Armstrong's latest winner defeats Everton and gives Southampton their first league win | first division

The wait is finally over for Southampton. It had been 23 games (a streak dating back to March 2023) since they last tasted victory in the first division and Russell Martin must have wondered how much longer Dragan Solak's patience would last.

Southampton's Serbian owner made a rare appearance here and watched his team deceive again until the decisive moment of the game arrived five minutes from time. Everton substitute Beto had seen his header hit the crossbar earlier Southampton broke the field and Adam Armstrong finished off a Yuki Suguwara cross to send the home fans wild.

Moments later there was a nervous wait to see if Beto's goal would stand, and the applause that greeted VAR's decision to disallow the goal for offside was almost as loud as that of Armstrong's winning goal. But having stayed there thanks to a series of exceptional saves from Aaron Ramsdale, Southampton moved off the bottom of the table by ending Everton's unbeaten run, much to the relief of their manager.

“It's been a really difficult period but they're an incredible group to work with and I love them and I love being here,” said Martin, who couldn't hide his joy at the final whistle as he celebrated with the home fans.

“The players have been criticized a lot for trying things that don't go well, so hopefully they get the credit and this can be the start of something for us.”

For Sean Dyche, it was a frustrating afternoon after Southampton's Jan Bednarek survived a VAR check when he brought down Beto and the VAR decided not to overturn referee Andy Madley's decision to show only a yellow card.

“I think it's a huge decision in a game like this,” said the Everton manager. “I feel frustrated about losing because we didn't take advantage of the opportunities we created.”

The draw against Fulham last week left them five games unbeaten (Everton's longest run since Dyche was appointed) and, unsurprisingly, it was the visitors who looked full of confidence despite Southampton dominating possession throughout the match. most of the first half, but rarely looked like a threat. A terrible tackle from James Tarkowski that left Cameron Archer writhing in pain had the home crowd out of their seats and earned the Everton defender a yellow card that could easily have been another colour.

Ramsdale managed to keep his nerve when he went wide of his goal after a Southampton corner was cleared and he was almost tackled by Dominic Calvert-Lewin in what would have been a calamitous moment. Apart from the energetic Idrissa Gueye, who was easy to spot as he was wearing white tights on a mild autumn day on the south coast, there wasn't much quality on display from either side.

That almost changed when a quick drive downfield started by a beautiful pass from Flynn Downes ended with Archer placing his shot just wide of Jordan Pickford's far post. The England goalkeeper had to push away Armstrong's cross from Archer's feet before Taylor Harwood-Bellis went wide for a corner and Southampton finally showed some attacking intent.

Adam Lallana was replaced by Joe Aribo in the second half and the change appeared to disrupt Southampton's rhythm. Instead, it was Orel Mangala who almost broke the deadlock after Ashley Young set him up, and Ramsdale was relieved to see the ball bounce just over the bar after making the save. Michael Keane became the second Everton centre-back to be booked when he brought down Archer, who then almost inadvertently set up Harwood-Bellis when the resulting free-kick hit him on the ankle, but Tarkowski was able to make a crucial block. .

The home crowd could sense that Southampton were closing in, but they would have fallen behind had it not been for a remarkable save by Ramsdale to deny Keane following Vitalii Mykolenko's cross. Somehow the ball stayed out after he pushed it towards the post and then bounced off Ramsdale and onto the woodwork again, prompting a fist-pumping celebration from the former Arsenal goalkeeper.

Ramsdale came to his team's rescue again by deflecting Mykolenko's free kick around the post after Bednarek brought down Beto. Jack Harrison had a great chance to win in the end before Armstrong stole the headlines and gave Martin the victory he so craved.