Eckert hails Saints' bravery to see off Swansea
Tonda Eckert hailed his players’ brave approach after Southampton toppled the Sky Bet Championship leaders for the second home game in succession.
After putting five past Millwall last time out at St Mary’s, Saints ran out 3-1 winners over new leaders Swansea – a result that would put Eckert’s side top of the tree themselves without the four-point deduction imposed in the summer.
Finn Azaz and Cyle Larin hit first-half goals before the Swans halved the deficit through Zan Vipotnik’s 52nd-minute penalty, but Leo Scienza’s coolly-taken clincher 12 minutes from the end made sure of victory.
“We played against top of the league today. I know it’s early in the season, but they (Swansea) have shown what they are capable of and it’s not easy [to play against them],” Eckert said.
“The boys came out with so much courage, right from the start. We were very brave in the approach that we played against the ball especially, and I think we scored some fantastic goals, especially the third one in the most difficult period of the game.
“To come out the way that we did I think deserves some credit to the players.”
On his side’s tactical approach, pressing Swansea from the front from the first whistle, Eckert felt it was important to impose Saints’ home advantage and the power of the St Mary’s crowd on the previously unbeaten visitors.
“It’s a decision that you need to make, how brave you want to be against this team, but the reality is that it’s St Mary’s, we are Southampton, so we need to make sure that we make the teams who come here feel that – it’s never easy,” he said.
“I think the boys have done that very well in the first half, and then you come out and you really want to make sure you start strong in the second half.
“We get a penalty against us, and then these games become very difficult for a moment, and then to have the bravery to play the way we did has been very good from the boys.
“In that moment, and especially when it was 2-1 for a longer period and the game is on the edge, I think the crowd was massive in that moment for us.”
Saints return home on Saturday after three league wins out of three at St Mary’s, scoring 11 goals along the way. Bristol City are the visitors in a 3pm BST kick-off, with tickets on general sale now priced from £30 for Adults and £15 for Under-18s.
