When Southampton appointed Ivan Juric two months ago, their club statement said they believed he would provide the ‘grit’ required to avoid relegation. That isn’t the first word which would pop into fans’ minds now. One that rhymes with it, perhaps.
If you are going to go down – and the Saints increasingly look destined for the Championship – at least do it with some dignity. At least give your supporters a reason to turn up on a Saturday afternoon. At least surpass that 11-point total set by Derby County in 2007-08. At least try.
Outside of St Mary’s Stadium, the Saints brass band were playing that Avicii song which goes: ‘Wake me up when it’s all over.’ You are always guaranteed to get a tune out of them, at least. The same cannot be said for this group under Juric, sadly.
This was a walkover for Brighton. Joao Pedro, Georginio Rutter, Kaoru Mitoma and Jack Hinshelwood scored and in truth, they could have had twice that and then some on another afternoon.
Pedro toyed with Southampton from the start as the Brighton striker’s deft touches, one-twos and dummies made him seem like the older kid playing with the young’uns on the playground.
It took less than two minutes for Lesley Ugochukwu to chop him down, a cruncher which won the Chelsea loanee a yellow card.
Southampton suffered another heavy home defeat as they went down 4-0 against Brighton
Kaoru Mitoma was among the goal scorers for a Brighton side that are starting to hit their stride once again
Ivan Juric was brought in to help Southampton survive relegation but that won’t be happening
The first of Brighton’s many chances to open the scoring came in the seventh minute when the trailing leg of Aaron Ramsdale denied Rutter after he had turned Joe Aribo.
How Aribo escaped a caution in the 15th for dragging down Rutter to concede a 20-yard free-kick, only our referee Darren Bond knows. Carlos Baleba took it as a wicked deflection off the wall prompted the ball to bounce down and then over the crossbar with Ramsdale beaten.
When Southampton captain Jan Bednarek picked up a muscular problem, he was replaced by Armel Bella-Kotchap, who could not catch Pedro after he broke behind. Brighton’s striker was bundled over, but Bond decided it was too soft for a penalty.
After 20 minutes, Mitoma nudged Yasin Ayari’s cross narrowly wide. After 22, Yakuba Minteh was one-on-one with Ramsdale, only to slip as he approached the box. That gave Southampton’s goalkeeper enough of an opportunity to smother the ball.
Not to worry, as Brighton broke the deadlock in the 23rd minute when Pedro forced his way through. With no Southampton defenders near him, he dinked the ball over Ramsdale for 1-0.
‘Attack, attack, attack,’ came the cry from a few Saints fans and Brighton goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen was needed to stop Welington’s cross from creeping into the top corner.
That was as close as they came in the first half, as Ramsdale pushed wide a curler from Minteh to make sure they stayed within touching distance at the break.
In the 49th minute, Southampton scored, Cameron Archer beating Verbruggen after a through-ball. However, the offside flag was raised and verified by VAR.
Aaron Ramsdale was playing Champions League football last season but is now heading for the Championship
Instead it became 2-0 to Brighton as their high press forced Aribo into losing possession. Minteh picked up the ball and squared to Rutter for the finish.
Minteh should have scored one for himself in the 68th minute when his turn after breaking behind not only sent Kyle Walker-Peters to the shops but Ramsdale also. With the goal gaping and Southampton’, the tap-in was there, but he took too long as Ramsdale scrambled to block.
It was 3-0 after 71 minutes when Pedro slipped in Mitoma, who started his sprint from his own half. He kept going until he only had Ramsdale in front of him as he chipped the ball over a goalkeeper who was playing Champions League football as recently as last season.
He is now heading towards the Championship, and could not get near Hinshelwood’s blast when Southampton’s defenders criminally allowed a corner to bounce through the box in the 82nd minute for 4-0. That was the cue for Saints’ supporters to go marching out of St Mary’s. All they missed was Ramsdale making more saves to avoid an even more embarrassing scoreline.
