Morten Rasmussen scored the only goal of the game as Southampton crashed out of the Europa League by Danish champions FC Midtjylland who make the group stage for the first time ever.
Rasmussen’s turn and finish gave the hosts the deserved lead on a drenched night in Herning, and the 550 fans from the South Coast would have been angered by the dire performance of the team.
Rodriguez came closest to grabbing the crucial away goal, but in truth it would have been totally undeserved.
Southampton nearly got off to the perfect start after just four minutes when Ward-Prowse’s corner found the head of Jose Fonte who dived acrobatically to meet it, but Poulsen headed clear off the line.
Just a minute later, Jay Rodriguez found himself with just the goalkeeper to beat after a beautiful lofted pass from Graziano Pellè, but inexplicably passed when he could’ve easily made it 1-0.
He did however shoot when presented with a chance on the volley after twenty minutes, but with the ball skidding off the rain-soaked turf, his shot from just outside the box flew over Dahlin’s goal.
But after 28 minutes, Saints’ task got much tougher. Jay Rodriguez gave the ball away to Bach Bak, who passed to Rasmussen, and the forward turned Fonte too easily, finishing into the opposite corner with aplomb.
Rodriguez was clearly annoyed at his mistake, and when Sviatchenko hit the ground in a bid to waste time, his frustration and dissent caused him to be the first player in Liany’s book. Jakob Poulsen followed him in there on 43 minutes, ironically for timewasting.
Saints had played good football last season, but that was in stark contrast to the first 45 minutes. Despite the rain creating a slick pitch, Southampton resulted to long desperate balls up the pitch, gleefully mopped up by Midtjylland’s physical defence who stood firm from the aerial bombardment.
Rasmussen nearly put the Danish side out of sight just after the restart after a whipped freekick in by Poulsen found the striker’s head but the former Celtic man headed wide.
Koeman clearly had seen enough by the 55th minute; centre back Steven Caulker was replaced by the more attacking Dušan Tadić, going into a more traditional and trusted 4-3-3 system.
But still Midtjylland pressed for a second. Hearts were in the mouths of Southampton fans when Andersson found space in the box, but Cuco Martina’s block was timely, and vital.
Southampton should have had a penalty; James Ward-Prowse’s freekick clearly hitting a Midtjylland hand. From the resulting corner, the Danes countered and Targett crudely brought down Hassan, and was booked for his actions.
Shane Long was introduced as Saints desperately tried to get back in the game, with the ineffective Rodriguez withdrawn.
Royer nearly put the tie out of sight, but he curled over after Pusić’s delightful dragback. Koeman reacted by bringing on Spanish youngster Juanmi. It wasn’t enough, and his Saints side were knocked out with a wimper.