Southampton 2 - 0 Hull
Southampton’s Graziano Pellè ends league drought to see off Hull CityJames Ward-Prowse 56 Pen
Graziano Pelle 81
Graziano Pellè celebrates after scoring Southampton's second goal against Hull.
Two Southampton players ended torturous waits and, in so doing, left Hull sitting nervously. James Ward-Prowse converted a second-half penalty to claim his first Premier League goal on his 69th appearance, and Graziano Pellè scored in the league for the first time since before Christmas, strengthening Southampton’s push for European qualification and deepening Hull’s relegation fears.
Five matches without a win had left Hull in a precarious position and they arrived at St Mary’s as the team most likely to fall into the relegation zone if one of the bottom three were to stage a breakout. That threat drove Steve Bruce to drastic action, as one of the three changes he made to the side that had begun last week’s defeat at Swansea was to drop the goalkeeper Allan McGregor, whose fragility in recent weeks had aggravated the sense of anxiety gripping Hull. The 40-year-old Steve Harper was called upon to provide more security.
The veteran was given an unwelcome early test of his agility, as a reckless back pass in the opening seconds presented Shane Long with an opportunity to score against the club that sold him last August. The Irishman has many attributes but flawless finishing is not among them – as shown by a record of three goals from 25 league appearances for his new club so far – and he spared his former club by rounding Harper with a hefty touch that took the ball out of play.
That start spelled trouble for Hull but, in fact, they composed themselves quickly and began to unsettle their hosts. In the second minute Stephen Quinn took down a long crossfield pass and sidestepped Toby Alderweireld, who was playing at right-back. After beating Alderweireld, Quinn slipped a pass through to Sone Aluko, who dragged a shot wide from 15 yards. Four minutes later Aluko had a better effort, firing goalwards from 16 yards after good work down the right by Hull. Kelvin Davis, another veteran goalkeeper, saved well. The 38-year-old had to intervene again in the 11th minute when, after a bout of promising Hull pressure, he caught a header from Dame Ndoye.
Southampton’s challenge for a Champions League spot may have faded over recent matches but their manager, Ronald Koeman, made it clear that qualifying for the Europa League would be celebrated by a club that last qualified for Europe in 2003, thanks to their runners-up spot in that year’s FA Cup final. His team showed their determination to achieve that honour by regaining the initiative, even if they did not find the fluency of earlier in the campaign and the match became scrappy. However, Southampton forced Harper to make an excellent block in the 21st minute, when Long demonstrated one of his qualities by muscling his way into the box and passing to Pellè to shoot from close range.
Koeman replaced Victor Wanyama with Ward-Prowse at half-time in an attempt to introduce more inventiveness into the team. But regular outbreaks of inadequacy by both sides continued to mark the spectacle.
Davis, however, drew deserved applause in the 54th minute when he made a superb save to thwart Jake Livermore, displaying rapid footwork to adjust his position before stopping the midfielder’s powerful, low 20-yard drive with one hand.
Moments later Southampton took the lead and, yes, inadequacy by Hull was a contributory factor as Alex Bruce oafishly knocking over Long to concede a penalty. Harper got a hand to the spotkick but Ward-Prowse shot was crisply struck and carried on into the corner of the net all the same.
Hull, who had failed to score in 13 of their previous 23 matches, needed to sharpen up. They laboured hard but there was little sign of their toil bearing fruit. Paul McShane delivered a decent cross from the left in the 67th minute but it proved agonisingly too long for Ndoye, who stretched out a leg but could not connect.
James Chester met a corner with a firm header but Ryan Bertrand whacked it off the line. Steve Bruce chased an equaliser by casting on another striker, Yannick Sagbo, but his hopes were dashed nine minutes from time. It was surely no consolation that on this occasion it took a slick move to undo his team. After snazzy interplay by Saints, Morgan Schneiderlin fed Pellè, who swept the ball gratefully into net from eight yards.
The Italian seemed liberated by his ninth league goal of the season but his first this year, and he spent the remainder of the match producing tricks and passes that brought further cheer for the crowd. Hull, meanwhile, have little to be happy about right now.
• This article was amended on 11 April 2015 to reflect the fact Southampton played in the 2003-4 Uefa Cup.
Guardian
