Cape Town - Ralph Hasenhuttl has expressed his gratitude to the Southampton board for showing faith in him after the Saints climbed out of the relegation zone on Wednesday night.
Saints boss Hasenhuttl celebrated a year in charge of the south-coast club with a precious second successive top-flight win, as they saw off fellow strugglers Norwich City 2-1.
First-half goals from Danny Ings and Ryan Bertrand earned the three points at St Mary’s as Southampton followed up Saturday’s success over bottom club Watford and a draw at Arsenal to move to 17th place in the table.
Austrian Hasenhuttl endured a torrid recent run, which included an eight-game winless streak in the league and a 9-0 humiliation by high-flying Leicester.
The former RB Leipzig coach, who succeeded Mark Hughes on December 5 last year, expressed gratitude for the backing he has received.
“It was not an easy last month or two months but a very important one for me as a manager,” said Hasenhuttl. “I have never had a situation like this in my entire managing career with such a long time without winning.
“I must say thank you to everybody in the club that I could feel a big support in these moments and this is important for the future for this club.”
Southampton opened the scoring on home soil for the first time this season when in-form Ings rose to head home James Ward-Prowse’s 22nd-minute free-kick and score for the fourth successive game.
Set-piece specialist Ward-Prowse again proved his worth two minutes before half-time with a corner which Shane Long flicked on for Bertand to volley his first goal since August 2018.
Saints have not kept a clean sheet at St Mary’s all season and a lapse in concentration allowed Teemu Pukki to race clear and set up a nervy final 25 minutes with a rising left-footed shot.
But the hosts hung on and, with Everton losing the Merseyside derby to Liverpool, the result was sufficient to lift them out of the drop zone.
- TeamTalk Media