Southampton 0-2 Fulham: Aleksandar Mitrovic scores on return from ban as Saints relegated from Premier League

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Aleksandar Mitrovic has scored his 12th goal this season, a new career high in the English Premier League.
Aleksandar Mitrovic reached a career-high top-flight tally of 12 goals with Fulham’s second at Southampton

Southampton’s 11-year stay in the Premier League ended in tame fashion as their relegation was confirmed with defeat at home by Fulham.

Aleksandar Mitrovic, making his return from an eight-game ban for pushing referee Chris Kavanagh, sealed Saints’ fate with a stooping header after Carlos Vinicius’ opener.

The hosts could have few complaints about the outcome after producing a muted performance despite knowing they had to win to have any chance of pulling off an unlikely survival mission.

They did have a Carlos Alcaraz strike disallowed for a marginal offside just before Vinicius broke the deadlock but the confident Cottagers were comfortably the better side.

Willian’s first-half volley was cleared off the line by fellow Brazilian Lyanco, who had earlier been fortunate to escape a video assistant referee’s penalty check for handball.

But Vinicius tucked home after Lyanco’s clearance ricocheted to him kindly off Harrison Reed and Mitrovic nodded in his 12th league goal of the season from Harry Wilson’s cross.

Southampton, lethargic throughout, had no response after falling behind and will be playing Championship football next season for the first time since 2012.

Sorry Saints sink into second tier

Rishi Sunak at St Mary's
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was among the Southampton fans in attendance for the game against Fulham

Saints supporter and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was among those in attendance on Saturday but the clumps of empty seats before kick-off at St Mary’s suggested many fans had already conceded the game was up.

Their fears were proven right and those vacant chairs numbered thousands at the final whistle, with some of the few who stayed behind voicing their displeasure at interim boss Ruben Selles and his players.

Southampton have collected just three points from the past 33 available, slipping into freefall just as a number of their relegation rivals had begun to produce important and, in some cases, unexpected results.

Much of the damage was done long before that run, however – Southampton slipped into the relegation places on 6 November after a 4-1 home loss to Newcastle and have remained there ever since.

They sacked Ralph Hasenhuttl a day after that drubbing but the subsequent ill-fated appointment of Nathan Jones as his successor yielded worse results than the Austrian had overseen.

The former Luton boss lost seven of his eight league games in charge – the only glimmer of light a 2-1 win at Frank Lampard’s then equally hapless Everton.

Jones, quickly on thin ice with supporters following home defeats by Brighton and relegation rivals Nottingham Forest, was dismissed after a 2-1 loss to 10-man fellow strugglers Wolves on 11 February.

By that time, Saints had hit rock-bottom, sinking to 20th after the Boxing Day defeat by Brighton and staying rooted to the table virtually ever since.

Two wins in Selles’ first three games in charge – both 1-0 victories, at Stamford Bridge against misfiring Chelsea and at home to fellow drop candidates Leicester – provided a glimmer of hope.

But key losses to West Ham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest, as well as letting a 3-1 lead after 88 minutes slip to draw 3-3 at then leaders Arsenal, put paid to any hopes of a great escape.

Graphic showing how many days teams spent at the bottom of the Premier League
Southampton have spent more than three times as long at the foot of the Premier League in 2022-23 as any other club

Player of the match

WilsonHarry Wilson

Southampton

  1. Squad number17Player nameS Armstrong

  2. Squad number26Player nameAlcaraz

  3. Squad number2Player nameWalker-Peters

  4. Squad number1Player nameMcCarthy

  5. Squad number45Player nameLavia

  6. Squad number32Player nameWalcott

  7. Squad number4Player nameLyanco

  8. Squad number35Player nameBednarek

  9. Squad number12Player nameOnuachu

  10. Squad number3Player nameMaitland-Niles

  11. Squad number8Player nameWard-Prowse

  12. Squad number9Player nameA Armstrong

  13. Squad number20Player nameSulemana

  14. Squad number24Player nameElyounoussi

  15. Squad number19Player nameDjenepo

  16. Squad number18Player nameMara

Fulham

  1. Squad number8Player nameWilson

  2. Squad number9Player nameMitrovic

  3. Squad number10Player nameCairney

  4. Squad number6Player nameReed

  5. Squad number20Player nameWillian

  6. Squad number30Player nameCarlos Vinícius

  7. Squad number17Player nameLeno

  8. Squad number14Player nameDe Cordova-Reid

  9. Squad number28Player nameLukic

  10. Squad number33Player nameRobinson

  11. Squad number31Player nameDiop

  12. Squad number11Player nameSolomon

  13. Squad number4Player nameTosin

  14. Squad number2Player nameTete

  15. Squad number26Player nameJoão Palhinha

  16. Squad number7Player nameKebano

Line-ups

Southampton

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 1McCarthy
  • 2Walker-Peters
  • 35Bednarek
  • 4Lyanco
  • 3Maitland-NilesSubstituted forA Armstrongat 82′minutes
  • 8Ward-Prowse
  • 45LaviaBooked at 53mins
  • 32WalcottSubstituted forSulemanaat 62′minutes
  • 26AlcarazSubstituted forElyounoussiat 73′minutes
  • 17S ArmstrongSubstituted forDjenepoat 73′minutesBooked at 77mins
  • 12OnuachuSubstituted forMaraat 62′minutes

Substitutes

  • 6Caleta-Car
  • 7Aribo
  • 9A Armstrong
  • 14Bree
  • 18Mara
  • 19Djenepo
  • 20Sulemana
  • 24Elyounoussi
  • 31Bazunu

Fulham

Formation 4-2-3-1

  • 17Leno
  • 2Tete
  • 4Tosin
  • 31Diop
  • 33Robinson
  • 6Reed
  • 26João PalhinhaSubstituted forLukicat 77′minutes
  • 8WilsonSubstituted forKebanoat 78′minutes
  • 10CairneySubstituted forDe Cordova-Reidat 69′minutes
  • 20WillianSubstituted forSolomonat 78′minutes
  • 30Carlos ViníciusSubstituted forMitrovicat 65′minutes

Substitutes

  • 1Rodák
  • 5Duffy
  • 7Kebano
  • 9Mitrovic
  • 11Solomon
  • 12Cédric Soares
  • 14De Cordova-Reid
  • 28Lukic
  • 38Harris

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