Southampton’s European hopes took a major blow as they fell to a 2-1 loss at Sunderland after falling to two successful penalties.
Jordi Gomez netted both the penalties for the Black Cats either side of a Sadio Mane goal, to clinch what is a vital victory in their bid to avoid relegation.
Southampton ended the match with 10 men after James Ward-Prowse was sent off for the foul on Jermaine Defoe which led to the second penalty.
This makes it three defeats in three on the road for the Saints who’s European cause was not helped by the fact that Liverpool bagged all three points against QPR leaving them four points adrift of their Europa League rivals.
Jordi Gomez opened the scoring from the penalty spot 20 minutes in; Jose Fonte’s clumsy challenge on Connor Wickham was given and Gomez was cool as he drove his spot kick home past Kelvin Davis who guessed correctly.
Their lead lasted only 78 seconds – Costel Pantilimon failed to claim a routine ball into the box; he collided with his two central defenders as they all went for the same ball leaving Sadio Mane with an empty net to calmly slot home.
Following this, the game sparked into life with the game finding a new gear as – however, both teams were wasteful with their final pass as the game opened up.
Connor Wickham had the two best chances of the next 25 minutes – van Aanholt squared to him on the 18-yard box but he blazed his shot over. Then, following a driving run at the Southampton defence Wickham saw his shot blocked well by Maya Yoshida before the away side eventually cleared.
Saints were then dealt the double blow ten minutes into the second half; James Ward-Prowse brought down Jermaine Defoe inside the box and referee Mike Jones pointed to the spot once again and proceeded to send the youngster off – Gomez sent the ball home as a despairing Davis watced the ball fly past him.
Saints pressed late on as an agitated Stadium of Light willed their team on to the victory; substitute Steven Davis nearly grabbed a point late on but his stinging shot was saved brilliantly by Pantilimon.
