Ralph Hasenhuttl
RALPH Hasenhuttl labelled his Saints charges as “exceptional” after holding league leaders Manchester City to a 1-1 draw, but admitted his side found it hard to keep up with the extra “gears” City can play at. City arrived at St Mary’s after winning 12 league games in a row, but an early Kyle Walker-Peters strike allowed Saints to take a point from Pep Guardiola’s men for the second time this season. Speaking to the press,
Ralph Hasenhüttl said: “It was tough today. The first 30 minutes we were exceptional, good, I think they have done everything we wanted them to do. I think we also had a little bit of possession, which is important against this team. Scored a beautiful goal, but they have more gears than we have. When they switch into the next gear, we cannot follow, cause we are struggling in the second half with possession – only 26 per cent possession, which is not enough.”
Saints’ only true mistake of the match proved costly, with some lackadaisical marking allowing Aymeric Laporte a free header from a free-kick. Despite the sloppy goal Saints conceded, Hasenhuttl believes it is incredibly hard to limit City completely.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “It is super tough against them – they find solutions for everything. They want to press and find the gaps, really push you back on the edge of your box, and we couldn’t release the pressure in the second half. This was tough because then you make mistakes, and they never let you breathe, they come again, they come again. They never let you have a moment. In the second half, you could see it gets tougher and tougher, we get tired and then we make a few mistakes. Then in the last 20, 15 minutes it was again like the game we had in the first half. A couple of moments where we created chances, we had a good chance from Broj (Armando Broja) before the equaliser. When you score a second goal, it think it is even harder for them.”
The Austrian also shared his praise for Fraser Forster, with the former England International producing some big stops to keep City at bay.
Ralp Hasenhuttl relayed: “You need everything, you need luck, you need a super goalkeeper today. Super goal that we scored, and then you can take something from them.”
