SOU vs BOU
Match Centre
SOU vs BOU As It Happened
Key moments so far
- Full time: Southampton 0-1 Bournemouth
- Marcus Tavernier scores early in second half to give visitors the win
- Ché Adams has late equaliser ruled out for offside after VAR check
- Saints remain bottom and six points adrift of 17th
Full time: Southampton 0-1 Bournemouth
A grim night at St Mary's, as Marcus Tavernier's goal early in the second half gives Bournemouth all three points.
Bournemouth substitution: Kieffer Moore replaces Dominic Solanke
Bournemouth substitution: Dango Ouattara replaces Philip Billing
VAR Decision: Goal awarded for Southampton [Ché Adams] was cancelled
That is devastating. Ché Adams's left foot is marginally offside and the goal is ruled out.
ADAMS WITH THE EQUALISER!
Saints are level! Stuart Armstrong gets into the area and finds the striker, who controls and slams home off the underside of the bar from six yards.
GOOOAL!!!
Ché Adams (88’) | 1 – 1
Yellow Card for Matías Viña (Bournemouth)
A very hefty tackle on Roméo Lavia earns Viña a caution.
Walker-Peters fires off target
Kyle Walker-Peters brings a loose ball under control outside the area, but his subsequent shot is a couple of yards wide of the top corner. It's been hard going for Saints in the second half here and time is fast running out.
Bournemouth substitution: Adam Smith replaces Marcus Tavernier
Yellow Card for Jefferson Lerma (Bournemouth)
Lerma is booked for fouling Kamaldeen as he attempted to break.
Southampton substitution: Kamaldeen Sulemana replaces Adam Armstrong
McCarthy saves from Rothwell
A dangerous moment as Bournemouth win the ball in Saints' half and advance, but Joe Rothwell's shot from just outside the box is saved by Alex McCarthy, who dives to his right to hold onto the effort.
Bournemouth substitution: Illia Zabarnyi replaces Marcos Senesi
Yellow Card for Marcos Senesi (Bournemouth)
Senesi is booked for bringing down Adam Armstrong out on the left wing.
Southampton substitution: Stuart Armstrong replaces Mohamed Elyounoussi
Southampton substitution: Ché Adams replaces Theo Walcott
Bournemouth's handball appeal turned down
The visitors want a penalty after a delivery into the box hit Jan Bednarek's arm, but referee Darren England felt there was nothing the defender could do about it and that his arm wasn't in an unnatural position, so he waves away the appeals.
Bournemouth break the deadlock
A nightmare start to the second half for Saints, as Bournemouth break forward and Marcus Tavernier cuts inside onto his left foot and plants a low, left-footed shot just inside the far post.
GOAL
Marcus Tavernier (49’) | 0 – 1

Saints into a back five
As well as the change in personnel at half-time, it's also a change of shape for Saints, who are now playing with three centre-backs. Jan Bednarek takes up the middle position with Duje Ćaleta-Car to his left and Lyanco to his right.
Second half is under way...
Saints get us started again, as we enter a big 45 minutes.
Southampton substitution: Lyanco replaces James Ward-Prowse
A change at the break for Saints, as Lyanco replaces the skipper.
Half time: Southampton 0-0 Bournemouth
Some positive play from both sides, but nothing between them as we reach the midway point at St Mary's.
Maitland-Niles comes on at right back
The change for Saints sees Kyle Walker-Peters switch to the opposite side of the pitch, as he moves out to the left, allowing Ainsley Maitland-Niles to take up the right-back responsibilities.
Southampton substitution: Ainsley Maitland-Niles replaces Romain Perraud
An enforced change, as a disconsolate Romain Perraud slowly heads off the pitch after picking up an injury. He's replaced by Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
Solanke threatens again
A worrying moment for Saints as Dominic Solanke dances across the area, plays a bit of a one-two with Ryan Christie and then smashes the ball inches over from about 12 yards out.
Saints hit the bar
Saints are the ones pressing now, and they go close as Theo Walcott gets a little flick to a Kyle Walker-Peters cross before the ball then skims off the head of Bournemouth defender Marcos Senesi and loops onto the top of the joint between the post and crossbar, bouncing out for a corner that doesn't lead to anything for Saints.
Bournemouth goal ruled out for offside
Dominic Solanke is played through one-on-one, with Alex McCarthy making a brilliant save, before Matias Viña follows up and smashes in the rebound from the edge of the box. However, the offside flag goes up against Solanke, as Saints survive.
Armstrong denied at near post
A frantic couple of seconds in the Bournemouth box ends with Adam Armstrong getting off a low shot from a tight angle, which hits the post then cannons off Bournemouth keeper Neto's foot before flying behind for a corner. More positive stuff from Saints.
Bournemouth counter stopped by Ćaleta-Car
Bournemouth break up a Saints attack and launch a rapid counter, which ends with Marcus Tavernier charging into the area and cutting onto his left foot, only for Duje Ćaleta-Car to thankfully get in the way with a good block, diverting the ball to safety.
McCarthy survives a scare in goal
A heart-in-mouth moment there, as Alex McCarthy slips while controlling the ball in the area, allowing Dominic Solanke to charge him down, but the ball ends up going out of play for a goal kick.
Walcott with the first effort
A lovely passage of play from Saints, as Moi Elyounoussi slides a pass perfectly into the path of Theo Walcott down the inside-right. He cuts inside onto his left foot around the edge of the area, with Bournemouth keeper Neto making a good save at his near post to keep out the low shot.
KICK-OFF: Southampton vs Bournemouth
A huge 90 minutes at St Mary's gets under way...
COME ON YOU SAINTS ❤️🤍
Here come the teams...
Saints and Bournemouth head out onto the pitch at St Mary's, and we're just a few minutes from kick-off now. Stick with us for live updates from throughout the match, as well as free audio commentary using our player in the top right of the page.
19.41Warm-ups ✅
The teams are back in the dressing rooms and we're closing in on kick-off at St Mary's!
19.3719.09they have high energy, they're front-footed and aggressive. it'll be a really tough test.
gary o'neilbournemouth head coach on saints
Last time out: Arsenal 3-3 Saints
Speaking of that game at Arsenal, take a look back at the pick of the action from an incredibly dramatic evening at Emirates Stadium last Friday.
18.56McCarthy returns as Saints make two changes
Rubén Sellés has made two changes from the side that drew 3-3 with Arsenal last time out.
Bournemouth line-up
Starting XI: Neto (c), Vina, Kelly, Senesi, Mepham, Tavernier, Lerma, Rothwell, Billing, Christie, Solanke.
Substitutes: Travers, Cook, Brooks, Ouattara, Smith, Moore, Semenyo, Zabarnyi, Anthony.
18.46Southampton team announced
Starting XI: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Ćaleta-Car, Perraud, Lavia, Ward-Prowse (c), Elyounoussi, Alcaraz, Walcott, Adam Armstrong.
Team news at 6.45pm BST
Not long until the teams for tonight's match are revealed. We'll have the line-ups here for you soon!
18.28Last meeting: Bournemouth 0-1 Saints
The sides haven't met since October, when Ché Adams scored the only goal of the game at Vitality Stadium. Check out the best of the action from that game here.
18.06Bournemouth injury news
• Jack Stephens is unavailable tonight against his parent club
• Midfielder Joe Rothwell was a slight doubt with a minor hamstring issue
• Forward Hamed Traorè remains out with injury
17.51Watch: Rubén Sellés's pre-match press conference
The Southampton manager spoke with the media at Staplewood Campus yesterday. Check out what he had to say about tonight's game.
17.11Southampton injury news
Here are the key injury updates for Saints ahead of tonight:
• Ché Adams, who has been out injured for more than a month, is fit and available again.
• Jan Bednarek was in concussion protocols following the Arsenal game, but that was due to end last night with a further assessment today to determine his availability.
• Mohammed Salisu, Juan Larios and Tino Livramento remain sidelined through injury.
16.59The state of play
It's a huge night for both teams, with a lot at stake.
For Bournemouth, a win would take them to 36 points and to the very brink of safety.
For Saints, victory wouldn't lift them off the bottom, but would bring them back in touch with the sides above them. They currently trail Everton by four points, Leicester by five points and Nottingham Forest and Leeds by six.
No doubting the importance of this!
16.49Tonight's other matches
Everton vs Newcastle (7.45pm)
Tottenham vs Manchester United (8.15pm)
16.45Welcome to matchday!
Good evening everyone and welcome to a huge matchday at St Mary's!
SOU vs BOU Line Ups
Southampton
1 |
Alex McCarthy (GK)
|
---|---|
2 |
Kyle Walker-Peters
|
35 |
Jan Bednarek
|
6 |
Duje Caleta-Car
|
15 |
Romain Perraud
Ainsley Maitland-Niles (36′)
|
24 |
Mohamed Elyounoussi
Stuart Armstrong (61′)
|
45 |
Roméo Lavia
|
8 |
James Ward-Prowse (C)
Lyanco (45′)
|
9 |
Adam Armstrong
Kamaldeen Sulemana (76′)
|
32 |
Theo Walcott
Ché Adams (61′)
|
26 |
Carlos Alcaraz
|
Substitutes
7 |
Joe Aribo |
---|---|
10 |
Ché Adams |
4 |
Lyanco |
19 |
Moussa Djenepo |
31 |
Gavin Bazunu |
18 |
Sékou Mara |
17 |
Stuart Armstrong |
20 |
Kamaldeen Sulemana |
3 |
Ainsley Maitland-Niles |
Bournemouth
13 |
Neto (GK) (C)
|
---|---|
6 |
Chris Mepham
|
5 |
Lloyd Kelly
|
25 |
Marcos Senesi
Illia Zabarnyi (68′)
|
14 |
Joe Rothwell
|
16 |
Marcus Tavernier
Adam Smith (78′)
|
18 |
Matías Viña
|
8 |
Jefferson Lerma
|
9 |
Dominic Solanke
Kieffer Moore (93′)
|
10 |
Ryan Christie
|
29 |
Philip Billing
Dango Ouattara (93′)
|
Substitutes
27 |
Illia Zabarnyi |
---|---|
4 |
Lewis Cook |
21 |
Kieffer Moore |
15 |
Adam Smith |
7 |
David Brooks |
32 |
Jaidon Anthony |
1 |
Mark Travers |
11 |
Dango Ouattara |
24 |
Antoine Semenyo |
SOU vs BOU Match Stats
Head to Head Stats

-
Possession (%)5644
-
Shots1116
-
Shots on target22
-
Corners64
-
Passes Complete411305