynn Downes (59m) replying for the Saints. In their previous outing, Southampton had lost 1-3 at home to AFC Bournemouth in the Premier on the 15 February and for Albion's visit Head Coach Ivan Juric made three changes to his starting line-up from that game, with Lesley Ugochukwu,Tyler Dibling and Cameron Archer coming in for Nathan Wood-Gordon, Will Smallbone and Paul Onuachu.
The game started with Albion on the front foot, a Carlos Baleba free-kick landed on the roof of the Southampton net and Kaoru Mitoma's snap shot from Jack Hinshelwood's cross flew wide of the target. Yankuba Minteh then raced clear of the home defence but slipped at the crucial moment, allowing Saints keeper Aaron Ramsdale to gather the ball. Albion's supremacy paid off on 23 minutes when Georginio Rutter's through pass found Joao Pedro who ran on to dink the ball over Ramsdale and into the net for a delightful opening goal. 1-0.
In an isolated sortie by the hosts, Wellington drove a shot over the bar before Minteh's shot bound for the bottom corner forced keeper Ramsdale to make a fine save to deflect the ball to safety. Seagulls half by a mile and they should have been leading by more than one goal.
Half-time 1-0.
The Saints thought they had equalised soon after the restart when Cameron Archer fired home from close-range but the goal was ruled out for an offside infringement. The Seagulls increased their lead on 56 minutes when Minteh's cross found Rutter who slotted the ball home for Albion's second. 2-0.
Minteh then failed to convert yet another gilt-edged chance before Mitoma latched on to a through-pass on 71 minutes before dinking the ball over Ramsdale for Albion's third and game clincher. 3-0.
Seagulls continued to threaten the Saints goal and on 82 minutes a corner found its' way through to Hinshelwood who smashed the ball home from close-in. 4-0. There was still time for keeper Ramsdale to make excellent saves from Minteh and Baleba prior to the final whistle.
Final-score 4-0.
Match stats:
Albion had 18 attempts at goal, with 12 on target and won 6 corners, free-kicks conceded - 12.
Southampton had 6 attempts at goal, with 1 on target and won 5 corners, free-kicks conceded - 11.
TO SUM UP - An emphatic and easy win for the Seagulls at bottom-of-the-table Southampton and a hatful of easy chances were missed as well. Next up for the Albion is a tough home game against AFC Bournemouth on the 25 February, in front of the TNT Sports cameras.
Albion line-up (4-2-3-1):- Bart VERBRUGGEN; Jack HINSHELWOOD (Mats WIEFFER 83), Jan Paul VAN HECKE, Adam WEBSTER (Capt), Tariq LAMPTEY (Pervis ESTUPINAN 67); Carlos BALEBA, Yasin AYARI (Diego GOMEZ 67); Yankuba MINTEH, Georginio RUTTER (Brajan GRUDA 79), Kaoru MITOMA (Simon ADINGRA 79); Joao PEDRO.
Subs not used: Carl RUSHWORTH (G/K), Eiran CASHIN, Solly MARCH, Matt O'RILEY.
Southampton line-up (3-4-3):- Aaron RAMSDALE; James BREE, Jan BEDNAREK (Capt) (Armel BELLA-KOTCHAP 12), Joe ARIBO; Kyle WALKER-PETERS, Lesley OGOCHUKWU (Will SMALLBONE 72), Mateus FERNANDES (Albert GRONBAEK 88), WELLINGTON (Yukinari SUGAWARA 46); Tyler DIBLING, Cameron ARCHER (Paul ONUACHU 72), Kamaldeen SULEMANA.
Subs not used: Alex McCARTHY (G/K), Jack STEPHENS, Flynn DOWNES, Ryan MANNING.
Referee: Darren Bond (Lancashire).
Fourth Official: Samuel Barrott.
VAR Official: Darren England.
Yellow Cards: Southampton: 2 - Aaron Ramsdale, Lesley Ugochukwu.
Possession: Albion - 51%. Southampton - 49%.
BBC Sport Player of the Match: Georginio Rutter (Albion).
Attendance: 30775.
NEXT GAME:
25 FEBRUARY 2025 - AFC BOURNEMOUTH - Home - Premier League -
kick-off 19.30. "Live" on TNT Sports.