Report: Ten-man Saints stand firm for famous derby win

Saints looked on course for a far more comfortable afternoon’s work when James Bree opened the scoring via the far post in the 20th minute after collecting a sublime pass from Finn Azaz in his stride.

But the dismissal of Cameron Bragg just before half time for two clear yellow cards changed the complexion of a game played in a competitive spirit in a highly-charged high-noon atmosphere.

The introduction of half-time substitute Adrian Segečić helped Portsmouth apply plenty of second-half pressure, but Saints held firm for their first league clean sheet of the season, and a momentous first St Mary’s victory on derby day since January 2005.

Tonda Eckert made two changes to his last Saints line-up, as Championship football returned after a three-week absence for the first international window of the season.

Perhaps it was no coincidence that the head coach called upon two players who understand the derby better than most, as captain Jack Stephens and Academy graduate Bragg came into the starting XI.

Nathan Wood and Kuryu Matsuki, who recently returned from international duty with Japan, joined the fit-again Caspar Jander among the substitutes.

Saints nearly enjoyed a dream start inside two minutes before the visitors had the chance to piece together any sort of passage of play.

In a vociferous atmosphere, Ryan Manning played an exceptional 50-yard diagonal pass on to the toe of Cyle Larin, whose first touch was immaculate, but he could not quite smuggle the ball past Nicolas Schmid with his second as the keeper saved with his legs.

Cyle Larin is denied by Nicolas Schmid early on

Saints were all over their rivals. Eckert, who must have been encouraged by the start, controlled a loose clearance from Schmid to mass cheers from the home faithful, allowing Manning to take a quick throw-in as the hosts continued to inject a breakneck tempo into the derby.

When Saints did have to defend for the first time, Flynn Downes got a crucial foot in to prevent a left-wing cross reaching Abu Kamara on the edge of the box, before Ryan Kavuma-McQueen and Jayden Meghoma tried their luck from 20 yards as Portsmouth began to settle.

Meghoma, who progressed from the Saints Academy through to the first team, blazed high and wide from another Pompey attack.

But Saints have the star quality in the final third, and so it proved when Azaz unpicked the visiting defence with a wonderful clipped pass over the top for the onrushing Bree, who took the ball in his stride with his right foot and cleverly steered a precise shot into the far corner with his left, clipping the post on its way in before the scorer wheeled away to celebrate in front of the travelling fans.

Roared on by the home fans, Downes battled for the ball in the Portsmouth box, surrounded by blue shirts, and subsequently squared up to Ebou Adams as emotions ran high.

It was Adams who picked the pocket of Bragg, whose mistimed sliding tackle was punished by the game’s first yellow card, before Adams joined him in the book for grappling with Manning at a corner.

St Mary's erupts as James Bree gives Saints a 20th-minute lead

Portsmouth were yet to fashion a chance of note, but that was thanks in part to the diligence of Downes, who was quick to pounce on a loose touch from Kavuma-McQueen when the winger found a yard of space on the edge of the area.

Saints looked set to see out the half without any major alarms until the dismissal of Bragg suddenly changed the mood inside St Mary’s.

Not dissimilar to his first offence, the youngster allowed Adams to get in front of him and panicked, this time pulling the shirt of his opponent for a clear second yellow.

That left Saints feeling grateful for the half-time whistle, as Daniel Peretz stooped to keep out Colby Bishop’s downward header before Kavuma-McQueen fired wide from 20 yards.

How Saints would love a two-goal cushion with 45 minutes to play with 10 men, and another exceptional Azaz pass, this time with his left foot, offered Scienza a golden chance to double the lead early in the second period.

Faced with Schmid, Scienza went for power with his left foot and was met by a fine one-handed save from the sprawling keeper above his head.

Head coach Tonda Eckert consoles Cameron Bragg after his 44th-minute dismissal

Larin, not really in the game since his very early chance, was booked for waving an imaginary card, while Azaz soon followed suit for lunging in on Adams, who seemed to be Saints’ prime suspect.

The depleted hosts would have been expecting to come under pressure and the visitors enjoyed their strongest spell to date 10 minutes into the second half.

Meghoma saw a low shot blocked by Keven Schlotterbeck, before half-time substitute Segečić dragged the follow-up narrowly wide.

Segečić breathed new life into Pompey as an attacking force, firing another shot into the sidenetting after Zak Swanson’s driven ball was cleared from underneath Saints’ crossbar.

Eckert responded to the shift in momentum by introducing Matsuki for Scienza to make his team more robust, while opposite number John Mousinho sensed an opportunity as he made a triple change of his own with 25 minutes left.

A welcome sight for Saints fans was the return of Jander, making his first appearance of the season after suffering an injury against Eastleigh in the summer, as the German replaced Larin, leaving Saints without a recognised striker from the 72nd minute.

The substitutions helped stem the flow of Pompey attacks, as the visitors seemed to be running out of ideas.

But the corner count continued to rise as the Saints defence repelled everything that was thrown at them, symbolised by the bandaged Bree, now just moments away from joining Danny Ings, James Beattie and Steve Moran as a match-winner in this famous fixture.

Five added minutes ensured the Saints support, so used to their team scoring by the bucketload at St Mary’s, would have to suffer a little bit longer, but the hosts remained resolute to see the job through, finally giving the derby its first league winner in more than two decades.

Southampton: Peretz, Bree, Stephens (c), Schlotterbeck, Manning, Ward-Prowse, Downes, Bragg, Azaz, Scienza (Matsuki 57), Larin (Jander 72).

Subs not used: Long, Wood, Welington, Fellows, Edozie, Dobbin, Mubama.

Goals: Bree (20’).

Booked: Bragg, Larin, Azaz, Schlotterbeck.

Sent off: Bragg (44').

Portsmouth: Schmid, Swanson (Anderson 77), Dia, Poole, Meghoma (Devlin 65), Pack (c), Adams (Bailey 65), Kavuma-McQueen (Segečić 46), Kamara, Shade, Bishop (Marezi 65).

Subs not used: Bielica, Shein, Kenny, Mohamed.

Booked: Adams, Meghoma, Devlin.

Attendance: 30,735.

Referee: Adam Herczeg.