Southampton Prevail in Relegation Six-Pointer

Southampton prevail in relegation six-pointer 

Mark Hughes and The Saints beat Swansea 1-0 in crucial relegation six-pointer.

Having started the game in 17th and 18th place, the Liberty Stadium was set up for a crucial relegation six-pointer between Carlos Carvalhal's Swansea City and Mark Hughes Southampton. Both sides were level on 33 points with the Saints having the advantage due to goal difference.

The first half was a tightly contested affair where both teams were desperately trying hard to not concede a goal.

In the second half, Saints goalkeeper Alex McCarthy pulled off some great and crucial saves to deny the Swans taking the lead.

The best of them came two minutes into second half with Jordan Ayew's left-footed effort in which McCarthy tipped over the bar.     

Saints striker Charlie Austin had a great chance to put the visitors in the lead in the 60th minute but failed to convert it into a goal as his free header fell safely into the hands of Lucas Fabianski.

Was this going to be a frustrating night for Hughes's side?

the only goal of the game came in the 72nd minute where Manolo Gabiadini managed to put the ball in the back of the net following a rebound off Fabianski's save, this was only the Italian's fifth goal of the season in which the Saints have have scored a total of 37 goals all season.   

This victory for Hughes's side keeps up their hopes of being in next season's Premier League alive, however they would need to earn a point against champions Manchester City to guarantee Premier League survival.

As for Swansea, their fate now lies in the hands of Chelsea beating Huddersfield Town and winning their final game against Stoke City.   

Hughes was delighted with his teams willingness to fight for the victory over the Swans. 

"It helped our focus. We used it as a motivating factor," "We suspected that maybe some of the dark arts were at work but we didn't let it affect us."

 "I'm not for one minute suggesting Swansea had anything to do with that."Maybe it was over-zealous Swansea fans in positions to affect our hotel booking."