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Leeds beat Southampton 1-0 to pile more misery on Onuachu and Southampton
Nigerian striker Paul Onuachu could not help Southampton avoid their fourth loss in five Premier League games, as the Saints were beaten 1-0 by Leeds in the Premier League.
Onuachu had a decent game and played for 63 minutes before being substituted, but he could not get on the score sheet to aid the Saints.
Instead, a solitary goal from left-back Junior Firpo helped Leeds to their first win in five games, and their first win under new coach Javi Gracia who was taking charge of his first Leeds game.
How it happened
Southampton came into this on the back of a shock 1-0 win against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge and hoped to pull off yet another away win when they visited Leeds at Elland Road.
The match between 19th on the table (Leeds) and 20th (Southampton) was always going to be tight, and the opening exchanges highlighted how close these two sides were in terms of quality.
Both teams struggled to find openings in the opening 45 minutes and despite Leeds having the majority of the few chances in the first half, it was Southampton who came closest to scoring.
Paul Onuachu was on the end of a Southampton quick break and forced a brilliant save out of Illan Meslier in goal for Leeds with a shot from outside the area.
As the match dragged on into the second half, Leeds tried to turn up the pressure on Southampton and started creating clearer openings on goal.
First, they had a penalty appeal turned down as Patrick Bamford felt he was brought down by Jan Bednarek. Soon after, Bamford again tested Gavin Bazunu in goal for Southampton as Leeds pressed on in search of a winner.
In total, Leeds had seven shots in the second half, with five of those coming from inside Southampton’s box and three being on target, but they only needed one of those shots to matter, and that one came as things started to get desperate for them.
With 77 minutes gone, full-back Junior Firpo was in the right place at the right time to slot home under Bazunu to give Leeds a 1-0 lead that Elland Road celebrated like it was a World Cup-winning goal.
Despite the late goal and wild celebrations, Leeds almost threw their lead away and were let off the hook by poor finishing from Southampton's defender Armel Bella-Kotchap who missed the Saints’ best chance of the match in the 90th minute.
Leeds leave relegation zone, Southampton sink further
The three points against fellow relegation strugglers Southampton helped Leeds out of the relegation zone as they climbed to 17th position on the log and put one point between them and 18th-placed Everton.
Southampton, on the other hand, could not take advantage of their recent win against Chelsea or their new-manager bounce after recently hiring Ruben Selles.
The Spanish manager lost his first game with the Saints and will now have to find a way to turn the club’s fortunes around to lift them off the bottom of the Premier League table.
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