Saints thrash Blackburn as promotion push rolls on
Southampton beat Blackburn Rovers 4-0 in the EFL Championship to keep its promotion charge on track despite being denied what appeared to be a clear penalty in the first half and missing one it was awarded in the second.
The win extended the Saint's unbeaten run in the Championship to 14 matches, boosting hopes of promotion back to the Premier League where both these sides met more than 18 years ago in their most recent encounter.
Rovers didn't help themselves at all, losing Callum Brittain as a result of two careless yellow cards which left his side a man short for the bulk of the second period.
The early chances all went Southampton's way, and after Stuart Armstrong was hauled down in the box by Hayden Carter in the 37th minute, it appared the hosts might be given a penalty to break the deadlock.
However, referee Graham Scott waved play on, choosing not to award the spot-kick. The lack of video assistant referees in the EFL will no doubt be spoken of again after replays showed Carter had clearly fouled his man, almost pulling the shirt clean off Armstrong's back.
Samuel Edozie got Southampton off the mark not long after the incident, though, bundling home a corner a minute before the break to make sure his goal was the main talking point of the first half.
After Brittain was issued his marching orders 10 minutes into the second half– he was shown a second yellow card for petulantly kicking the ball away after a free-kick went against Blackburn – the Saints took even more control of a match in which they never looked troubled.
Stuart Armstrong was the man who lashed it home in the 64th minute, and despite Carlos Alcaraz missing an embarassing panenka attempt from the spot in the 86th minute, the hosts still had enough time to slot home two more goals.
The first came when substitues Ryan Fraser and Sekou Mara combined, the latter meeting a delicious cross at the far post to convert. Alcaraz then made amends for his penalty miss, crashing home a rebound from a good save by Leopold Wahlstedt after Will Smallbone had taken a pop from outside the box.
