Ruben Selles vowed Southampton will “fight until the very last point” after his side slipped closer to Premier League relegation following a damaging 1-0 defeat to Bournemouth.
Marcus Tavernier’s second-half winner at St Mary’s left the the division’s bottom club six points from safety with five games to go.
Beleaguered Saints thought they had snatched a dramatic draw but Che Adams’ 89th-minute effort was disallowed for offside following VAR intervention.
A painful defeat to their south-coast rivals inflicted a club-record 11th home league loss of the season on Southampton, with lingering hopes of survival fading fast.
“We are going to go and try to put a performance in every game to try to win, and we are going to do it until the very end,” said Selles.
“I know it’s only five games to play. But we are professionals and we will fight until the very last point.
“I know now it’s hard, I know the table is looking like it’s a difficult one but we are going to give it a try.”
Southampton lacked attacking thrust and urgency for much of a miserable evening played in soggy conditions.
Aside from Adams’ disallowed effort, the home side rarely threatened an equaliser following Tavernier’s deflected effort in the 50th minute.
“It’s a disappointing night, we came with the intention to put in a good performance and we obviously didn’t,” said Selles.
“Some of the things that can go against us, they went against us.
“Even the offside goal, it’s a couple of centimetres but it is offside. It was a hard night.”
Southampton lost captain James Ward-Prowse for the second half due to a sore throat and he will be assessed before Sunday’s visit to high-flying Newcastle.
Bournemouth moved on to 36 points – seven clear of the drop zone – following a significant win over their near neighbours.
Cherries boss Gary O’Neil initially feared substitute Adams was onside but felt his team were due a favourable VAR call.
O’Neil insists Bournemouth still have work to do to ensure safety following a third consecutive away success.
“It’s a big win for us, of course,” he said. “The performance was pleasing. I thought we were by far the better side today.
“The lads are recovering for Sunday (at home to Leeds), there’s no celebration, there’s not talk of points tallies. I can easily see 36 points going down this year. We won’t be resting.”
Speaking about the disallowed goal, he said: “We were due one to go our way. We’ve had some tight ones go against us.
“There were a few screams on the bench when it was ruled out. I didn’t think it was going to be.
“We had some footage in front of us which wasn’t clear. That’s a horrible moment as a coach when you’re sat there and waiting for someone to decide.
“But the players didn’t deserve to suffer that today, so pleased that we had a VAR check go our way for the first time this season, I think.”
Match-winner Tavernier limped off 12 minutes from time with a hamstring issue.
“He seems to think it isn’t too serious,” said O’Neil. “Hopefully it was just a touch of cramp.”
Postecoglou: Spurs have a confidence problem to overcome
Ange Postecoglou says that Tottenham need to "overcome" their low confidence after suffering a 4-2 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.
Spurs slipped to their fourth consecutive Premier League defeat, being left to bemoan their slow start as they found themselves 4-0 down by the hour mark thanks to goals from Mohamed Salah, Andrew Robertson, Cody Gakpo and Harvey Elliott.
Richarlison came off the bench to salvage some pride for Spurs, scoring one before setting up Son Heung-min for a goal on his 300th Premier League appearance.
Spurs had the opportunity to cut the gap to the top four after Aston Villa’s defeat to Brighton, but they remain seven points off a Champions League spot.
Postecoglou’s side still have a game in hand over the Villans, though he was sure that Spurs would be able to put their recent poor run behind them.
Asked if Spurs had a confidence problem, Postecoglou told Sky Sports: "Maybe in the front third there is.
"It probably is a bit of a lack of confidence, but again, that's something the guys have to work through.
"You have to find a way to overcome that because, ultimately, if you don't put pressure on the opposition in the front third after you've worked your way up there, they're going to get comfortable with their position."
Spurs have won just one of their last nine Premier League away games, failing to win any of the last five.
Despite that run extending at Anfield, Postecoglou highlighted what he thought was an improvement on their recent performances.
He continued: "Obviously a hugely disappointing outcome for us but at least we were more like ourselves today in terms of our football.
"Our last two away games at Newcastle and Chelsea, apart from the results which weren't great either, we just didn't try and play our football.
"I thought today, even in the first half, some of our football, our pressing was back to where it should be."
Roma 1-1 Juventus: Juve miss chance to close gap to second after draw with Roma
Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Roma on Sunday, missing the chance to close in on Milan in second place in Serie A.
Roma took the lead after 15 minutes when Romelu Lukaku found himself in the perfect position to tap in the rebound from a Bryan Cristante shot.
Bremer levelled with a header for Juventus just after the half-hour mark when Federico Chiesa picked him out inside the box from a corner.
Both sides had chances to find a winner in the final minutes, with Roma keeper Mile Svilar making a fingertip save to push Manuel Locatelli's volley over the bar.
Third-placed Juventus have 66 points, five fewer than Milan, who drew 3-3 with Genoa earlier on Sunday. Roma are fifth with 60 points.
Data Debrief: Leading from the back
Since scoring his first Serie A goal in the 2019-20 season, Bremer is the defender with the most headed goals in the Big-5 European leagues, netting 13 in total. Each of his last seven goals have been headers.
His goal was enough to earn Juventus a point today, but it means that they have drawn each of their last four in the competition - a first since February-March 2012 under Antonio Conte.
Chelsea 8-0 Bristol City: Blues rout hands Hayes perfect home send off
Guro Reiten starred as Chelsea thrashed already-relegated Bristol City 8-0 to keep their title hopes alive in the Women's Super League on Sunday.
The Norwegian scored four goals, netting the opener from the penalty spot to get Emma Hayes' last home game in charge off to the best start.
She scored the other three in the second half in just over 20 minutes, while teeing up Agnes Beever-Jones for the seventh goal with just two minutes left.
Beever-Jones got two, with Sjoeke Nusken and Niamh Charles also adding to the scoreline to eradicate the goal-difference advantage that Manchester City, who lost to Arsenal earlier on Sunday, had over them.
Chelsea move to within three points of the Citizens, with a game in hand over them, remaining in the fight to lift their fifth-consecutive league title.
Data Debrief:
Chelsea have scored eight goals in a game for the first time since December 2022 against Leicester City, a match they also won 8-0.
The Blues have scored in their last six games in the WSL, though it does not come close to their longest run of games with a goal in the competition - a run of 20 from April 2023 to February 2024.
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