Southampton fans, breathe a sigh of relief.
Relegation from the Premier League may already have been confirmed, but Saints proved on Saturday that they’re not going down with a whimper as they took points from West Ham at the London Stadium.
Lesley Ugochukwu’s 93rd-minute strike rescued a 1-1 draw as Graham Potter’s men were left stunned by the worst team in the top flight this season.
Although the result has no bearing on Southampton’s season, the result did hold some importance.
That’s because the Saints can now no longer have the single worst Premier League campaign in history.
The south coast side went into the clash against West Ham on ten points, but now are on 11 thanks to the draw.
It means they are level with current record holders Derby County, who set the record for the worst Premier League season in history when they ended 2007/08 campaign on 11 points.
The result was the Saints’ second draw in their last four games.
Not only that, it was just the second time Southampton avoided defeat in their last nine fixtures.
Southampton now have five games remaining to pick up at least one point to ensure the Rams remain the sole owners of the record for the lowest points tally in the Premier League.
Those five games comprise of fixtures against Fulham, Leicester City, Manchester City, Everton and a final day clash at home against Arsenal.
Although Southampton have escaped being worse than Derby, they still managed to secure a slice of unwanted history when their relegation was confirmed against Tottenham.
The 3-1 loss to Ange Postecoglou’s side ensured Southampton set the record for the earliest relegation in Premier League history given their fate was confirmed with seven games to go.
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.
