Southampton set an unwanted record on Sunday as they became the first team in Premier League history to be relegated with seven matches left to play.
A 3-1 defeat at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur in north London confirmed Southampton’s fate. A first-half brace from Brennan Johnson and Mathys Tel‘s first Premier League goal earned all three points for Ange Postecoglou’s men, while Mateus Fernandes scored for the visitors.
Ipswich Town and Derby County held the previous record for the earliest relegation in league history. They had their relegations confirmed with six matches remaining in 1994-95 and 2007-08, respectively.
Southampton are also on course to finish the campaign with the lowest recorded points tally. The 2007-08 Derby team infamously finished with 11 points — one point more than Southampton have managed so far.
It has been a miserable season for the south coast club who attempted to change course when they fired manager Russell Martin in December.
The appointment of Ivan Juric failed to halt the club’s downward momentum, with the Croatian coach so far only picking up a single win in his 13 games in charge. Southampton have lost 11 games in that period.
