Ralph Hasenhuttl was left furious after Southampton conceded a 'stupid' late goal as they lost 2-1 against Cardiff in dramatic fashions at St Mary's Stadium.
It was an important match for both sides who were looking to try and claw themselves away from the developing relegation battle at the bottom of the table, and the game proved to be a tense affair with neither keeper really being tested in the first half.
The game then sprung into life with 20 minutes left as Cardiff took the lead through their captain Sol Bamba, who found himself unmarked at the back post from a corner and tucked the ball home to put the visitors ahead.
Cardiff were defending for their lives and it looked as though they'd hold onto their lead, however their resistance was finally broken in the first minute of injury time. James Ward-Prose whipped a corner into the box which Charlie Austin got a flick on the end of, and there was Jack Stephens at the back post to slot the ball home to equalise for Southampton.
The home fans went wild as they thought they earned themselves a point, however there was even more late drama further into injury time. The ball fell to substitute Kenneth Zohore who slotted the ball into the bottom corner in front of the away fans to snatch a 2-1 win for Cardiff in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
This is the second week in a row Southampton have conceded an equalising goal in injury time, having done so against Burnley in their previous Premier League game, and when asked by Sky Sports what these late goals may prove to mean, Hasenhuttl said: "I think in that moment, it shows how much focus you have on the pitch.
"It's not about mentality, we tried everything and in the last few weeks, we went five games unbeaten so the last situation was stupid because we were not doing what we planned to do.
"We were patient and we were prepared for scoring. We had a good chance with Yan Valery and finally we made the goal then you have a draw and you say 'OK, the last three games, they were draws against tight opponents' and you can go into this two-week rest with a good feeling. Now, it's an unbelievable feeling."
It was a real hammer blow for the home fans as their side now slip further into the relegation battle, and Hasenhuttl went on to admit that if his side don't stop conceding late on they'll have no chance of survival.
He added: "It's unbelievable that we gave our last two opponents four points in the last two minutes. It would have felt like a win if we had come back and taken a point against Cardiff. But for sure, if we don't stop giving these points away so easily, we won't have a chance to stay [up].
"I think the opponent shot three times on our goal and twice, it was a goal. We had more chances and more ball possession but we can't talk about tactics today, it's not interesting for me because the main part is that we can't have a clean sheet and if you don't have that, then you have no chance to stay in the league, that is for sure."
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— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) February 9, 2019
It was a disappointing result for the Saints who had gone five games without defeat heading into the game, and they'll be hoping to get back to winning ways when they travel to face Arsenal in their next premier League outing.
Source: 90min
