SOUTHAMPTON, England :Southampton salvaged a point in a surprising 0-0 Premier League draw with Manchester City on Saturday that meant they avoided being the joint-worst team in Premier League history.
Rock bottom and relegated Southampton had looked likely to equal Derby County’s season-low tally of 11 points in 2007-08, but the draw moved them to 12 as their fans at a sun-drenched St Mary’s Stadium sung loudly in celebration.
“We’ve had a tough, tough season, we’ve had tough Monday mornings after heavy defeats,” Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale told Sky Sports. “We spoke about trying to be respectful and giving our all for the football club.
“Today we put smiles on the Southampton fans’ faces. It’s just a relief to be honest, it was a great day for us in a really tough season.”
Pep Guardiola’s City remained third in the table on 65 points with two games remaining in their bid for Champions League qualification, although Newcastle United and Chelsea are only two points behind and Nottingham Forest trail by four with all three teams having a game in hand.
City’s prolific striker Erling Haaland played for the first time in six weeks and the visitors dominated with 26 shots to the home side’s two, but Southampton defended in numbers, particularly in the dying minutes, to deny them.
Omar Marmoush hammered a thunderous shot off the crossbar in added time, City’s best chance of the match.
IGNOMINY AVOIDED
Although Southampton have won only two games this season, they avoided the ignominy of sharing the unwanted record with Derby and the final whistle prompted raucous celebrations from their long-suffering supporters.
Southampton posted a message to Derby on social media platform X: “Sorry if we got your hopes up @dcfcofficial” with a sheepish emoji.
“We wanted to be as strong as possible towards the end of season. We did that with abundance. We can be proud of it,” Southampton’s interim manager Simon Rusk told the BBC.
“I didn’t know much about (Derby’s record),” he added. “I understood the importance of it but it wasn’t something I was focusing on. I was focusing on performances, improving and the environment.”
City arrived at the south coast on a nine-game unbeaten streak across all competitions, including four successive league wins, after finally finding form and consistency in a very disappointing campaign.
Ruben Diaz forced a terrific late save from Ramsdale, who leapt to push his glancing header over the bar, and the City defender was critical of Southampton’s game plan.
“It’s frustrating to play against a team like them. They don’t even try to play, just wasting time the whole game,” Diaz said.
Guardiola, who failed to beat the bottom team in the league for the first time as City manager, described the game as difficult.
“We had chances but unfortunately couldn’t score,” he told Sky. “(Southampton were) playing to defend and defend and defend and waste time. We take that point still, (Champions League) in our hands.”
Southampton could even won the game at the death when Cameron Archer burst into the box, but his shot from a tight angle went wide.
