Southampton are finally up and running in the Premier League for 2020/21, with Danny Ings’ early strike enough for the side to register a 1-0 win against Burnley at Turf Moor.
Kyle Walker-Peters was advanced in the opening exchanges, threading a pass in behind Burnley’s defence for Che Adams to pull back for Ings to put away his third goal in two games.
Saints dominated much of the first half but were made to rue a lack of quality in the final third that prevented them from extending the lead.
Burnley eventually worked themselves into the game and put some pressure on Alex McCarthy in goal for Southampton, with Chris Wood seeing a header saved and a goal disallowed for offside.
Southampton were able to manage the tempo of the contest for much of the second half, leaving Ralph Hasenhuttl in delight at the final whistle at his team’s first win of the season.
Righting early-season wrongs
There was renewed optimism at St. Mary’s coming into this season after a superb end to the last campaign for Hasenhuttl’s side, but the mood had quickly changed after the first two weeks of the season.
Saints were disappointing in defeat against Crystal Palace on the opening weekend, before further frustration saw them knocked out of the Carabao Cup by Brentford in midweek.
That was followed up by a hiding against Tottenham Hotspur – another heavy home defeat – and brought about some critical comments from the manager and an admission of room for improvement.
It would appear the Austrian got the improvement out of his players, with a high-octane start to the match setting the tone for a deserved victory in the end.
A big positive for the team will be Adams linking up with Ings up front. After arriving from Birmingham City last summer, Adams failed to fire until a run of four goals in six games in Project Restart but has been made to regret missed chances early on in this campaign.
With the benefit of a clear fixture list in the absence of the League Cup, Southampton will look to carry this momentum into a home clash against West Bromwich Albion next Sunday.
Changes at the back bear fruit
Of the critical comments made after the Spurs defeat, Hasenhuttl directed the brunt of it to the defensive line, saying they remained far too high in the absence of pressure further up the field.
Son Heung-Min and Harry Kane had a field day in the second half with acres of space behind Southampton’s defence.
Jannik Vestergaard was the only change from that loss, replaced Jack Stephens at the heart of defence, as Hasenhuttl dropped his defensive line considerably further back to counter Burnley’s direct style of play.
The big Dane and centre-back partner Jan Bednarek were arguably the two best players on the pitch as they kept Wood and Matej Vydra out of the game and consistently repelled deliveries into the box, especially coming from Dwight McNeil on Burnley’s left.
Just as encouraging as the win itself is the clean sheet and solidity throughout the spine of the team, the perfect response to conceding five goals at home.
More to come
Whilst this result is a positive and a big step in the right direction, the ceiling remains much higher than the level Southampton are currently at.
The Saints are yet to get the best out of Stuart Armstrong as he recovers fully from injury, while Moussa Djenepo has begun inconsistently and Adams is yet to pick up from his post-lockdown form.
A big opportunity presents itself next week against newly-promoted and so far winless West Brom before a trip to Stamford Bridge to play Chelsea – a seemingly good time to play the Blues after their stuttering start.
With three goals in three games, all of which have come from Ings, there is much room for improvement and with the season just three games old, there is plenty of time for that improvement to eventuate.