Everton 1-1 Southampton (original) (raw)
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Nathan Redmond's first goal of the season could prove pivotal for Southampton
Southampton manager Mark Hughes said his side will make sure "Swansea know they are in a game" in their crucial relegation meeting on Tuesday.
The Saints moved out of the bottom three and above the Welsh club despite a 96th-minute Tom Davies goal that denied them victory at Everton.
Hughes will take his team to Liberty Stadium on Tuesday, after Nathan Redmond's second-half goal gave them the lead at Goodison and saw them move up a place on goal difference.
Winger Redmond nodded Cedric Soares' cross past Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford in an otherwise subdued contest which saw Southampton's Maya Yoshida sent off for two fouls.
"We have a massive game coming up against Swansea and that will probably determine who stays up and who goes down," said Hughes.
"We have done everything right in the game apart from the last moment and then it was given against us. We will be ready Tuesday."
Everton, who stay eighth in the table, were booed at the final whistle of their final home game of the season, and the result means they can no longer overhaul seventh-placed Burnley who have qualified for the Europa League.
Pickford denied the visitors twice in the first half, saving Charlie Austin's sweetly-struck 20-yard volley and Oriol Romeu's low deflected strike.
Even after Yoshida's dismissal Southampton continued to threaten with Redmond's clever running causing problems for the hosts.
But it took a vital save by Alex McCarthy to turn away Leighton Baines' goal-bound free-kick before Davies' strike deflected in off Wesley Hoedt in added time.
Battle to beat the drop
This was the last act on a dramatic day of action for the clubs fighting for Premier League survival.
Stoke's defeat by Crystal Palace ended their 10-year stay in the top flight, while Swansea's loss at Bournemouth left them still in real danger and winless in seven games.
West Brom had given themselves faint hope with their dramatic late win over Spurs - and went from facing certain relegation to clinging on still thanks to Everton's late goal.
West Ham's comfortable victory over Leicester - coupled with Southampton's draw - confirmed that David Moyes' side are safe.
But Huddersfield, who have 35 points, must travel to champions Manchester City on Sunday (13:30 BST), and then play Chelsea on Wednesday before hosting Arsenal on the final day.
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How it looks at the bottom
Boos amid Goodison unrest
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Everton have been linked with former Watford manager Marco Silva and Shakhtar Donetsk boss Paulo Fonseca if they decide to part ways with Sam Allardyce in the summer
The reverse of this fixture at St Mary's in November was one of the low points of Everton's season. That day the Toffees, under caretaker boss David Unsworth after Ronald Koeman's sacking, lost 4-1 and were 16th in the table.
Just three days after a 5-1 defeat by Atalanta in the Europa League, it was another stark example of the malaise that prompted owner Farhad Moshiri to turn to Sam Allardyce.
His brief was to halt their free-fall down the league - Everton were two points from the bottom three after defeat on the South coast - and instil some organisation and resolve to a leaky defence.
In that regard - they remain eighth and have long been safe - the former England manager can claim to have done his job. Yet some supporters remain deeply unhappy with what they feel is his risk-averse style of football.
Those hoping this would be the last time Allardyce was in the home dug-out distributed leaflets calling for a "peaceful protest" beforehand, aimed to signal they will not "robotically accept the dross served up".
While few, if any, turned their back on this lacklustre game as suggested, there were boos at half-time following an abject first 45 minutes with only three shots on target in total.
Allardyce's decision to replace winger Yannick Bolasie with defender Ramiro Funes Mori at the break prompted more puzzlement from some fans, but the switch to three central defenders allowed attacking full-backs Seamus Coleman and Baines to press further up the pitch.
Despite the extra defender there was still nobody marking Redmond as he headed past Pickford at the back post, prompting even louder boos.
And after a subdued performance from the hosts, Moshiri, watching in the stands, will have been left with no uncertainty over the feelings of many supporters concerning Allardyce's future.
Southampton buy themselves more time
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Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy was wrongfooted by the deflection off Wesley Hoedt
On the day his former club Stoke City were relegated, Mark Hughes' Southampton gave themselves a lifeline in their fight to stay up.
Hughes, who was sacked by the Potters on 6 January, was close to overseeing back-to-back victories for his latest employers and leading the Saints to their first win at Goodison in 21 years before the late setback.
He has found it difficult to emphatically revive Southampton's fortunes since taking over from Mauricio Pellegrino in March, but victory over Bournemouth last weekend was a major boost and this result buys them more time.
Hughes admitted it "felt like a defeat" and blamed referee Jonathan Moss "as he usually is 30 yards behind play" for wrongly awarding Everton a free-kick in the build up to their goal.
But after the disappointment subsides he may reflect on a performance that saw his team out-play a club nine places above them in the table. The visitors created more chances and had five shots on target to Everton's three.
By contrast Swansea, who they must aim to beat on Tuesday, lost despite having more possession at Bournemouth and lack cutting edge in the final third.
Hughes, whose side host champions Manchester City on the final day of the season, will hope for a little more luck in Wales than they got on Merseyside.
Man of the match - Nathan Redmond (Southampton)
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Redmond's goal was his first in 31 Premier League appearances, with his 40th shot of this campaign. He last scored against Middlesbrough on 13 May 2017
'An anguishing performance' - what they said
Everton manager Sam Allardyce said: "It was an anguishing performance to stand and watch the players.
"They have worked extremely hard from the day I walked into the club. But look at the record and the results they have achieved.
"We have nicked something out of it we didn't really deserve today. We didn't have much to play for other than to try to entertain the fans in the final home game and we haven't done that.
"The loss of Wayne Rooney, Theo Walcott, Gylfi Sigurdsson and Dominic Calvert-Lewin - that's a lot. But the lads who stepped in, as hard as they tried, didn't match up to the levels of those other guys."
Southampton boss Mark Hughes told BT Sport: "We clearly haven't got what we deserved today. The referee has made a decision to give the free-kick in the corner.
"He allows it to be taken from a false position, then we're on the back foot, and we're down to 10 men too because of a decision he made and he has given free-kicks when our lads didn't touch them. I'm really upset with the officials.
"We have got something out of the game though and we are out of the bottom three."
BBC pundit and former England midfielder Frank Lampard on Match of the Day: "I understand Mark Hughes raging. Southampton worked incredibly hard, were organised and got themselves in front.
"Nathan Redmond wins the ball cleanly and the referee gets it wrong. It's then two mistakes because the ball isn't played from where it should be. It gives Everton one last push.
"Everton didn't really deserve anything from the game. Typically, when you're in the position Southampton are in, it takes a nasty deflection and it's one point instead of three."
Saints' Goodison hoodoo continues - the stats
- Everton have lost just one of their 19 Premier League home games against Southampton (W13 D5).
- The side playing at home has only lost one of the past 18 league meetings between these sides (W11 D6), with Everton picking up a 3-0 victory at St Mary's in August 2015.
- Southampton have now dropped 21 points from winning positions this season - only West Brom have lost more (26).
- The Toffees have lost their final home league game in just two of their past 14 seasons (W10 D2).
- Everton have conceded 55 Premier League goals this season - the last time they conceded more came during the 2003-04 campaign (57 goals conceded).
- The Saints have now conceded 14 goals from outside of the box this campaign - the most in the division.
What's next?
Everton travel to West Ham on Sunday, 13 May (15:00 BST) for their final game of the season, while Southampton face Swansea at the Liberty stadium on Tuesday (19:45 BST).
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