SAN FRANCISCO, January 05, (THEWILL) –Â In a result that stunned football pundits and must have had betting fans scratching their heads, Southampton took advantage of hosting English Premier League champions and table leaders Liverpool to beat them by a lone goal in a victory that left Saints’ coach Ralph Hasenhuttl overtaken by emotions and drawn to tears.
Hasenhuttl’s charges defeated Liverpool 1-0 at St Mary’s, prevailing in the fixture for the first time since 2016, thanks to Danny Ings’ second-minute lob against his former club.
Jurgen Klopp’s side persisted in seeking an equaliser until the final minute, but a succession of missed chances from Mane saw Southampton hold onto a clean sheet and all three points.
The victory was significant in a variety of ways. Most significantly, it moved Southampton from ninth to go level on points with fourth-placed Leicester whilst ensuring their impressive form of having lost just two of their last 12 top-flight matches remains intact.
What is more impressive comes from Fotmob’s data centre, which highlighted the historical significance the win over the Reds created for the Saints. By their victory, Southampton became the first team to beat all seven recent winners of the competition in the season immediately after they lifted the trophy.
Southampton have now beaten Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Blackburn Rovers, Leicester City, Chelsea and Arsenal in the season following a title campaign where each was tagged “defending champions,” becoming the only side to ever do this consistently and successfully.
This run of history-making goes all the way back to the 1995 season when now-relegated Blackburn Rovers were still a top flight team and ended up winning the trophy.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
