Brighton 0-1 Southampton: Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg strike seals Saints win
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Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored his fourth goal of the season as Southampton beat Brighton at the Amex Stadium
Chris Hughton said it would be "a hard slog until the end of the season" after his Brighton side were beaten by Southampton at the Amex Stadium.
The Seagulls are five points clear of the relegation zone but Hughton says the "battle to stay in the division" has become "slightly harder".
"We play Chelsea away in midweek which is a very, very tough game," said Hughton. "If the players are not up for it then they'll get beat."
Southampton moved level on points with their hosts as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored the only goal.
The Saints captain latched on to Nathan Redmond's pass to poke the ball past Mat Ryan and give the visitors a second consecutive league victory.
Nathan Redmond produced the only shot on target in a disappointing first half, but Hojbjerg's strike sparked the game into life after the interval.
Martin Montoya came closest to the equaliser, and a first league goal for Brighton, but his fierce effort struck the Saints' crossbar.
The visitors held on to claim their fourth away win of the season and join Brighton on 33 points, although Hughton's side have a better goal difference and a game in hand.
Southampton's victory and Burnley's win over Wolves mean Huddersfield, who lost at Crystal Palace, are relegated to the Championship.
Saints seal south coast 'derby'
Derbies are usually highly charged and competitive affairs, but this one took nearly an hour to come to life.
That might be explained by geography, as 65 miles separate the two south-coast cities.
Southampton - who began the day closer to the relegation zone - had the better of the early exchanges. They edged the first-half possession and had the best chance when Danny Ings - returning to the side after a two-month injury absence - was played in by Stuart Armstrong.
Brighton 0-1 Southampton: Ralph Hassenhuttl praises Saints players after win
The striker opened his body to try and curl the ball past Ryan but Lewis Dunk was on hand to block his effort.
Redmond managed the only shot on target and should have scored from another chance when he was played in down the right, but he drilled his shot wide.
Southampton took the lead after the interval when Yves Bissouma was sloppy in possession and the visitors burst into the Brighton box on the counter-attack, before Hojbjerg finished well.
Too little too late for Seagulls
For 53 minutes, Brighton seemed content to settle for a point as they struggled to find any attacking rhythm.
But having gone behind, Hughton's side began to push forward and ask more questions of their visitors, producing nine shots in search of the equaliser.
Dunk found himself unmarked inside the Southampton area from a free-kick but could only head over the bar.
Brighton 0-1 Southampton: Chris Hughton admits relegation battle will be a "hard slog"
Montoya hit the Saints crossbar moments later and then the hosts had a tame penalty appeal turned down when Davy Propper collected the loose ball inside the area before falling over under a Hojbjerg challenge.
Brighton's place in the FA Cup semi-final against Manchester City at Wembley next week was only achieved after Solly March equalised with a stoppage-time free-kick in the quarter-final at Millwall.
And when Sam Gallagher fouled Shane Duffy, it seemed as if the stage was set for March to reproduce his heroics, but his clipped delivery to the unmarked Duffy was not met with enough power to beat Angus Gunn.
Man of the match - Jan Bednarek (Southampton)
Jan Bednarek made more interceptions (3) and more clearances (7) than any other Southampton player as Brighton pushed for the equaliser
'It's going to be a hard slog' - what they said
Brighton boss Chris Hughton speaking to BBC MOTD: "We didn't play at a good enough level to win us the game.
"The last half an hour offensively we were good. But then you have to produce that little bit of quality and make the goalkeeper work.
"You've had the international break - some have been away but not all. I thought Southampton were better than us in the first half.
"We've done ourselves no favours today. It's going to be a hard slog to the end of the season."
Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl speaking to BBC's MOTD: "It was a massive win for us. We played a good game today.
"The last three weeks we tried to work with this new shape."
On Brighton hitting the bar: "You need luck - that is normal. But if you work like this then you deserve that little bit of luck.
"It's important to take as many wins as possible until the end of the season. We feel comfortable in the way we play."
Southampton maintain Amex dominance
Brighton have just one victory in their past five home Premier League games (D1 L3), after winning four and losing just one of the seven before that (D2).
Southampton are only the second team to beat Brighton twice at the Amex in the same season (EFL Cup and Premier League) after Derby County in 2013-14.
Brighton had 15 shots without scoring; only twice before in the Premier League have the Seagulls attempted more shots without scoring (21 v Watford in February 2019 and 16 v Watford in August 2017).
Southampton have won three of their past seven Premier League away games (D2 L2), after failing to win any of the seven before that (D1 L6).
Only Everton (14) have seen more of their games goalless at half-time in the Premier League this season than Southampton (13).
Southampton's Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg has scored four goals in the Premier League this season, twice as many as he managed in his previous six campaigns in Europe's big five leagues combined.
What's next?
Brighton travel to Chelsea on Wednesday, 3 April (19:45 BST), while Southampton host Liverpool on Friday (20:00 BST).