Southampton’s 11-year stay in the Premier League ended on Saturday, May 13 after suffering a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Fulham in front of their home fans at the St. Mary’s Stadium.
After Carlos Vinicius scored the game’s opening goal, Aleksandar Mitrovic, put an end to Saints’ hopes with a diving header in the 7th minute.
The hosts knew they needed to win to have any chance of completing an unlikely survival mission, so they put in a cautious effort that yielded nothing after 90 minutes of football.
Before Vinicius scored, they did have a Carlos Alcaraz goal disallowed for a very slight offside, but the confident Cottagers were by far the better team.
Willian’s first-half attempt was cleanly cleared off the line by Lyanco, a fellow Brazilian who had earlier been fortunate to avoid a video assistance referee’s penalty review for handball.
The 2-0 defeat means Southampton will play Championship football in the upcoming season for the first time since 2012.
