There was a strange scene at full-time when 30-or-so seagulls suddenly swarmed on St Mary’s Stadium, swirling and squawking as if salivating over the Southampton scraps kindly left to them after Bournemouth’s binge.
Were it not for Aaron Ramsdale likewise flying here and there, the visitors would have had twice their three-goal tally on an afternoon when the differing directions of these two south coast clubs were soberingly obvious. One destined for the Championship. The other for the Champions League? Well, they are currently positioned fifth in the Premier League.
In all likelihood, that will be enough to enter Europe’s elite competition come the end of the season, and it is no fluke that Bournemouth are now sandwiched between Manchester City and Chelsea.
At the end, to the tune of Tony Christie’s Amarillo, their supporters were singing: ‘Is this the way to Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Lazio or Roma? Bournemouth boys are taking over. Champions League awaits for me.’ They can dream, even if Andoni Iraola is trying to lower expectations.
‘We are far from there,’ he said. ‘The reality would be at the end of the season. We have to continue performing well. If we continue to perform well, we might have a chance.’
Iraola is only contracted until 2026 as it stands and when they weren’t chanting about the Champions League, they were singing for him to stay for the next 10 years.
Bournemouth continued their top-four charge to move within one point of Manchester City
Andoni Iraola’s side have managed an impressive 10 wins in their last 15 in all competitions
Southampton may have threatened late on once they finally remembered that they too are allowed to attack, but really, this win for Bournemouth was rarely appeared at risk.
Saints boss Ivan Juric said afterwards: ‘It was a bad first half, really bad. I’ve had other difficult situations. It’s a situation that’s really bad. There are lots of problems and we will try to fix it.’
Bournemouth took 14 minutes to open the scoring when Ryan Christie was given time to cross from the left. It was a delicious ball which found Dango Ouattara in between Jan Bednarek and Nathan Wood and, while Southampton’s defenders blamed one another for the amateurish marking, the visitors celebrated overtaking Chelsea in the Premier League table.
Nobody had won possession in the final third more than Bournemouth heading into this weekend, and it was a turnover which led to them doubling their lead in the 16th minute. Southampton placed little pressure on their opposing players as Christie scored from 25 yards.
‘You’re f***ing s***,’ sang Bournemouth’s supporters. ‘We’re f***ing s***,’ replied Southampton’s. Sometimes, gallows humour is the only option when in an otherwise hopeless situation.
Only Ramsdale stopped Bournemouth from grabbing a third before half-time when Antoine Semenyo rolled his man and flew forward. Ouattara made sure to stay onside to receive the pass, but he blasted the ball straight at Southampton’s goalkeeper.
In the 54th minute, Semenyo danced and danced. He took on one, then two, then three. It was a snake-hips slalom which led him to the six-yard box and would have been a wonderful solo goal had Ramsdale not tipped over his attempt at the end of it.
From the following corner, Christie thought his header had gone in, but referee Jarred Gillett’s watch refused to buzz. Replays confirmed a magnificent one-handed save from Ramsdale.
Dango Ouattara opened the scoring in the 14th minute, netting his eighth in the league this term
Ryan Christie doubled Bournemouth’s lead just two minutes later after assisting the first goal
After an hour, Southampton finally began to attack, managing their first shot on target of the match. In the 72nd minute, they made it 2-1 with Paul Onuachu knocking the ball into Kamaldeen Sulemana, who turned and blasted into the bottom corner.
Ramsdale was required again when Kyle Walker-Peters tried to cushion a header back to his goalkeeper, only to nearly lob him. An acrobatic leap saw it tipped over.
Walker-Peters was partly at fault when Bournemouth made it 3-1 in the 83rd minute as he played Semenyo onside as he broke behind. The ball made its way to Marcus Tavernier, who confirmed a victory which took Iraola’s side into the top five.
