Daily Echo:

Saints took a massive step towards securing

Premier League

safety with a gritty 1-0 win at Brighton.

Skipper Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored the only goal of the game eight minutes into the second half of a tense match at the Amex Stadium.

The victory, which came after a three week break for Saints, made it three wins in the last four games for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men and gives them a five-point gap over third from bottom Cardiff.

It was a predictably tense and tight opening to the game with neither side keen to make the first move and risk exposing themselves defensively.

Brighton always looked like posing a threat from set-pieces due to their size, and particularly given Saints were missing Jannik Vestergaard, ruled out with a groin problem which led Hasenhuttl to switch to a 4-2-2-2 formation.

They came the closest in the opening salvos with a corner cleared to Alireza Jahanbakhsh whose volley from the edge of the area went wide.

Nathan Redmond gave Mat Ryan a first test of the game on 19 minutes as he worked his way back in from the left by-line and struck a right footed shot that the Brighton stopper stood tall to beat away at his near post.

Saints had optimistic appeals for a penalty waved away by referee Michael Oliver as Danny Ings went down after brushing across Martin Montoya.

Brighton’s set-piece threat was ever present though, and Shane Duffy had half a chance from a deep corner moments later but headed wide at the far post.

Saints were just desperate to try and get Ings into a goalscoring position and they finally managed it on 34 minutes as Stuart Armstrong found him in the area with a simple square pass. Ings took a touch and hit a right footed shot but it was blocked by a sliding challenge from Bernardo.

Ings tried his luck from distance moments later but blazed the ball well over the bar.

Glenn Murray had been largely absent from the game but got a sight of goal three minutes before the break as Anthony Knockaert picked him out with a right wing cross. However, it was a difficult header which he steered wide.

Redmond ended with the first half with the best chance of the opening period as Ings found him in the box. It wasn’t an easy finish from a fairly tight angle but he would have hoped to have done better than to drill it off target.

Saints started the second half with far more positive intent than Brighton and got their rewards as they took the lead eight minutes after the restart.

Brighton gave the ball away in sloppy fashion on the left with Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg making the interception. Armstrong fed Redmond who sped forward on the counter attack and laid the ball outside him to Hojbjerg making a furious sprint into the box.

Hojbjerg did brilliantly to bring the ball under control and produce a wonderful right footed finish across Ryan and into the far corner from a tight angle.

The goal seemed to spur a previously listless Brighton into life and Knockaert tried to make something happen with a fiercely struck shot from 20 yards that fizzed just wide.

Saints nearly added another on 61 minutes as Ryan Bertrand’s shot appeared to be heading into the far corner only for Lewis Dunk to make a sliding block.

Brighton came so close to equalising on 72 minutes as Montoya cut across the face of the area and struck a beautiful left footed shot that had Angus Gunn beaten but hit the crossbar before the Seagulls had a penalty appeal turned down as Davy Propper went down claiming he was hauled to the ground by Hojbjerg.

Hasenhuttl tried to shut up shop with Jack Stephens coming on as Saints switched to a back five, but they were dropping deep and coming under a lot of pressure.

Jurgen Locadia worked Gunn with a turn and shot from the edge of the area but the Saints stopper was equal to it.

However, Saints did well in the closing stages to restrict Brighton’s opportunities to get balls into their box and saw out the time for a result which takes them to the brink of safety.