Southampton have finally been put out of their misery.
A 3-1 loss to Tottenham has sealed the Saints’ instant return to the Championship with seven games remaining.
It means Southampton now hold the record for the earliest relegation in Premier League history.
The record was previously shared among Derby County, Huddersfield Town and Sheffield United, who had all been relegated with six games remaining.
However, Derby and Huddersfield’s relegations took place at an earlier date on the calendar.
The Rams were sent to the Championship on March 29 during the 2007/08 season while Huddersfield’s fate was sealed on March 30 in the 2018/19 campaign.
The defeat to Tottenham also ensured Aaron Ramsdale achieved an unwanted feat as the result meant he had now been relegated from the Premier League for a third time.
The 26-year-old had previously gone down with Bournemouth and Sheffield United in 2020 and 2021 respectively.
Southampton, who sit on 10 points, now have six games left to pick up at least two points to avoid becoming the worst team in Premier League history.
The record belongs to Derby when they finished with just 11 points during their infamous 2007/08 season.
Derby recorded just the one victory, eight draws and 29 defeats from 38 games as they finished rock bottom of the top flight and 24 points behind 19th-placed Birmingham City.
Southampton’s remaining games include fixtures against Aston Villa, West Ham United, Fulham, Leicester City, Manchester City, Everton and Arsenal.
The Saints will certainly need to show much more than they did against Tottenham if they are to salvage any points from the daunting run-in.
Ivan Juric’s side went behind in the 13th minute when Brennan Johnson struck home from a tidy cutback by Djed Spence.
It looked like Tottenham extended their lead late in the first half when Lucas Bergvall slammed home from close range.
However, the Swede’s goal was chalked off as a lengthy VAR review determined Cristian Romero was in an offside position when he headed the ball back for Bergvall from a free-kick.
But there would be no VAR debate in the 42nd minute when Johnson scored his second of the game.
Southampton threatened to make things interesting in the 90th minute when Mateus Fernandes slotted home through Guglielmo Vicario’s legs from close range.
But just when it looked like the Saints could have pushed for a late equaliser to delay the inevitable, Wellington gave away a penalty when he mistimed a challenge on Johnson inside his box.
Despite scoring twice already, Johnson did not have the chance to complete his hat-trick as January signing Mathys Tel slotted home from the spot.
The win for Tottenham lifted them up to 13th in the table on 37 points as they now shift focus to the first leg of their bumper Europa League quarter-final tie against Eintracht Frankfurt on Thursday.
