RALPH Hasenhuttl praised the way his side dominated from the early stages as they went on to secure a club record-breaking 8-0 away win at Newport County, insisting: “We played some fantastic football.” Saints took the lead in the ninth minute at a rocking Rodney Parade through Armando Broja. And they never looked back, with the Albanian striker scoring again, while Moi Elyounoussi bagged a hat-trick. There were also goals for Kyle Walker-Peters, Nathan Redmond and Nathan Tella as Premier League Saints thumped their League Two opponents, registering the largest margin of victory on the road in the club’s 136-year existence.
Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “I think it was a very, very deserved win. It was a serious performance from the first minute. This is what you need against a lower league team. To go into half-time 3-0 up and then try to push and try to keep the tempo high and then you can score a lot of goals. It’s not that easy. You have to take it serious and you have to have a clear plan. I think we managed it quite well. We played some fantastic football I think, but don’t hang it too high – it’s a lower league team. But even if it’s not super difficult, you have to score eight goals, it’s not always that easy.I know that a lot of teams have struggled here in the past and because of this it was a very good performance.”
Discussing the occasion created by the tightly-packed crowd of around 7,000 in south Wales,
Ralph Hasenhuttl added: “It was a good atmosphere to be honest. It was important to calm it down as quick as possible, because otherwise you never know what happens in such a ground. We did it very professionally. It was a goal to score as quick as possible and this is what we did. It was still loud, it was a still a good noise, so a good cup game I think.”
Saints will head to Sheffield United in round three next month.
