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Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl is aiming for a winning end to the Premier League season following a rollercoaster campaign.
The south coast outfit were top of the league in November but swiftly slid down the table after a poor 2021.
Their 3-1 victory over Crystal Palace on Tuesday night was just their fourth league win since the turn of the year.
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They endured a disastrous start at St Mary’s as Christian Benteke put Palace in front after just two minutes.
Southampton failed to clear, allowing the Belgian striker to find space in the box and fire past keeper Fraser Forster.
Hasenhuttl’s side got level not long afterwards through talisman Danny Ings. After returning from a hamstring injury, he proved his worth to the club once again by pulling off a nice touch and sending a shot past Vicente Guaita.
The Eagles had the chance to regain their lead before half-time as Wilfried Zaha won a penalty. But Forster had done his homework on Luka Milivojevic’s technique and saved well to maintain the Saints’ lead.
In the second half, Che Adams made it 2-1 before Ings got on the scoresheet again, wrapping up the home win.
Speaking after the match, Hasenhuttl said: “It is the worst thing that should happen, they always score very early, it didn’t kill our game plan because we knew we would have a lot of possession and try to create chances.
“We could have scored even more. We tried to move them around and they had big problems with our attacking stuff. We needed Fraser Forster before half-time because the penalty save was important, then the start for a very lively second half, creating some very good chances. A good evening.”
When asked about striker Ings, Hasenhuttl added: “No big gamble because I left him out against Liverpool and he wanted to play, I knew against Palace I needed his quality in the box and this is what we got today. It is good to see and good for the team. This is Danny Ings.”
Speaking about the remainder of the season, the manager said: “To bring as many points in as possible, climb a few positions, we know we have had some issues since Christmas – 2020 was fantastic and 2021 so far not, it is now time to turn it around and have a promising ending.
“We will not forget what problems we have and to try to solve them in the summer – we have a small squad and need more players.”
The Saints’ next match is against relegated Fulham on Saturday.
The post Hasenhuttl hoping for ‘promising end’ to tough Saints campaign appeared first on Football365.
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