Southampton 3-2 West Bromwich Albion: Adam Armstrong scores twice as Saints hold off Baggies fightback for victory

Tonda Eckert continued his impressive start as Southampton manager with a sixth victory in seven games as the Saints held off a West Brom fightback to win 3-2 at St Mary’s.

Championship top scorer Adam Armstrong scored twice before half-time to take his tally to 11 after Leo Scienza set the hosts on their way with an early goal.

The Baggies put up a second-half fight through goals from Karlan Grant and Nathaniel Phillips and went close to a late leveller but have now lost their last seven away games.

With such a dismal record on the road, Southampton was not the trip Ryan Mason would have wanted to be making on a windswept Tuesday in December.

Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player

Leo Scienza fires Southampton ahead against West Brom after a neat passing move from the Saints.

Eckert had won all of his three home games in charge of the Saints and they tore into Mason’s side.

Armstrong had already stung the palms of Joe Wildsmith before Saints led in the 12th minute through Scienza.

The goal was made by former Albion winger Tom Fellows, who drove through the heart of midfield from within his own half before feeding Scienza to finish clinically into the far corner.

Saints owner Dragan Solak was in the stands to watch over his new manager and soon saw the night get better as Armstrong doubled the lead five minutes later.

A mistake from West Brom’s Krystian Bielik which allowed Armstrong to steal possession and finish emphatically past Wildsmith.

Mason’s side were looking shellshocked but did carve out a rare chance when Grant found some space down the left and curled the ball beyond the far post.

Saints threatened each time they went forward and more great work from Scienza set up Caspar Jander to shoot, but his effort flew over.

It seemed only a matter of time before Saints scored again, and Armstrong added his seventh goal in six games as he latched on to Finn Azaz’s disguised pass to again finish into the far corner.

The small group of travelling supporters booed their side off at half-time.

The pace of the game slowed in the second period as Southampton dominated possession and the Baggies sat behind the ball.

Grant was West Brom’s best player and scored just after the hour mark as he cut in from the left and struck low into the far corner to give the away side hope.

Ten minutes from time, Mason’s side threatened from successive corners, with Gavin Bazunu saving brilliantly from Bielik and Ryan Manning clearing Jayson Molumby’s effort off the line.

But with four minutes left Phillips nodded in from Mikey Johnston’s corner to ensure a nervy ending for the home side.

Samuel Iling-Junior missed a glorious chance to equalise at the death when he somehow put Johnston’s cross wide of the post and Saints survived.

The managers

Southampton’s Tonda Eckert:

“The very positive thing is that if you have those home games and they become tight towards the end, that you also have a crowd that can bring the game over the line for you.

“I honestly want to thank everyone who came out to St Mary’s today because that made a hell of a difference.

“If we have come to the point that we try to look for bits, even though we win, I think that we’ve come quite to a good state.

“At the same time, obviously we struggled a little bit more in the second half than in the last two games, I think for different reasons. That is definitely something that we’re going to address.”

West Brom’s Ryan Mason:

“I don’t read the press so in terms of rumours, it’s irrelevant. I’m not a coach, I’m not a manager, I’m not a person who makes excuses in life.

“My job is to turn up every day and try and change the situation, away from home especially.

“The squad is certainly good enough to be in a better position than we are in the league.

“The way we lost the game is difficult to accept. There were some individual mistakes and that can happen, but I think a lack of belief is something which upsets me more.

“I probably believe in this group more than they believe in themselves at the minute. But of course, I understand football, I’m not stupid. To lose the amount of games that we have is not good enough for this football club.”