Adam Armstrong’s late goal gave Southampton their first Premier League win of the season as they beat Everton 1-0 at St Mary’s Stadium.

Armstrong’s first league strike of the campaign came after 85 minutes of Saturday’s tightly fought contest, moments after Everton substitute Beto struck the crossbar at the other end.

Aaron Ramsdale had earlier kept the scores level with a fine save from Michael Keane’s close-range header, while Everton thought they had an equaliser when Beto raced in behind and finished brilliantly beyond Southampton’s goalkeeper.

However, a VAR review showed that Beto had strayed offside, and the goal was overturned, to the delight of the home fans.

Southampton’s win takes them onto four points and, at least temporarily, into 19th place, while Everton remain in 16th after their five-match unbeaten run came to an end.

How the match unfolded

A quiet opening half saw two half-decent openings, one for each side – Everton’s Dominic Calvert-Lewin was blocked off by Taylor Harwood-Bellis in the penalty area early on, while Cameron Archer dragged wide on the counter at the other end moments before the break.

Beto’s introduction around the hour-mark helped Everton stretch Southampton’s defence, although it was defender Keane who almost broke the deadlock when he connected with a diving header at the back post, only to be denied by an excellent stop from Ramsdale, who tipped the ball onto the post and stopped it from trickling over the line.

Southampton had the crossbar to thank when Beto clattered a header against it, and Russell Martin’s side made their fortune count, racing up the other end, with Armstrong sweeping home from Yukinari Sugawara’s cutback just 25 seconds later.

Beto seemed to have dragged Everton level when he latched onto James Tarkowski’s pass and finished coolly, yet the forward had just gone too soon.

Winless run comes to a halt

Southampton started Armstrong as well as Archer, which on the face looked to be a more ambitious approach from Martin in the hunt for their first three points of the season.

Yet Saints struggled to manufacture many clear-cut chances, especially in the first half and had to wait until the dying embers of the half to even register a shot, which was scuffed wide by Archer.

But when their biggest chance came, Armstrong – who scored his first Premier League goal for Southampton against Everton back in the 2021/22 season – made sure to take it.

Good movement from Archer helped open up the space for Armstrong to calmly meet Sugawara’s pass and pick out the left-hand side of the net from the centre of the box.

It is a huge relief for Southampton, who have a big game against fellow strugglers Wolverhampton Wanderers next week. Win that, and things really will be looking much brighter.

Everton lack bite

Beto spared Everton’s blushes against Fulham last week, and it looked as though he had done it again with that excellent finish in the closing stages on Saturday.

This time, though, there was to be no reprieve for Sean Dyche’s team. They were not too often threatened at the back and delivered a typically robust performance in the first half, but the lack of a clear attacking identity or plan was a big issue.

Dyche’s decision to take off Iliman Ndiaye did not seem to be welcomed by the away supporters, and after Southampton took the lead, he again resorted to playing centre-back Keane up front.

While Beto delivered another positive cameo, Everton need to show more than they are doing if they are to put distance between themselves and the relegation zone.

What will concern Dyche, too, is the space that Armstrong had to convert Southampton’s winner. The striker was left alone in the box with Everton’s defenders backing off, and the Toffees duly came unstuck.

Club reports

Southampton report | Everton report

Match officials

Referee: Andy Madley. Assistants: Nick Hopton, Marc Perry. Fourth official: James Bell. VAR: Matt Donohue. Assistant VAR: Neil Davies.

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