Southampton vs Norwich City. Premier League.
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Report and free highlights as Southampton move out of the relegation places
Wednesday 4 December 2019 23:22, UK
Southampton beat another Premier League relegation rival, edging to a nervy 2-1 win against Norwich at St Mary's.
The Saints' 2-1 victory against rock-bottom Watford on Saturday had seen them go one point and one place above Norwich, and they made the perfect start when the in-form Danny Ings (22) nodded home from a James Ward-Prowse free-kick.
Ryan Bertrand (43) then slotted home to give Southampton a comfortable half-time lead, but a much-improved Norwich pulled one back through Teemu Pukki in the 65th minute. The visitors continued to pummel the opposition box after that and went close twice in added time, but could not find the vital equaliser.
The result lifts Southampton out of the relegation places and into 17th place ahead of Ralph Hasenhuttl's one year anniversary in charge on Thursday, while Norwich remain in 19th place.
The game took a while to get going with both sides having half chances in the opening exchanges, but it was Southampton who took the lead in the 22nd minute. The hosts won a free-kick on the left, which Ward-Prowse delivered superbly, and it was headed home by Ings, who scored in a fourth successive game.
Southampton went close again 10 minutes later as Moussa Djenepo lifted a fierce shot from the top of the area just over the bar, but the hosts did double their lead just before the break. Ward-Prowse was the instigator once again as he sent an outswinging corner into the area, with Long rising to nod it goalwards. But, instead, it was sent towards Bertrand at the back post and he swept home against his former loan side.
Saints could have added a third on the stroke of half-time, but Norwich's blushes were spared by their goalkeeper, Tim Krul. A cleared corner fell to Southampton captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg at the top of the area, and his fierce shot took a huge deflection off Norwich skipper Christoph Zimmerman on the way through, forcing a leaping save from Krul to tip the effort over the crossbar.
Both sides went agonisingly close early in the second half. Norwich came bursting into life just seconds after the restart as Pukki let fly from range, but Alex McCarthy pushed it over the bar with a strong hand. A little while later, Southampton went close as Ings fired a superb volley towards goal, but it just dragged wide of the post.
Norwich pulled a deserved goal back in the 65th minute to set up a nervy finish on the south coast. Alex Tettey played Pukki through with a wonderful pass, setting the Finland international on a darting run into the area before he sent a powerful strike past McCarthy.
The visitors sensed an equaliser was within their grasp as they dominated the final 20 minutes and went close twice in added time. Emiliano Buendia nodded a Max Aarons cross just wide before Sam Byram had two chances to score. The first was blocked, and when he collected the rebound, he could only skew his shot past the post.
There is nothing a team - struggling or otherwise - needs more than an in-form striker, and Ings has certainly been stepping up for Southampton. He now has eight Premier League goals for the season, with four of those coming in successive games, becoming the first Saints player to score in four matches in a row since Jay Rodriguez in March 2014.
He is a player oozing with confidence, having four shots against Norwich - the most of any Southampton player - and opened the scoring with a well-taken header. There are more fixtures on the horizon that are must-wins if Southampton want to continue their climb away from the relegation places, and Ings will need to continue his form.
After the game, Southampton manager Hasenhuttl said: "It is a result of a guy who is working his socks off. This is exactly how it should be and he's absolutely positive all the time. You can see and feel how much he invests to win balls, to work for the team. He has had a fantastic run in the last games and I hope it stays on."
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl: "It's long ago since we had the last back-to-back wins but after the last international break, the reaction of the team and the things we have worked on, it seems like it was the right change that we made in our shape and our behaviours to finally get back on our track.
"The players showed a fantastic first 60 or 70 minutes but it is normal that the opponents then get a little lift at 2-1 and our energy was going down. You see that when you don't put high pressure on teams, you can struggle a little bit defending deep, but, in the end, it was an absolutely deserved win... It was by far the best game we've showed at home this season.
"It's very important for us to take six points from these two home games because it is important to lift out of the relegation zone. You can see how quickly things change in football and there are still very important games to come in the next weeks.
"But these seven points we have in the last three games are massive and, more importantly for me, we have found a way we want to play and rediscovered our identity again and this is more important than every win."
Norwich manager Daniel Farke: "We are disappointed because we have to return to Norwich without any points. It was a game of two different halves and the perfect role model of why we need to stick to our principles.
"In the first half, we were not brave enough to play our football. Southampton are a really good pressing side, especially in the home games, but we were not brave enough to bypass them or use some risky options sometimes in the build-up. If I'm really honest, in the first half we looked solid out of the game because we didn't allow them to have any chances, but we didn't have the control over the game and allowed them to have too many set-pieces.
"To be 2-0 down at half-time is really difficult, especially for such a young side, and I was pretty pleased with the reaction in the second half. It's easier to start in this way - how we played in the second half - from the beginning, but to do this in a situation where you are 2-0 down in an away game, it was pretty impressive.
"We started then to play our football, to dominate possession and have several chances. My feeling was that the second-half performance definitely deserved for us to travel back with at least a draw, but the first 45 minutes today were crucial and we have to accept the loss because we also missed many chances."
Both teams are next in action on Sunday. Southampton will travel to Newcastle while Norwich host Sheffield United, with both games kicking off at 2pm.
