Report and reaction as Albion win 4-0 at Southampton

Joao Pedro, Georginio Rutter, Kaoru Mitoma and Jack Hinshelwood on target as Albion climb to eighth in the Premier League.

Bruce Talbot

2025-02-22T17:20+00:00

Georginio Rutter points the way to three points after scoring Albion's second. 📷 James Boardman.

Albion are up to eighth after cruising to their biggest league victory of the season at St Mary’s.

Joao Pedro scored his first goal since January 4 and sixth of the season midway through the first half before Georginio Rutter made it six in seven 11 minutes after the break. Kaoru Mitoma raced clear for Albion’s third and Jack Hinshelwood fired in the fourth.

It should have been more convincing. Yankuba Minteh twice squandered easy chances with only Aaron Ramsdale to beat while Carlos Baleba hit the post late on as Albion had ten shots on target.

Kaoru Mitoma celebrates with Joao Pedro after the Brazilian gave Albion the lead. 📷 James Boardman.

The opening goal had been coming. Baleba’s free-kick deflected onto the roof of the net before Yasin Ayari bent a brilliant right-wing cross to the far post where Mitoma made a decent connection, but the ball brushed the outside of the post. Rutter then sent Yankuba Minteh clear but he slipped with only Ramsdale to beat.

Albion finally made their dominance count in the 23rd minute. Rutter shrugged off two defenders to put Joao away down the middle and he sat down Ramsdale before dinking a delightful finish over the goalkeeper.

Yankuba Minteh forced Aaron Ramsdale into a couple of first-half saves. 📷 James Boardman.

Bart Verbruggen stretched to push away Mateus Fernandes’s inswinging cross and Cameron Archer had a goal disallowed for offside just after the break – a reminder for Albion to rediscover their earlier intensity which they answered on 56 minutes. Rutter again won back possession to find Minteh before racing into the box to slide home Minteh’s low cross for his eighth goal of the season.

Only Minteh will know how he didn’t pass the ball into an open goal after leaving Ramsdale on the deck but a third goal arrived in the 69th minute. Joao’s cushioned pass sent Mitoma through and he outpaced the home defence and lifted the ball over Ramsdale for his fifth goal in seven games.

Adam Webster tackles Tyler Dibbling. 📷 James Boardman.

It was then a question of how many Albion could score. Ramsdale kept out Baleba’s powerful drive before Jack Hinshelwood made it 4-0, firing into the bottom corner after Saints failed to clear Brajan Gruda’s corner. Ramsdale’s smothering save diverted Baleba’s shot onto the post in stoppage time as Albion finished in total control.

Kaoru Mitoma scores Albion's third goal. 📷 James Boardman.

Fabian Hurzeler's thoughts...

On the overall performance… “We created chances and the only time we struggled was ten minutes before half-time and ten minutes after half-time but it was a good performance. We outworked them, outsprinted them and were very aggressive. That was the key to winning this game. You can’t expect to win 4-0 but we defended compactly and won a lot of second duels. The only regret is that we didn’t score goals – [Aaron] Ramsdale was outstanding and made several good saves.

Fabian Hurzler greets his opposite number Ivan Juric before kick-off at St Mary's. 📷 James Boardman.

“They had a five-man defence and played very much man to man. So we had to find good relationships on the pitch and the players did it that well. All the players were sharp and today Joao had his chance and I think he took it.

On making changes… “We stayed together as a team after losing two players (Welbeck and Veltman) quite late before the match. I can’t offer any clear news about their fitness [for Tuesday] – we just have to go game by game. Jack Hinshelwood was one who played in a different role and I was really pleased with how he reacted and, of course, it was nice for him to score.

On Yankuba Minteh’s threat… “Minteh made a lot runs to attack the box and their defence. Of course, he also wants to score but if he keeps creating chances he will score the goals.

On Georginio Rutter’s form… “I’m quite happy he’s in our team! He needed to get used to the intensity of the Premier League but he’s starting to hit the target more. He understands how he can be more dangerous for his opponents and he is being more present in the opponents’ box.

On climbing the table… “We go game by game. Bournemouth is the next challenge and it’s important to keep momentum going.”

The line-up

Verbruggen, Lamptey (Estupinan 67), Webster ©, van Hecke, Hinshelwood (Wieffer 83), Ayari (Gomez 67), Baleba, Mitoma (Adingra 79), Minteh, Rutter (Gruda 79), Joao Pedro.