Danny Ings’ early strike was the difference as Southampton claimed their first win of the new season by beating Burnley 1-0 at Turf Moor.
Che Adams’ cut-back left Danny Ings with a simple finish to give the Saints the lead on five minutes – a lead they held on to for the remainder of the game.
Hassenhuttl’s side were desperate for a win having lost three games in eight days against Crystal Palace, Brentford and Tottenham but made just the one change to their starting 11, with Jannik Vestergaard returning to the defence in place of Jack Stephens, who could only make the bench.
Bar the opening goal – a sweet but comfortable finish from former Burnley man Ings – there was very little goalmouth action in the first half. Burnley did have a penalty appeal midway through, when Jan Bednarek and Chris Wood came together but the referee allowed play to continue.
The Clarets also came close with a free kick towards the end of the opening period as Ashley Westwood whipped in a good free kick which nearly caught out Saints ‘keeper Alex McCarthy, but to no avail as Southampton kept their lead at half-time.
Kiwi Wood thought he had brought the hosts level when he won possession off of full-back Ryan Bertrand’s sloppy back pass before racing through and finishing past McCarthy, but the goal was ruled out for offside – much to the dismay of Burnley manager Sean Dyche.
Soon later, Matej Vydra’s attempted chip of McCarthy was wayward but again exposed the vulnerability of McCarthy as a ‘sweeper keeper’, caught off his line.
Otherwise a quite dull game, though Nick Pope came up for a last-minute corner that amounted to nothing for the hosts, who may fear that the last time they started a season with two defeats was 2014-15 – a season which saw them relegated to the Championship.
By contrast, Hassenhuttl can breath a sigh of relief as the Saints picked up their first points of the campaign ahead of hosting West Bromwich Albion at the weekend.
FT: Burnley 0-1 SOUTHAMPTON (Ings 5′)
Burnley: Pope, Bardsley (booked), Long, Dunne, Taylor, Brownhill, Westwood, Stephens, McNeil, Wood, Vydra. Unused Subs: Lowton, Peacock-Farrell, Pieters, Thomas, Benson, Goodridge, Driscoll-Glennon.
Southampton: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Vestergaard, Bertrand, Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Armstrong, Djenepo (Tella 77′), Adams (Obafemi 77′), Ings. Unused Subs: Forster, Stephens, Long, Valery, Smallbone.
Wessex Scene Man of the Match: Danny Ings (Southampton).
Referee: Andre Marriner.
