Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl was in no mood to entertain obvious questions after watching his team suffer a record-equaling Premier League hammering for the second time in two seasons.
The Saints were thrashed 9-0 by Manchester United at Old Trafford on Tuesday night – the second time they have lost by that scoreline after being mauled by Leicester City last season by the same margin.
Lightning struck twice as a rampant United found themselves 4-0 up at half-time before adding five goals in a 25-minute second half blitz to push the scoreline to an even more embarrassing margin.
The visitors were forced to play the majority of the game with 10 men after teenager Alex Jankewitz – making his first Premier League start – was sent off after just 79 seconds for a rash challenge on Scott McTominay.
The Saints ended the game with just nine men after Jan Bednarek was dismissed in the 86th minute for a challenge on Anthony Martial.
A dazed Hasenhuttl – who has won widespread praise for turning around his team’s fortunes since their 9-0 defeat by Leicester in October of 2019 – was in no state to humor obvious questions from journalists after the game at Old Trafford.
“Super, superb!” was the Austrian’s sarcastic reply when asked by BBC 5 Live how he felt after the defeat.
“What do you think how it feels? I don’t know what this question should mean, but it’s OK.”
Hasenhuttl did go on to elaborate on his feelings, saying: “I can handle this again. One man down after three minutes, and 90 minutes can be very long…
"Everything that happened today was based on a mistake from the very beginning from a young player. It’s something that we have to live with.”
The Saints boss added that his emotions were different from the 9-0 loss his team endured at the hands of Leicester.
That was the nadir of a dark period for the club, and Hasenhuttl has since transformed their fortunes to the extent that they led the Premier League earlier this season and enjoyed an impressive win against champions Liverpool.
Also on rt.com Southampton troll Trump as Saints go top of Premier League for FIRST TIME EVERHeading into Tuesday’s game at Old Trafford, Southampton found themselves fairly comfortably ensconced in mid-table.
“I cannot be that disappointed as the first time [we lost 9-0], when we were as a team completely not working,” Hasenhuttl added.
“At the moment, normally we are in good shape, we played super games in the past. But OK, it happened again, and it’s not easy to explain why it happened.”
For Man United, the result was a boost after they suffered a shock 2-1 home defeat to bottom-of-the-table Sheffield United in their last game.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men moved level on 44 points with Manchester City at the top of the table, behind on goal difference but with their neighbors holding two games in hand.
The rout against Southampton saw Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Marcus Rashford and Edinson Cavani all get on the scoresheet in the first half, along with a Jan Bednarek own goal, before a five-goal blitz in 25 minutes in the second half embellished the scoreline even further.
Anthony Marial helped himself to a double, while Scott McTominay, Bruno Fernandes and Daniel James all got on the scoresheet.
The nine-goal winning margin holds the joint record in Premier League history, along with Southampton’s loss to Leicester and United’s battering of Ipswich back in March of 1995.
"We have been waiting for them [the front players] to show the magic, and tonight was the night for them to go and enjoy, we haven't had too many of them,” Solskjaer said.
"They enjoyed it and there were some good performances. They have [recovered their mojo]. There were a lot of good performances and a result like this, scoring goals, is always good for the team."
United next host Everton in the Premier League on Saturday, while Southampton will aim to bounce back on their trip to Newcastle on the same day.