Southampton fightback against Leeds gives Ralph Hasenhuttl breathing space - Telegraph 13/8/22
Leeds United had led Southampton through two Rodrigo goals, before a late rally from Ralph Hasenhüttl's side
Arindam Rej
Ralph Hasenhüttl shook his fists on the pitch after his
Southampton side fought back here and eased some of the early-season pressure
on him.
Soon afterwards in the press room, having watched his men
fight back to draw from 2-0 down, he could make a jibe at the newspapers for
ruining their headlines and argued that his team had given an answer to their
critics, using an expletive to describe what he thought of the negative stories
surrounding his management of Southampton.
Hasenhüttl said: “I’m sorry that we destroyed a few
headlines. They were written. The team gave the answer.”
On his team’s fightback, he said: “They were flying in the
end and trying to win this game.”
Regarding losing the dressing room, he also made clear what
he thought about how serious it is “to spread something like that” and added:
“Everybody can say something. It’s up to you if you make it big. It doesn’t
make our job easier. Our job is always tough.”
Results are making his job more difficult – Southampton had
lost five in a row before this game, so another defeat would have been a bad
blow, as observers watched for sign of losing the dressing room.
The south-east club have won just once in 16 in all competitions,
after the late-season slump in the last campaign, so pressure is still there –
and agitation among the St Mary’s crowd was apparent before the late fightback.
The fighting talk that he gave reflected a different mood
shown by him compared to earlier when he looked frustrated at times.
It had been looking particularly grim for the home side’s
head coach when Rodrigo’s close-range double strike, early in the second half,
had put Leeds United into a 2-0 lead.
One of Hasenhüttl’s subs Joe Aribo – the Nigeria midfielder
signed in the summer from Rangers – brought them back into the game though, and
Kyle Walker-Peters then snatched a draw with his 81st-minute equaliser.
Hasenhüttl was backed by Southampton – owned by Serbian
billionaire Dragan Solak – with recruits in the transfer market over the
summer, including Romeo Lavia and Gavin Bazunu, young players from Manchester
City, who both played here.
And, overall, this was an unconvincing display, as Leeds
were left to rue tossing away their earlier good work.
Leeds manager Marsch, though, said: “When you remove the
emotion, because it's high, you see clearly we're making progress as a team.”
Marsch’s men lost their way late on though, in this battle
of two former RB Leipzig head coaches – having initially responded well to
losing captain Patrick Bamford to injury in the 28th minute. Bamford’s muscle
tightness means his injury problems continued after the troubles of last season
but Marsch said the problem is “not bad” and his withdrawal was to manage him
properly.
Rodrigo appeared to be operating further forward early in
the second period and he scored two close-range goals, turning in the opener
before heading in a second. Those goals followed his opening-day strike in the
2-1 win against Wolves.
The first half had also seen some encouraging signs for
Leeds. In 30C-plus heat, the visitors showed intent early on with their
pressing in attack, and Bamford had a close-range shot blocked.
The Yorkshire club had to survive a scare when Diego
Llorente brought down Stuart Armstrong on the charge, leading to a Var review
for a possible red card – but the Spanish defender got the ball and escaped
punishment.
Southampton needed to up their game and better chances began
to fall for Hasenhüttl’s men, including Armstrong bundling the ball narrowly
wide.
Rasmus Kristensen should have put Leeds 1-0 up before the
break though, as the Yorkshire club threatened, when he miscued a header – a
sitter – and the ball was gathered by goalkeeper Bazunu.
Rodrigo snatched the lead for Leeds within the opening
minute of the second half, as he met Jack Harrison’s cross. Marsch’s men were
looking impressive at that stage and Rodrigo’s second goal arrived when he
headed in from Pascal Struijk’s flick-on.
Southampton were back in the game though when Aribo made his
quick impact, finishing beyond desperate defenders on the line. The home side
looked a different beast and a leveller looked distinctly possible – and it
came when Walker-Peters finished from a tight angle, from another sub Sekou
Mara’s delivery, to complete the pressure-relieving fightback.