Southampton 3 Burnley 2
For a split second or two, Blur's Song 2 blared from the speakers but it was a false alarm. James Ward-Prowse had clattered the crossbar with a vicious strike but the ball had not crossed the line. Southampton were deflated but not for long and five minutes later the goal music sounded once more, for the third time as Nathan Redmond completed a stirring comeback in a blistering game that spiralled from Burnley's seemingly comfortable grasp. Ralph Hasenhüttl hared down the touchline in delight and the substitute Che Adams should have put the game beyond doubt but shot wide in stoppage time.
Before the final whistle blew Fraser Forster made a couple of brilliant saves to deny Chris Wood. He had opened the scoring from the penalty spot but that was a minor footnote by the time Redmond hammered in after Danny Ings was denied by Nick Pope, clambering to his left to save after dashing to his right moments earlier to deny the dazzling Stuart Armstrong as the Saints sought a winner.
For Sean Dyche, whose side surrendered a two-goal lead, this is a defeat that will eat away at him and one that leaves Burnley with work to do to secure their Premier League status over the next eight games.
Southampton planned to carry on where they left off before the international break having booked their place at a FA Cup semi-final that will be played before 4,000 locals at Wembley. Ultimately, that is what happened, with Redmond, the man of the match that afternoon, completing an extraordinary Southampton comeback after Burnley tore into a two-goal lead inside 28 minutes, courtesy of Wood and a sweet first-time finish by Matej Vydra.
Burnley took the lead after Kyle Walker-Peters was pulled up for a foul on Erik Pieters, Wood dispatching the spot-kick with no fuss after Andre Marriner had visited the pitchside monitor to inspect the challenge. Woods' no-frills approach paid off as Burnley doubled their advantage. Ben Mee wellied the ball upfield towards Wood, who beat Jan Bednarek to the header and Vydra thundered in his strike.
Burnley had bruised Southampton but by half-time the complexion of the game had flipped and only a panicked headed clearance by James Tarkowski prevented Ibrahima Diallo finding the top corner on the verge of the interval. Dyche was already cursing after his side grew slack, allowing the hosts to feast on a couple of untimely errors by Mee, otherwise magnificent in defence.
First, Ings’s deft touch on the edge of the box eliminated Mee and presented Armstrong with an inviting platform to thunder in, before the striker bared his own teeth in front of goal on his return from a hamstring injury, slotting the ball home after Mee misread Walker-Peters’ pass down the Southampton right. In between the two goals, Burnley had lost Pieters to injury, replaced by Charlie Taylor.
After the break Pope and Forster took it in turns to play the role of hero in a barnstorming matchup, with the substitute Taylor clearing off the line when Redmond squared for Theo Walcott, lurking in the six-yard box. But after Ward-Prowse was denied, it was over to Redmond to seal victory. - Guaridan
