Saints march home against Villa, headache for Ancelotti at Everton
Southampton have done an impressive job of bouncing back from their opening two Premier League defeats to break into the top four after Sunday's 4-3 win at Aston Villa, manager Ralph Hassenhuttl said.
Meanwhile, Everton's second-string keeper Robin Olsen has piled pressure on his manager Carlo Ancelotti – and England keeper Jordan Pickford – despite a 2-1 defeat by Newcastle.
Aston Villa's goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez fails to stop Southampton's Danny Ings scoring his side's fourth goal at Villa Park on Sunday.Credit:Getty Images
Having suffered a 1-0 defeat at Crystal Palace and a 5-2 home drubbing by Tottenham Hotspur, the Saints quickly turned around their fortunes by winning four of their next five games.
That run included a 3-3 draw at an expensively assembled Chelsea where Jannik Vestergaard, one of the scorers at Villa Park, netted a stoppage time equaliser.
"The first two games at the start of the season were a disaster," Austrian Hassenhuttl told the BBC.
"But we showed a good reaction and now we play how we should. It’s good to see how the guys are developing. It’s a good message from the boys."
James Ward-Prowse curled in a pair of free kicks on his 26th birthday after setting up Vestergaard's opener, and Danny Ings made it 4-0 near the hour mark before Villa took advantage as Southampton eased off.
Tyrone Mings pulled one back before Ollie Watkins and Jack Grealish netted in stoppage time for the home side as the Saints were given a timely reminder that there was no room for complacency at this level.
Hassenhuettl praised his team for a ruthless performance in the opening hour, but made it clear he was unhappy with his men for taking their foot off the pedal late on.
"We played against a very strong side today," he said. "We had a fantastic first half. In the second, mentally it was difficult. You concede the first, then you look at the time and you stop playing. This is always dangerous.
"In the end I think it’s a good win – not a lot of teams will win here."
More headaches for Ancelotti
Everton boss Ancelotti may have created a goalkeeping headache for himself in Sunday's 2-1 defeat by Newcastle as Swedish back-up Robin Olsen put in an excellent debut performance between the posts in place of Pickford.
Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin scores against Newcastle at St James' Park on Sunday.Credit:AP
Having arrived on loan from Roma on October 5, the vastly experienced Olsen got his first chance to show what he could do and pulled off some superb reflex stops to save face as Everton slumped to their second straight defeat.
With Ancelotti saying before kickoff that he would reinstate Pickford for next week's visit of Manchester United, he may well have inadvertently put pressure on the England international, who has made some costly errors so far this season.
"I wanted to give an opportunity to Robin, to be part of this group and team. After this, Jordan will be back. Robin will play again but not against United," Ancelotti told the BBC following the final whistle.
"Robin did well, he did his job. He deserves to play. Jordan will be back, we have two really good keepers and this is what we need. Robin will play again. I don't know when but next game, Jordan will be back."
Olsen, who has 40 caps for Sweden, had little to do for the opening half-hour before being suddenly called upon to deny Allan Saint-Maximin with a superb save after a Newcastle counter-attack.
"I thought Robin did really well. He did everything that was asked of him and made a good save. It's good to have that competition for places as it brings the best out of people," Everton defender Michael Keane told Sky Sports.
Olsen, still the first choice for his country, may have to return to the bench for now but any further errors by Pickford might see him back in Ancelotti's team sooner rather than later.
Reuters