Monday Briefing: January 21st

Back-to-back wins for Saints

Ralph Hasenhüttl’s side made it four wins from their last seven Premier Leagues as they triumphed 2-1 over Everton on Saturday to open up a three-point gap between themselves and the relegation zone.

James Ward-Prowse struck for the second consecutive week from distance before a bizarre own goal from the Toffees’ Lucas Digne ultimately secured a precious three points for Southampton who rode a spell of late pressure following Gylfi Sigurdsson’s strike in stoppage time.

Crystal Palace, Burnley and Cardiff are to follow; the former two sit either side of Saints on 22 points. The Eagles visit St Mary’s on Wednesday 30 January.

Hasenhüttl praises fans’ influence

Ralph Hasenhüttl praised the role of the Southampton fans after seeing his side earn a 2-1 victory over Everton in the Premier League.

Asked about the fans influence, Hasenhüttl said: “I think today they had a very good feeling of what the team needs in what moment. That’s what I was talking about during the week. 

“The development on the pitch is one thing but in the stands it is another and you felt they knew very well what the team needs in what moment.

“It’s a very good feeling for the guys to play down there. It should be easier to win here in Southampton in the future and that’s what we have tried to work on.”

U23s head to Leeds

Radhi Jaïdi’s U23s will look to carry their excellent league form into the Premier League Cup tonight as they face Leeds at Tadcaster’s i2i Stadium.

The young Saints went to the top of the PL2 table following a 2-1 win at Middlesbrough last weekend, a position they also hold in the PL Cup group stage standings.

Having collected seven points from their three matches so far, a further victory over Leeds would confirm their place in the competition’s last 16. Supporters will be able to follow all the action on the club’s official Twitter feed.

Southampton FC Women knocked out of Hampshire Cup

Southampton FC Women came close to springing an upset in the Hampshire FA Challenge Cup, before being edged out 2-1 in the quarter-finals by south coast rivals Portsmouth.

Saints travelled to their opponents, who play two tiers above them, on Sunday afternoon, as the sides faced each other at PMC Stadium in front of a crowd of 546.

Saints made a dream start, taking the lead after 18 minutes: Georgie Freeland was the creator, flicking the ball into the path of Chloe Newton, who showed great strength and composure to hold off a defender and slot into the bottom corner.

The lead lasted until the 69th minute when Pompey’s Rachel Panting got down the line and drove in a low cross that was met by Shannon Albuery.

There was little to separate the sides after that, and in the end the match was decided by a fine goal, as Albuery played the ball to Alex Collighan on the edge of the area on 81 minutes and she curled a shot into the top corner.

Yoshida back in Asian Cup action

Saints defender Maya Yoshida is away with Japan this month at the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates and returns to action at 11.00 GMT this morning as the competition’s knockout stages begin to hot up.

Yoshida captained his country to three straight wins in the group stages over Turkmenistan, Oman and Uzbekistan – a game for which several first-team players were rested - and a last-16 clash with Saudi Arabia at the Al-Sharjah stadium is their reward.

The winner will join Vietnam, Iran and China in the quarter-finals which will take place on Thursday and Friday of this week. Australia face Uzebekistan and the hosts take on Kyrgyzstan in today’s other games.