Southampton manager Ivan Juric has issued an apology to supporters after his struggling team missed a crucial opportunity to avoid being labelled the worst side in Premier League history, following a 1-1 draw with Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
Matheus Franca’s last-gasp header for Palace cancelled out Paul Onuachu’s early strike at St Mary’s, denying Southampton what would have been just their third league victory in a dismal season.
Currently at the bottom of the table, Juric’s side sits on 10 points—still one point short of the Premier League’s record low final tally of 11, set by Derby in the 2007-08 season.
With eight matches remaining and sitting 19 points adrift of safety, Southampton faces the grim reality of relegation this weekend if they lose against Tottenham, while Wolves secure a win against Ipswich.
This outcome would officially make the Saints the first team to be relegated with seven fixtures still to play, a feat not even matched by the 2007-08 Derby squad, who had six games left, as did Huddersfield in 2019 and Sheffield United four years ago.
Amid the looming threat of relegation, Juric sought to comfort the frustrated fanbase.
“I truly apologise to the fans and the players for not securing the win, as I genuinely believe they deserved it,” he remarked.
“I’m very proud of our performance today and extremely disappointed we couldn’t clinch the victory, as we executed almost everything well.”
“I feel the players made a significant improvement. I had a strong belief we could compete effectively today.”
“We’ve managed to earn a point, and we need to prepare diligently for the next match. If we replicate this level of play consistently, we will accumulate points.”
“We simply need to discover a way to perform on Sunday that will make the fans proud and allow us to give our very best.”
Compiled by SportArena.com.au.
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