Marcus Tavernier strike gives Bournemouth hope as Southampton look doomed to Premier League relegation

Southampton look almost certain to be relegated as Premier League rivals Bournemouth took a step towards survival with a 1-0 win.

The south coast rivalry was settled in the away side’s favour on Thursday night as Marcus Tavernier had an effort deflected home on 50 minutes, and the three points sees them move seven points clear of the bottom three.

Southampton meanwhile have endured a wretched season and are now six points from safety with only five games left to play.

Bournemouth were the better side but were given a fright when Che Adams thought he had snatched a point for Southampton, but it was ruled out for offside following a VAR check.

The win gives Gary O’Neill’s efforts at Bournemouth further credit following his appointment as manager to replace Scott Parker, and apart from Adams’ effort, Bournemouth were largely in control of the match despite their narrow advantage.

Bournemouth goalscorer Tavernier told BT Sport: “We know it’s a big three points for us and that’s what we want to do. Every point matters and happy to get the three and move up the table, yeah definitely.

“We knew coming back from the international break we had to do it [improve] and that’s what we have done. I think it’s just the manager drilling into us to play a certain way. You see that in how we play and the defence keeping clean sheets gives us attackers freedom to go and make things happen.”

O’Neill’s men are now 14th in the league table ahead of the weekend’s fixtures.