Southampton thumped 3-0 away at West Brom

West Bromwich Albion earned back-to-back wins for the first time this season at Southampton’s expense as the Saints were soundly beaten 3-0 away at The Hawthorns.

Saints got a lucky break early in the match when Mbaye Diagne’s headed goal was ruled offside. Diagne appeared onside on the replays from multiple angles, but VAR was unable to definitively overturn the decision made on the pitch.

That disallowed goal quickly became a distant memory when the Baggies netted twice in three minutes.

Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster was left exposed by a porous defence and hauled down Matheus Pereira when the Brazilian was through on goal. Pereira then expertly dispatched the subsequent penalty on 32 minutes.

Matt Phillips then made it 2-0 to Sam Allardyce’s side after he tucked away a fantastic cross from Diagne, who seized upon an awful back pass down the left wing from Saints’ Danny Ings, on 35 minutes.

After going two goals down, Southampton gained control of possession. However, a Saints comeback like against Burnley in their previous fixture was not going to materialise.

Saints had plenty of the ball but failed to break down a determined West Brom defence and craft any dangerous chances.

Hasenhuttl’s men then paid the price for their ponderous attacking play when the Baggies broke on the counter and scored their third goal of the match.

Central midfielder Okay Yokuslu picked up a loose ball in the middle of the park and sliced open the Southampton defence with a through ball to Callum Robinson, who coolly slotted home for his fifth Premier League goal of the season.

Saints huffed and puffed afterwards, but again failed to mount any serious attacks to threaten Sam Johnstone in the West Brom goal.

Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse had the opportunity to bag a consolation goal in injury time from the penalty spot after substitute Moussa Djenepo was brought down by Conor Townsend in the box. However, Johnstone dove to his right and made a strong save to deny his England teammate.

West Brom remain 19th in the Premier League table on 24 points after this win, while Saints remain 14th on 36 points.

Southampton will have to pick themselves up for their trip to Wembley Stadium this weekend when they take on Leicester City in the Emirates FA Cup semi-final.

West Bromwich Albion (4-4-2): Johnstone; Townsend, Bartley (Ajayi 85’), O’Shea, Furlong; Pereira, Maitland-Niles, Yokuslu, Phillips; Diagne (Robson-Kanu 76’), Robinson (Gallagher 72’)

Unused subs: David Button (GK), Livermore, Diangana, Peltier, Gibbs, Grant

Goals: Pereira (PEN 32’), Phillips (35’), Robinson (69’)

Bookings: None

Southampton (4-4-2): Forster; Bertrand, Vestergaard, Bednarek, Walker-Peters (Djenepo 87’); Walcott (Adams 76’), Diallo, Ward-Prowse, Armstrong; Redmond, Ings (Tella 87’)

Unused subs: McCarthy (GK), Stephens, Salisu, Minamino, Ferry, Jankewitz

Goals: None

Bookings: Ward-Prowse