Eckert hails Saints' "pure desire to win"
Tonda Eckert hailed Southampton’s “pure desire” to dig deep for three points, as Saints secured a first league victory in eight games to return to winning ways at St Mary’s.
Leo Scienza was credited with the only goal of the game after his seventh-minute shot deflected past Sheffield United goalkeeper Michael Cooper.
Scienza and Finn Azaz had the pick of the chances to extend Saints’ lead, but ultimately one goal would prove to be enough, as Saints held on for a vital clean sheet.
“I’m pleased. It was a big win today,” Eckert said. “When we’ve come off a spell where we don’t get the result that you want, and maybe sometimes deserve, the first one is the toughest one.
“We knew that we had to dig very deep today, and you could see this over the whole game. We left absolutely everything on the pitch.
“It was pure desire. Today was pure desire to win that game of football, and you could see that in every single moment, especially towards the end when they had three big boys up top and you need to defend some long balls that come in, which is never easy. It was pure desire to bring that game over the line.”
It was the first time Saints had scored first in a league game since their last league victory, 3-2 over West Brom back on December 9th.
“It was about time,” Eckert said of taking the lead. “We had the chances in many games to go up – even today there is more than one chance to make it two or three.”
The victory was made possible by a critical late save from on-loan Bayern Munich goalkeeper Daniel Peretz, who kept his first clean sheet on his third appearance in English football.
“You know how it is in those games when they are tight towards the end,” Ecket continued. “There is always going to be one ball that slips through, and then a big compliment to Daniel because it was a big save in the end.
“I’m very pleased. He’s a positive character and he’s a winner – that’s so important. He brings that winning mentality into the team, and obviously he backed that up with a big save.”
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