Cardiff’s ‘fighting chance’

Southampton 0 Cardiff 1

Juan Cala was the unlikely hero at St Mary’s, with the centre-back’s wondrous 20-yard strike securing the Premier League’s worst travellers a vital win.

The Bluebirds remain 19th but have halved the gap to safety to three points as the season enters the final four matches.

“It is huge,” midfielder Whittingham said. “It was a must-win for us and to get three points drags a lot of teams into it and gives us a fighting chance.

“The last 10 minutes they had so much of the ball and putting it in our box, so it was about how we defended.

“The boys defended really well and we’re really happy to get three points.”

Next up for Cardiff is another must-win clash against Stoke, who head to south Wales buoyed by four wins from their past five matches.

The deciding factor at St Mary’s was the grit and determination Cardiff showed after Cala found the net. Southampton bossed the encounter but they failed to turn their dominance into goals, with manager Mauricio Pochettino bemoaning a lack of cutting edge afterwards.

Saints midfielder Steven Davis echoed those sentiments and vowed to kick on when they travel to face his former club Aston Villa next weekend.

“I think we played generally quite well, moved the ball well and had a lot of possession, created a lot of chances, but we didn’t do enough in front of goal before they got the first one,” he said.

“It’s just a frustrating day more than anything because of the way that we’ve played. There are positives to take but it didn’t drop for us in front of goal and we couldn’t get the three points so we have to look forward now to our four remaining games and try to pick up as many points as possible.

“I think in the way we’ve shown in every game this season, the demands we’ve placed on each other to drive this club forward, and to try and drive each other on as much as possible, and there’s still four games with a lot to play for in our minds, so we need to play and train in that way.”

SOUTHAMPTON: Gazzaniga, Chambers (Clyne 67), Fonte, Lovren, Shaw, Cork (Do Prado 79), Schneiderlin, Steven Davis, Ramirez (Gallagher 66), Lallana, Lambert.

CARDIFF: Marshall, Theophile-Catherine, Caulker, Cala, Da Silva (McNaughton 78), Medel (Zaha 61), Kim, Mutch, Whittingham, Daehli (Bellamy 87), Campbell.

Attendance: 30,526.

Referee: Jon Moss (W Yorkshire).