Hull City 0 Southampton 1: Hull fall to defeat as rivals claw back ground

It is an amazing state of affairs considering the season is already well into February and explains why Hull City, despite sitting 13th this morning, are still very much embroiled in the fight to avoid relegation.

Just three points separate the Tigers from the drop zone following last night’s defeat to Southampton, Jose Fonte’s second-half strike settling a contest that was dominated from start to finish by the visitors.

A late equaliser for West Bromwich Albion at home to leaders Chelsea was the cause of Hull’s advantage on the bottom three being reduced.

With Cardiff City also claiming a point at home to Aston Villa and West Ham United beating Norwich City at Upton Park, it meant an end to the night every bit as disappointing for all but 1,084 of the 23,670 crowd as the 90 minutes they had just witnessed.

Hull, of course, remain confident that they will not be dragged into trouble.

If that is to be the case, however, then they simply cannot produce too many repeats of the insipid efforts that allowed Southampton to exert total control on proceedings.

Where the Saints passed the ball neatly and with precision, the leaden-footed hosts struggled and an over-reliance on pumping aimless long balls from the back meant any chance of putting the visitors under any kind of pressure was limited.

This direct approach meant Tom Huddlestone and the rest of the midfield spent the evening watching the ball sail over their heads.

It also meant that possession was invariably returned to Southampton, a side who had destroyed the Tigers when the two sides had met at St Mary’s in November.

Adam Lallana had been very much the star pupil in that footballing lesson on the south coast. The midfielder, who made his England debut just a week after that 4-1 win, started in a similar fashion last night.

His touch and vision meant Hull were always likely to have problems. Within five minutes, Lallana had created an opening for Ricky Lambert, another Saint to win his first international cap this season, with a sublime piece of skill down the right.

It deserved better than the shot from the former beetroot factory worker that flew a yard wide of Steve Harper’s right-hand post.

Three minutes later, Lambert’s face again resembled the colour of the goods he used to pack before moving into professional football as he spurned another fine opportunity after being played through by Steve Davis.

With just Steve Harper to beat, Lambert attempted to dink the ball over the Hull goalkeeper only to see the veteran pull off an unlikely block.

Jay Rodriguez was similarly wasteful when left unmarked 10 yards out to meet Davis’s corner but, on the half hour, the former Burnley man almost made amends.

Collecting the ball midway inside the Hull half, he advanced 10 or so yards before unleashing a ferocious shot that beat Harper but not the crossbar.

Despite all these near misses, the first half was far from a procession towards the home goal and Hull had cause to bemoan their own luck on 14 minutes when Shane Long’s glancing header struck an upright.

The second half followed a similar pattern with Saints willing to show patience when in possession in the hope that a chance would come.

Ten minutes after the restart the approach almost paid off as Lambert was played through only for Harper to again pull of a fine save.

The let-off proved a temporary one with Southampton’s dominance finally paying dividends in the 69th minute courtesy of an almighty scramble.

First, Harper had to be at his best to keep out a header from Fonte. A follow-up shot by Lallana was then also kept out by the veteran goalkeeper. Again, the ball fell kindly for the Saints and Fonte thundered a shot goalwards that, replays proved, Maynor Figueroa just failed to prevent crossing the line.

By the time referee Martin Atkinson had been informed of that via the Premier League’s new goalline technology, Lambert had smashed the ball into the net.

Saints went close to doubling their advantage when, first, Luke Shaw had a shot saved by Harper and then Davies kept out Guly Do Prado’s follow-up on the line.

Jack Cork also hit the crossbar in stoppage time, and the closest Hull came on a very disappointing night was when Sone Aluko had a shot saved by Artur Boruc.

With four of the seven sides below Hull in action tonight, the relegation picture could change again. Either way, Hull’s next league outing – the February 22 visit to second-bottom Cardiff City – has taken on huge significance.

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Hull City: Harper; McShane (Boyd 12), Bruce, Davies, Figueroa (Aluko 74); Elmohamady, Livermore, Huddlestone, Meyler (Brady 74); Jelavic, Long. Unused substitutes: Jakupovic, Koren, Sagbo, Aluko, Quinn.

Southampton: Boruc; Chambers, Fonte, Yoshida, Shaw; Cork, Schneiderlin; Davis (Wanyama 90), Rodriguez,, Lallana (Ward-Prowse 86); Lambert (Do Prado 75). Unused substitutes: Davis, Clyne, Hooiveld, Isgrove.

Referee: M Atkinson (West Yorkshire).

Last night’s results and latest tables: Page 22.