Late Armstrong winner downs Everton to earn Southampton first league win

The wait is finally over for Southampton. It had been 23 games – a run that stretched back to March 2023 – since they last tasted victory in the Premier League and Russell Martin must have been wondering how much longer Dragan Solak's patience would last.

Southampton's Serbian owner made a rare appearance here and had watched his team once again flatter to deceive until the game's decisive moment arrived five minutes from full-time. Everton substitute Beto had seen his header cannon off the crossbar before Southampton broke downfield and Adam Armstrong swept in Yuki Suguwara's cross to send the home supporters into raptures.

There was a nervous wait to see whether Beto's goal moments later would stand, with the cheer that greeted VAR's decision to overturn it for offside almost as loud as for Armstrong's winning goal. But having been kept in it by a string of outstanding saves from Aaron Ramsdale, Southampton moved off the bottom of the table by ending Everton's unbeaten run.

Martin insisted this week that Solak remains fully behind him despite his side's slow start and he made just one alteration from last week's narrow defeat to Manchester City, with Armstrong replacing teenager Tyler Dibling in attack. Everton were without Abdoulaye Doucoure in midfield but playmaker Dwight McNeil was passed fit after injuring his knee in the draw against Fulham last week. That draw meant they surpassed their longest unbeaten run of five matches since Sean Dyche was appointed and unsurprisingly it was the visitors who looked full of confidence despite Southampton dominating possession for most of the first half but rarely looking a threat.

A lung-bursting run from Mateus Fernandes after the Portugal Under 21 midfielder won the ball in his own half almost brought a moment of excitement for the home supporters, although that ended abruptly when he overran the ball. But an awful sliding challenge from James Tarkowski that left Cameron Archer writhing in agony got them out of their seats and earned the Everton defender a yellow card that could easily have been a different colour.

Ramsdale managed to keep his nerve when he came a long way out of his goal after a Southampton corner had been cleared and was almost tackled by Dominic Calvert-Lewin in what would have been a calamitous moment. Other than the energetic Idrissa Gueye – who was easy to spot because he was sporting white leggings on a mild autumnal day on the south coast – there was not much quality on display from either side.

That almost changed when a swift break downfield started by a lovely through ball from Flynn Downes ended with Archer placing his shot just wide of Jordan Pickford's far post. The England goalkeeper was required to push away Armstrong's cross from the feet of Archer before Taylor Harwood-Bellis headed wide for a corner as Southampton finally showed some attacking intent.

Adam Lallana was replaced by Joe Aribo for the second half and the change appeared to interrupt Southampton's rhythm. Instead, it was Orel Mangala who almost broke the deadlock after he was set up by Ashley Young, with Ramsdale relieved to see the ball bounce just over the crossbar after making the save.

Michael Keane became the second Everton central defender to be cautioned when he hauled down Archer, who then almost unwittingly provided Harwood-Bellis with an assist when the resulting free kick hit him on the ankle but Tarkowski was able to make a crucial block.

Martin decided to roll the dice and switched to four at the back when he brought on Dibling, who announced himself with a mazy dribble that led to Aribo heading straight at Pickford. The home crowd could sense Southampton were getting closer but they would have fallen behind had it not been for a remarkable save from Ramsdale to deny Keane from Vitalii Mykolenko's cross. Somehow the ball stayed out after he pushed it onto the post and then rebounded back off Ramsdale onto the woodwork again, leading to a fist-pumping celebration from the former Arsenal goalkeeper.

Jan Bednarek survived a VAR check after bringing down Beto just outside the area and again Ramsdale came to his side's rescue by tipping Mykolenko's free kick around the post. Jack Harrison had a great chance to win it late on before Armstrong stole the headlines.