By the end, the scarves given out to Southampton supporters – presumably to placate for that record-breaking 9-0 shellacking here against Leicester a fortnight ago – were strewn across the pitch in anger. They should have doubled up as blindfolds, such was the spineless manner of a first-half performance that set the tone for a sixth defeat in seven
Premier League matches. The dark clouds that loomed over the Everton manager, Marco Silva, may have subsided but the pressure has intensified on Ralph Hasenhüttl, whose side have the worst defensive record in the division. This was yet more anguish for disenchanted Southampton fans, who have not seen their team record victory on home soil since April. Hasenhüttl grimaced as Richarlison struck the winner and, up in the directors’ box, food for thought for Katharina Liebherr, the former majority shareholder.
“When we defend like this, when we are exposed like this, it is simply not good enough for the Premier League,” Hasenhüttl said. “When I see our performance in the first half, normally you don’t get anything in football if you play like we played. It was a very, very early goal. First chance, first goal, like very often in our home games. After this goal you could feel the lack of self-confidence, nervousness. All that we prepared for this game was gone in that moment. Nobody wanted to have the ball anymore. The spaces we wanted to use, nobody saw them. Not brave enough and not good enough, simply.”