Saints grab deserved win over Everton | Lampard: Relegation fight clear

Stuart Armstrong and Shane Long scored rare Premier League goals to give Southampton a deserved 2-0 win over Everton at St Mary's.

Southampton, unbeaten in their previous eight home league games, took the lead when Armstrong finished off a bright attacking move seven minutes into the second half (52), before substitute Long doubled the hosts' advantage with his first touch (84) to secure the three points.

It ended a long Premier League goal drought for both players. Armstrong's previous strike came in April 2021, while Long last scored in February 2020.

Despite some promising build-up play from Everton in the opening 10 minutes, Southampton then dominated in every area of the field as James Ward-Prowse and Oriol Romeu's mix of industry and ingenuity, as well as Kyle Walker-Peters' enthusiasm down the left flank, saw the visitors finish the game without a shot on target.

Southampton extend their recent fine run to just one defeat in 11 matches in all competitions with another impressive showing. They remain 10th in the table.

As for Everton, Frank Lampard thought he had generated lift-off with the 3-0 home thumping of Leeds last weekend in his third match in charge.

But the ex-Chelsea boss will need no telling that this loss - and a disappointing performance overall - leaves his side still flirting with a relegation battle. They stay 16th, four points above the drop zone.

"I think it's really clear isn't it? The position we're in in the table is clear, it's not something we have to debate," Lampard said when asked if Everton are in a genuine tussle to stay up.

"As a team and staff we just have to work on getting results to improve our position.

"When we won last week things looked a lot better and we've lost today and it