Ralph Hasenhuttl
RALPH Hasenhuttl insisted “everybody put everything in to fight for this point” and labelled the 1-1 draw with West Ham a deserved result for both teams. Romain Perraud put the St Mary’s side ahead in the first-half with a deflected strike and his first Premier League goal, but Declan Rice pulled the Hammers level later. Hasenhuttl’s charges had the better of the opening 30 minutes and registered six shots on target in the first-half for the first time this season, while West Ham put all 10 wide of theirs wide or over. It ended a run of four defeats in the league for Saints and earned an eighth point of the campaign from the opening 10 fixtures.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “I think, in the end, a draw was a deserved result for both teams. We had a better first-half, they had a better second-half. We can score more goals in the first half though. I must say this is what was missing in the first half, the rest was good. We played a little bit more football and a little bit better with better positioning. But we couldn’t release the pressure in the second half and that was the reason we conceded the goal. It was right before I tried to change the shape and then the goal happens and I had to change it back and do other things.”
Hasenhuttl was ready to introduce Lyanco with his side a goal ahead going into the final 25 minutes before Rice’s leveller from the edge of the area. Instead, he made a quadruple change and introduced all of Sekou Mara, Samuel Edozie, Stuart Armstrong and Ibrahima Diallo.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “In the end, with four fresh players, I tried to get us back on the front foot. We had good moments from counters but no decisive ones. Both teams wanted to win but no one made it so the result is okay. I wanted to go with a back five because we had problems with the wingers. It was not so clear who was defending out there at that moment and the centre was becoming suddenly open.”
