Saints cruise to win over hapless Toffees who are in desperate need of a new manager with caretaker boss Unsworth floundering under the pressure
CHARLIE AUSTIN may just have saved the job of the man who wouldn’t pick him.
Mauricio Pellegrino’s refusal to give Austin a Premier League start despite Southampton’s goal drought was among the mysteries of the Saints’ sorry season.
But Austin made the most of his opportunity, scoring with two headers in the space of six second-half minutes to give his side victory over an Everton side who were hopeless as well as manager-less.
The England striker's last goal from open play had come almost a year to day earlier, in a 1-0 win in this same fixture. And there are bad omens wherever you look for Everton.
Whoever is “close” to being appointed as the Toffees’ new boss – in the words of hapless owner Farhad Moshiri – should watch this match in full and have a long hard think.
Gylfi Sigurdsson’s first Premier League goal was magnificent but ultimately meaningless and his team were dreadful from the start.
Southampton made all the early running and Austin could have scored twice with barely 10 minutes on the clock.
Dusan Tadic’s opening goal was a flashback to the Southampton of old. A lovely move ended with Ryan Bertrand running on to Pierre-Emile Hojberg’s pass and hitting a first-time cross which the Serbian collected and managed to stab past Pickford despite the attentions of Leighton Baines.
Everton then lost Baines to injury and the Saints had some half chances to extend their lead, plus a good shout for a penalty when Michael Keane handled a Steven Davis cross.
But they were punished in the final minute of the half for not making their superiority count.
Sigurdsson turned inside past Virgil Van Dijk and Davis, then hit a lovely shot which struck the underside of the bar, a post and the bar again before nestling in the net.
The frame of the same goal was involved in Austin restoring Southampton’s lead within seven minutes of the restart. Bertrand was again the provider, whipping in a cross which Austin headed in off the crossbar.
Soon afterwards he struck again from another left-wing cross, this time from Tadic. Michael Keane also went off, adding another injury to the insult of the Everton performance.
And things got worse three minutes from time when Steven Davis lashed home the fourth as the Everton defence went missing again.
