Report and highlights as Southampton move five points clear of the relegation zone and help seal Huddersfield's relegation
Saturday 30 March 2019 18:52, UK
Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored the only goal of a tense encounter at the Amex Stadium as Southampton beat Brighton 1-0 in the Premier League.
Hojbjerg calmly slotted the ball past Mat Ryan in the 53rd minute following a quick Southampton counter-attack.
Brighton almost equalised through Martin Montoya in the 72nd minute, but his sweetly-struck effort from the edge of the box smashed off the crossbar to deny him his first goal for the club.
Southampton's third win in their last four league matches moves them up into 16th on 33 points, level with 15th-placed Brighton. With Southampton and Burnley both winning and Huddersfield losing, the Terriers have been relegated.
In a first half full of fight but little creativity from either side, Stuart Armstrong had the first chance to get a shot on goal, but his half-volley was well blocked by a sliding Bernardo six minutes before half-time.
Two minutes later and Anthony Knockaert floated a pinpoint cross into a static Glenn Murray in the box, only for his header to spin over the bar.
With Southampton looking the more likely to score, Nathan Redmond was presented with a good chance in the 43rd minute after being teed up by Danny Ings on the counter-attack, but he fired his low shot wide.
The second half sparked into life when Hojbjerg broke the deadlock. Armstrong applied heavy pressure on the Brighton backline and laid the ball off to Redmond before he surged forward and teed up Hojbjerg to slot away.
Brighton pushed hard for an equaliser with Montoya's shot cracking off the crossbar just before Davy Propper failed to slot past Angus Gunn in the 73rd minute. The Netherlands international failed to cleanly connect with the ball just inside the box with the goal gaping.
In that moment there were appeals for a Brighton penalty as Propper claimed he was pulled down by Hojbjerg, but referee Michael Oliver waved play on.
Southampton held firm for the remaining quarter-hour with Brighton limited to shooting from range, and the visitors' tireless defensive work resulted in a vital win for Ralph Hasenhuttl's side in their pursuit of Premier League survival.
Chris Hughton: "That was probably the tale of the game. The one or two chances they had really good counter-attacking goals and that was the difference between the two teams.
"We never really threatened the goalkeeper enough and can't remember him (Gunn) having to make too many saves.
"We didn't play at a level that was going to win us a game - particularly at home."
Ralph Hasenhuttl: "We played with a back four for the first time today in the Premier League and the guys were convinced about that. They felt it was working.
"The last few weeks have been intense (in training) and now we have two shapes when we can switch and that helps us.
"The Montoya chance we were a bit lucky, but they didn't have so many chances so I think it was a deserved win for us."
Southampton's danger on the counter-attack mainly stemmed from the endeavour of Redmond, whose pace gave Brighton's backline plenty of problems.
His driving run was what created Hojbjerg the space to score Southampton's only goal of the game.
Brighton travel to Chelsea on Wednesday, April 3 for a 7.45pm kick-off. Southampton, meanwhile, host Liverpool on Friday Night Football live on Sky Sports Premier League.
