As it Happened - Saints edge five-goal thriller against Burnley

FULL TIME: And breathe... 

Southampton were the better side in the end, they created the better chances and played some nice football throughout. 

But Burnley will feel hard-done-by, they could have had a penalty in the second half as, on second look, Bednarek has a handful of Wood's shirt when his diving header was saved by Forster. 

That being said, Burnley didn't create enough chances to win the game or even draw it, just a Wood curler that was well saved by Forster.

Saints worked Pope throughout and he made a couple of fine saves, with Ward-Prowse also hitting the bar and Adams should have wrapped up the points at the end when he was clean through. 

But what an entertaining game to start of this Easter Sunday. Five goals was not expected and it has set us up brilliantly for the rest of the day.

Stay with VAVEL for coverage of Newcastle vs Tottenham Hotspur, which is up next. 

Thank you for joining me, Happy Easter, enjoy your chocolate and the football and stay safe!!

Goodbye!

FULL TIME: Southampton hang on!!

Goals from Stuart Armstrong, Danny Ings and Nathan Redmond give the Saints a valuable three points. 

Chris Wood and Matej Vydra had given Burnley a 0-2 lead inside the first half an hour, but couldn't get the all important third goal.

 

90+4. Can Burnley get one last opportunity.

Nope...

90+3. Che Adams should have finished things, his effort goes wide.

90+1. Redmond tries to find Adams but it is cut out by Pope. 

Up the other end, Brownhill fouls Walker-Peters to ease the pressure on Southampton. 

90+1. Three added minutes at St Mary's. Can Burnley find an equaliser or will Southampton hang on?

90. Third substitution for Burnley. 

Johann Berg Gudmundsson is replaced by Lewis Richardson.

89. Wood fouls Bertrand and Southampton can breathe. 

89. Burnley win a late corner!

87. Third substitution for Saints. 

Theo Walcott is replaced by Moussa Djenepo.

86. Substitution for Southampton.

Danny Ings is replaced by Che Adams. 

85. Westwood's kick to Tarkowski is cleared but Burnley keep the pressure on. 

84. Burnley have a free kick, Diallo concedes. 

 

82. Oooooh Nick Pope gets away with one. 

Southampton break with Redmond but Taylor gets back, drops it back to Pope who tries to take it around Redmond but it's a heavy one. 

It falls for Ings but he then overruns it. Let off for Pope. 

81. Burnley are coming and it is another brilliant Fraser Forster save!

McNeil's delivery is flicked by Rodriguez and Wood dives in to head it into Forster. 

79. Substitutions for both sides. 

Firstly, before the corner, Jay Rodriguez replaced Matej Vydra.

The corner was cleared. 

Then Mohamed Salisu replaces Stuart Armstrong for the hosts. 

78. Wood goes close, it is a fantastic save from Fraser Forster!

Wood curls it towards the far corner and Forster gets across to palm it behind. 

77. McNeil swings in a wonderful delivery for Gudmundsson, but the Icelandic midfielder jumped far too early. 

Jay Rodriguez is getting ready to come on. 

75. Burnley win another corner, and it drops to Tarkowski who tries to reverse it to Mee.

It goes back to Forster. 

15 minutes for Burnley to get something from this game.

73. Burnley appeal for a penalty against Bertrand.

A corner is given instead and Southampton clear and break through Walcott. 

It's 3 on 1, but Walcott tries to cut back inside McNeil but the England Under 21 gets back. 

69. Walker-Peters fires an effort over the bar. 

Burnley need a saviour on Easter Sunday.

66. Southampton break forward through Walcott, he gives it to Ings.

Ings shoots and Pope pulls off a wonderful save but it drops back to Walcott. 

He stands up a brilliant cross for Nathan Redmond who watches it drop and volleys home.

Comeback: complete! 3-2

NATHAN REDMOND COMPLETES THE COMEBACK!

65. Another Saints chance. 

Walker-Peters down the right cuts it into Walcott who turns away from Tarkowski but tamely slides it into the hands of Pope. 

62. POPE WITH A GREAT SAVE!

Burnley don't clear from the resulting corner. 

Eventually it drops to Armstrong on the edge of the box, he cuts it onto his right.

His deflected effort fizzes towards the goal, and Pope somehow flicks it up and around the post!

Southampton dominating at the minute

60. So so close on two occassions for Southampton!

Firstly, Ward-Prowse is teed up by Redmond and his effort canons off the bar!

Then Ings' header is cleared off the line

WARD-PROWSE WITH A ROCKET AGAINST THE BAR BUT IT DOESN'T BOUNCE OVER THE LINE!

56. Wood is played in by McNeil but he can't get past Vestergaard. 

The centre half hoofs it out of play as Bednarek is down with a hip injury. 

53. Good from Burnley.

McNeil sets Taylor free down the left, he delivers for Wood who can't direct a header goalwards. 

49. Ward-Prowse picks it up in the middle of the pitch and tries to slide it through for Walcott. 

Taylor cleans up well, though. 

Lucky us to witness it!

Southampton's 1️⃣4️⃣ shots v Burnley is the most they've had in the first half of a @premierleague game since 2014 - 𝟮𝟲𝟱 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼

🎯🎯🎯🎯 pic.twitter.com/fJeuh9lVuV

— Sky Sports Statto (@SkySportsStatto) April 4, 2021

46. Back underway.

More of the same please!

Chris Wood converts! ⚽

Erik Pieters is fouled by Kyle Walker-Peters, and Burnley's talisman makes no mistake from the spot.

📺 Watch on Sky Sports PL
📱 Follow #SOUBUR here: https://t.co/Xjx920vFTR
📲 Download the @SkySports app! pic.twitter.com/7ZKVd0Tg9y — Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 4, 2021

Stunning strike from Matěj Vydra 🔥

The Czech finds the net in back-to-back games for Burnley at St Mary's!

📺 Watch on Sky Sports PL
📱 Follow #SOUBUR here: https://t.co/Xjx920vFTR
📲 Download the @SkySports app! pic.twitter.com/cOnsCAh8sd

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 4, 2021

Danny Ings delivers against his former club! ⚽

Southampton's main man produces an ice-cool finish to draw the hosts level at St Mary's!

📺 Watch on Sky Sports PL
📱 Follow #SOUBUR here: https://t.co/Xjx920vFTR
📲 Download the @SkySports app! pic.twitter.com/Ys4DneOmBs

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) April 4, 2021

HALF-TIME: After 25 minutes, I would not have predicted Burnley to be the happier of the two sides to hear the half time whistle. 

Chris Wood gave the Clarets the lead from the spot after Kyle Walker-Peters fouled Erik Pieters. 

Matej Vydra doubled the lead with a fine volley but, just minutes later, Stuart Armstrong curled in a lifeline for Saints. 

Then, Danny Ings calmly took advantage of a Ben Mee mistake to slot through Nick Pope's legs. 

Time for a break and some chocolate, see you in 15.

HALF-TIME: That's the end of a wonderful first half of football. 

45+2. Diallo's curling effort is blocked behind for a corner. 

Ward-Prowse's corner nearly swings over Pope but the England 'keeper claims well. 

Saints ending the half the better side. 

45+1. Four added minutes. 

42. Danny Ings with an ice-cold finish!

Mee overruns the ball and Ings is away. He cuts back inside the sprawling Tarkowski and slots it through Pope's legs.

Great goal, and great game. 2-2!

DANNY INGS EQUALISES AGAINST HIS OLD CLUB

40. Flurry of efforts from Southampton who have grown into this game.

First it's Redmond, then Diallo, then finally Armstrong, who's volley is deflected for a corner. 

38. Redmond gets to the by-line and plays it across the six yard box, but Taylor clears. 

36. Walker-Peters' shot/cross is deflected behind for a corner.

Pace of this game has picked up dramatically in the last ten minutes!

33. Burnley have to make a substitution. 

Erik Pieters can't continue. He is replaced by Charlie Taylor.

31. It is lovely football by Southampton and it is a great response to conceding. 

Ward-Prowse fizzes it into Danny Ings who flicks it around the corner for Stuart Armstrong. 

The Scotland International fires it through Pope down the middle of the goal. 

Disappointing for Pope but a great finish nonetheless. 

SOUTHAMPTON GET ONE BACK OUT OF THE BLUE!

29. Ben Mee goes long and Wood puts the pressure on Bednarek who doesn't deal with it in the air.

It drops to Matej Vydra and he fires it first time through Forster.

Great finish from Vydra, but really poor from the Southampton defence. 

OUT OF NOTHING BURNLEY DOUBLE THEIR LEAD THROUGH MATEJ VYDRA

27. And he's back. 

26. Looks like a pulled hamstring for Pieters, but it might be a dead leg. 

Charlie Taylor isn't warming up so I think Pieters is going to continue. 

23. Pope pushes Redmond's effort behind. 

From the corner, Ings' effort is blocked, then Bednarek goes down appealing for a penalty, nothing given. 

Saints come back up on the attack and Pieters and Tarkowski collide trying to block Walcott's shot. 

Pieters is in some discomfort. 

20. Wood penalised for a foul on Forster, not a lot in it.

Mee penalised for a foul on Ings, not a lot in it. 

18. Pieters and McNeil have Walker-Peters on strings at the minute, the left back getting in behind to drive a dangerous ball across the box. 

The visitors looking the better of the two sides so far. 

12. Chris Wood smashes it straight down the middle with power. 

Seventh for the season, and he has become Burnley's joint highest Premier League goalscorer of all time. 

DOWN THE MIDDLE AND BURNLEY LEAD

11. Walker-Peters is penalised. He can't have too much to complain about. 

It was very late. 

10. PENALTY TO BURNLEY!!

10. Andre Marriner has been sent to the monitor. 

 

9. Burnley having a lot of joy down the left, Pieters wins it back from Walker-Peters and the right back swipes out the left back from behind. 

Pieters stays down, and VAR are looking for a potential penalty. 

8. McNeil gets down the left and fizzes into Vydra who can't get a good connection. 

7. McNeil's floated free kick is dealt with and Southampton win a free kick. 

6. At the other end, Vydra wins a free kick centrally for Burnley.

A cracking start to this game.

6. Ings fires one into the midst of Ben Mee. 

Suspicion of handball? Maybe earlier in the season...

2. Corner came to nothing and Southampton showed their pace on the break. 

Armstrong's shot is blocked. 

1. Early chance for Burnley.

Walker Peters loses the ball in the middle of the park and Burnley break.

Wood toe-pokes the ball goalwards and Forster palms it behind for a corner. 

1. Burnley get the game underway.

1. Both teams take the knee before kick-off. 

There is no room for racism in football.

Burnley in their yellow third kit, Southampton in the red shirt with white stripe.

The teams are on the sunny turf, kick off is moments away...

This is Ashley Westwood's 450th club appearance!

Congratulations, Ashley!

Let's remind you of the teams, with ten minutes until the start of the game.

Southampton.

Forster; Walker-Peters, Vestergaard, Bednarek, Bertrand; Diallo, Ward-Prowse, Armstrong; Redmond, Ings, Walcott.

Burnley.

Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Pieters; Gudmundsson, Westwood, Brownhill, McNeil; Wood, Vydra.

7 - Since beating Liverpool in their first league game of 2021, Southampton have lost 10 of their last 12 in the Premier League (W1 D1), picking up fewer points this calendar year than any other top-flight side (7). Worried? #SOUBUR pic.twitter.com/FNggENVITE — OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) April 4, 2021

Back to work 👊 pic.twitter.com/28h6LjywQy — Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) April 4, 2021

Ralph Hasenhuttl broke his winless streak in the league with a 2-0 victory at Sheff United, only to then lose against Brighton & Hove Albion. They did reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup after convincingly beating Bournemouth but the Saints are anything but predictable right now. They face a Burnley team who are unbeaten in three matches and, for my money, the visitors look the more convincing. 

Prediction: 1-2

By Jonny Bentley

A sunny afternoon on the coast, as the lads touchdown. ☀️#SOUBUR | #UTC pic.twitter.com/iXU0LpznCY — Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) April 4, 2021

Sean Dyche names an unchanged side from the team who beat Everton three weeks ago. 

Charlie Taylor and Jack Cork make the bench on their return from injury, but still no Ashley Barnes.

Danny Ings and Theo Walcott make their returns from injury, as Southampton make three changes to the side that lost to Brighton and Hove Albion way before the International break. 

They replace Che Adams and Nathan Tella up front, being joined by Nathan Redmond who replaces Takumi Minamino in the starting 11.

James Ward-Prowse has been passed fit and starts after missing England's final World Cup Qualifier in the week. 

🔙 @theowalcott
🔙 @IngsDanny

The #SaintsFC side to line-up against #BurnleyFC: pic.twitter.com/80hbjGQbrY — Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) April 4, 2021

LINE-UP | Here is how the Clarets line-up against Southampton this afternoon. ⬇️

Chris Wood partners Matej Vydra in attack, with Dwight McNeil and Johann Berg Gudmundsson on the flanks. 👊#SOUBUR | #UTC | @eToro

— Burnley FC (@BurnleyOfficial) April 4, 2021

Team news will be revealed at 11am, so not long for us to wait.

In the mean time, I'm going to work on my puns...

Hello and Happy Easter to all celebrating!

Welcome to VAVEL's live coverage of Southampton vs Burnley at St Mary's Stadium. 

My name is Luke Williamson, here from now until full time with updates throughout.

Here's hoping to an eggs-cellent (*groan*) game!

Grab your chocolate and join me at 11am on Sunday for the team news.

I hope it's a cracking game, and I hope I can provide some lunch time entertainment (and more egg puns!)

Join me on Sunday, see you then!

Kick off at St Mary's is 12pm on Easter Sunday, April 4.

“It was a good time to have a break. I’m always indifferent about these breaks, but it was a good time because we’ve been stretched to the limit, more or less all season,” explained Dyche. “The physical and mental side of performances is so important and we have asked a lot of these players. “But we are getting bodies back now and that adds to the depth of the squad, so using this period to get as many people as fit as possible and find rest for the others has been good."

On Burnley...

“I think this team is one of the teams you have to have a good performance if you want to win against them and they are always good, always organised. Always strong. Every team is struggling against them."

“They had some good results this season. We know about their good automatism, also they have good development in the team playing a very straight football and I am a fan from what they are doing with the options they have in the club.

“They took the maximum out of it and so praise for them and for the manager.”

 

Southampton.

Forster; Walker-Peters, Vestergaard, Bednarek, Bertrand; Redmond, Armstrong, Diallo, Minamino; Adams, Ings. 

Burnley.

Pope; Lowton, Tarkowski, Mee, Taylor; Gudmundsson, Brownhill, Westwood, McNeil; Wood, Vydra.

Robbie Brady re-aggravated his troubling achilles injury during the (pointless) international friendly with Qatar, so he will miss the next few weeks.

Fellow Irishman Kevin Long is also absent with a calf injury. 

Jack Cork and Charlie Taylor are back in contention after recovering from their respective injuries, while Ashley Barnes will miss the game despite stepping up his recovery.

There is good and bad news coming from the Southampton camp ahead of the game. 

Danny Ings is in line to return against his former club having stepped up his recovery from a leg injury.

Theo Walcott is also in line to return after a thigh issue. 

The bad news is that James Ward Prowse will be assessed after withdrawing from the England squad earlier this week before their game against Poland. 

Oriol Romeu, Will Smallbone and Michael Obafemi remain out for the long term. 

This game is the start of a crucial 9 games for the two sides locked on 33 points. 

These two are inseparable in terms of league positioning, with the same goal difference.

The Saints and The Clarets will both be looking for a win to increase the gap between themselves and the bottom three. 

Hello and welcome to VAVEL's live matchday commentary of Southampton vs Burnley!

My name is Luke Williamson and I will be providing updates for the game at St Mary's.

It's good to be back after the International Break!