Gary O'Neil suffered his first defeat as Bournemouth interim head coach as poor finishing cost the Cherries in the local derby.
Bournemouth were unchanged from their 2-2 draw against Fulham and Southampton made one change, with Caleta-Car coming in for an injured Bella-Kotchap following the German dislocating his shoulder in Sunday’s game against West Ham.
The first shot of the game came for the hosts in the second minute after a switched ball fell to Lewis Cook who laid it off to Solanke on the edge of the box but the Englishman’s shot dragged wide of the post.
Bournemouth dominated early proceedings; however it was Southampton who would grab the first in the ninth minute after a Maitland-Niles interception in the midfield lead to the visitors breaking into the Bournemouth half, with Elyounoussi’s cross from the left hand side of the box being converted with a great header into the far corner by Saints top scorer Che Adams to give the visitors hopes of a first win since August.
Bournemouth responded well to the Saints’ early goal and won a free kick in a dangerous position after Billing intercepted in midfield and some nice play down the right-hand side from the Cherries resulted in Tavernier being fouled by Perraud, with the Frenchman picking up a yellow card.
The ball was delivered by Lewis Cook, and after it seemed to be cleared away by the Southampton defence, Adam Smith redelivered and the ball fell to Philip Billing on the edge of the six-yard box, but his effort was fired over with the offside flag eventually going up.
Bournemouth’s spell of dominance continued into the midway stages of the first half with the majority of the Cherries’ good play coming down the right side, however the hosts failed to create any clear-cut chances.
Bournemouth kept winning the ball high up the pitch, and in the 29th minute they created a chance as Lewis Cook played the ball to Billing, who’s shot from the edge of the area was well saved by Gavin Bazunu.
The hosts continued to show their threat after some great interplay by Lerma, Christie and Cook at the edge of the Southampton box led to Tavernier winning a free kick 25 yards out, however Cook’s shot was fired well over the bar, not troubling the Saints goalkeeper.
Tavernier was one of the key players for O’Neil’s side in the first half, creating chances and progressing the ball through the midfield and the Englishman created a chance for himself, gliding past three Southampton midfielders and producing a shot from 25 yards out, however it was off target as the Cherries looked to avoid their first defeat under their new caretaker manager.
You could tell from the first whistle that there is no love lost in this derby, with both the players and the fans seeming up for it. Tempers flared in the 42nd minute after Mepham’s strong challenge on Maitland-Niles on the right side led to the first mass confrontation of the game and ended in both players being booked.
Despite being behind, Gary O’Neil would have been the happier manager going into the break with Bournemouth dominating but just missing that final pass and finishing touch. Raph Hasenhuttl’s side were defensively solid but weren’t creating chances, however it was the Saints that lead the derby at the halfway point.
Bournemouth started the second half as they had played in the first as a long ball was played over the top to Tavernier who passed it to Billing who won a corner for the Cherries. The corner was played to the penalty spot where Marcos Senesi had a free header, but the Argentinian put his effort wide and should have done much better.
Bournemouth won the ball high up the pitch from the resulting goal kick and after link up play between Christie and Billing, Lerma had a shot from the edge of the box that travelled wide.
The high tempo of the first half grew into the second with both sides making chances. Bournemouth won another free kick inside Southampton’s half as Walker-Pieters fouled Solanke. The ball was delivered by Tavernier but couldn’t meet the head of any Cherries players.
The hosts continued their dominance as they looked to find an equaliser but Southampton’s defence were doing a good job to stop them creating any clear-cut chances. Most of the Cherries opportunities came from set pieces, with Dominic Solanke being the latest to put his header wide from a corner.
Bournemouth had a big penalty appeal in the 62nd minute when Fredericks felt that he was pulled down by Mohammed Salisu as Tavernier broke down the left side, but John Brooks waved away the appeals from the Bournemouth players and fans.
Marcus Tavernier continued to trouble the Saints defence, getting in behind the right side of Southampton’s back line, and in he 67th minute he drove down the wing and delivered a cross across the box, however it couldn’t be met by Solanke or an onrushing Billing.
Bournemouth had another appeal in the 69th minute after they broke into the box after a nice move from the right hand side where Solanke laid it off to Billing, who’s shot hit a Southampton defender, but once again the appeals were denied.
There was a third handball appeal for the home side in the 75th minute as substitute Stanlisas’ cross hit the arm of a Salisu, but it was deemed to be in a natural position by the referee and confirmed by VAR.
Southampton countered as Adam Armstrong dribbled from his own half into a dangerous position outside of the Bournemouth box, but his shot curled just wide as the Saints came close to doubling their lead.
The home side continued their search for a goal when Cook and Billing worked well together to break into Southampton’s box, Billing’s cross to the back post was met by Tavernier but his header was straight at Bazunu.
The Cherries were nearly punished for their lack of finishing when Perraud came forward with the the ball and crossed to goalscorer Che Adams, but his shot was blocked by the Bournemouth defence and from the rebound Elyounoussi’s rebound hit the side netting.
As the game grew on the Cherries seemed more desperate to find an equaliser, putting in more crosses and being more direct with their play and they received a late chance when Tavernier's effort was tipped over by Bazunu, and the resulting clearance would see Lewis Cook's header cleared off the line by Salisu in the dying moments.
The Southampton defence held out and a strong defensive performance from the Saints meant that they took all 3 points back to St Mary's and Bouremouth suffered their first defeat under Gary O'Neil. The Cherries will be disappointed with the result given how dominant they were in possesion, however Che Adams' touch of class proved to be too much for the south coast side, who haven't beaten their rivals since September 2019. The result takes Southampton two points behind Bournemouth, who failed to capitalise on the Saints' poor form. Next up Bournemouth will travel to London, where they play West Ham on Monday night.