Southampton made history as they made it three consecutive away wins without conceding for the first time since 1986, this time getting the slight upper hand over newly-promoted Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
On paper the game looked a close contest which it proved to be throughout, especially in the first half which almost saw Che Adams score his first two goals for the club.
The 23-year-old produced a superb effort on the volley following a Saints set-piece and was unlucky to see his low, driven effort strike Dean Henderson’s left post.
Adams was also denied later on in the first period as his glancing header was matched by United goalkeeper Henderson’s superb reflexes.
Both chances for Adams came either side of the hosts’ best chance of the half and arguably the whole game as David McGoldrick was played through one-on-one but Angus Gunn did extremely well to get out of his goal quickly to close down the space and ultimately produce an excellent save with his foot.
Following the interval, the Bramall Lane faithful thought that their side had opened the scoring as Ollie McBurnie tapped in at the far post following Ollie Norwood’s testing free-kick, however VAR came to Saints’ rescue once again as Egan was deemed offside in the build-up.
The visitors used the decision as a confidence boost as they produced a fantastic twenty-minute spell, during which they took the lead as Moussa Djenepo showed great strength to dance his way through the Sheffield United defence and score the, what later turned out to be, vital goal.
When Saints fans saw 2012 derby hero Billy Sharp stand on the touchline ready to come on for the Blades, it felt inevitable that the ex-Saint would save the day for the hosts and, in fact, he did save the day…just not for his current employers but merely his former side.
An untimed swing of the boot from Sharp made contact with substitute Stuart Armstrong’s shin and the striker’s cameo was cut short against his former side as Lee Mason made no hesitation to present the 33-year-old with a red card.
Even when the fourth official revealed a board with a red six on it after ninety minutes, it felt as if Sheffield United’s afternoon was over as the sending off deflated the side right as they were pushing for the equaliser despite continued efforts in the Southampton penalty area.
Seven points from their last three games has seen the Saints march up into the top-half of the Premier League table, which was only a dream around this time last season.
What was an underwhelming start has suddenly developed into the foundations of, potentially, a very successful season for Ralph Hasenhuttl and his men!
