Richarlison puts Saints to the sword for Toffees first away victory

A Richarlison inspired Everton condemned Southampton to their third successive league loss at St Marys.

It was a case of deja vu for the Saints who remain winless at home this season.

Despite dominating large periods of the first half, Tom Davies’ close-range header for Everton was the only difference at the break.

Sofiane Boufal inspired a Southampton fight-back but Richarlison’s 75th minute volley gave the Toffees their first win on the road this campaign.

Prior to the fixture, it was the first visit to St Mary’s since ‘that’ game. That harrowing Leicester loss. The 90 minutes where records were broken and humiliation was inflicted.

And as they returned to the scene of the crime, the Saints supporters were given free scarfs upon their entry to the ground, as if it were a token of apology.

While they were yet to suffer a defeat quite as humiliating, Marco Silva and his men made the trip south hoping to salvage their so far underachieving campaign. The Merseyside outfit sat in 17th place, three points clear of danger.

With the Saints yet to win at home and their counterparts without a win on the road, something surely had to give.

After just three minutes, Everton dealt the first blow. The unmarked Tom Davies arrived at the back-post to head the ball in after an initial flick from Yerry Mina.

It was a goal that came all too easy for the Blues, who had been allowed to win the first and second header from a corner.

The Saints supporters needed a response. Unlike they had shown previously at St Mary’s, the players would have  to show some sort of fight, otherwise the scars of Leicester would rear their head again.

The Toffees came close to doubling their lead soon after, when Cenk Tosun headed over from close range.

The first half-an-hour unquestionably belonged to the visitors, who could have been understandably frustrated to be only 1-0 up. If they had the end product of the Leicester side a fortnight ago, the score may have been something similar.

Meanwhile, Southampton were yet to have had an attempt on goal. It was much of the same for the south coast faithful, who were growing restless.

The half time whistle was met with a chorus of boos from the home supporters. Dominated for the entirety of the first 45, Southampton’s winless home run looked set to continue.

The introduction of Sofiane Boufal after the break sprung the Saints into action. The substitute had his side’s first shot of the game but failed to test Jordan Pickford, who held onto the effort.

But a couple of minutes later, the home side levelled courtesy of Danny Ings. A jinking run from Boufal resulted in the Moroccan flashing the ball across the six-yard-box, and the cross was duly tapped home by Ings.

With Southampton’s defensive frailties and Everton’s fast attacking power, the Toffees remained dangerous. Gylfi Sigurdsson forced a good save from Alex McCarthy before Cenk Tosun’s driven shot went narrowly wide.

In a contest that was quickly becoming an end-to-end drama, James Ward-Prowse’s free-kick had to be turned away for the hosts.

Everton re-took the lead in the 75th minute through Richarlison. A cross found the onrushing Brazillian who volleyed home. Yet again, poor marking was showcased from the Saints back-three, who left the winger unattended to score his fifth goal of the campaign.

The Saints were unable to fashion any further chances as they suffered their third successive league loss and are still yet to win at St Mary’s this season.

Southampton remain in 19th while their counterparts catapult up the table to 13th.

Team Lineups:

Southampton (5-2-3): McCarthy; Armstrong (Obafemi 90′), Bednarek, Stephens, Vestergaard, Cedric (Boufal 45′); Ward-Prowse (c), Romeu; Djenepo, Redmond (Adams 81′), Ings

Subs unused: Gunn, Valery, Yoshida, Danso

Everton (4-2-3-1): Pickford; Sidibe, Holgate, Mina, Digne, Schneiderlin, Davies; Richarlison (Keane 88′), Sigurdsson (c), Walcott (Iwobi 74′); Tosun (Calvert-Lewin 74′)

Subs unused: Lossl, Baines, Coleman, Gordon

Attendance: 29,754