Football: Soccer-Broja gives Saints first win as Leeds fall

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SOUTHAMPTON, England (Reuters) -Southampton tasted victory for the first time in the Premier League this season as Armando Broja’s second-half goal saw them win 1-0 against Leeds United on Saturday.

The win lifted Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side to 15th in the table with seven points, while Leeds are one point and two places behind.

The hosts came close to opening the scoring early on when Broja flicked on a Nathan Redmond corner towards the back post but Mohamed Elyounoussi failed to meet it.

And it would be Redmond and Broja who would combine for the Saints to break the deadlock in the second half when the former squared it to the on-loan Chelsea forward who netted his first Premier League goal, side-footing the ball into the roof of the net.

Netting on his maiden top-flight start, it capped off a perfect week for the 20-year-old striker, who a week ago had scored the winner for Albania against Hungary.

“It was amazing to get my first start in the Premier League, I’ve been dreaming of this moment since I was three years old,” he said after the game.

“Scoring on my first start is a dream come true, I couldn’t ask for anything better. The guys put in a great shift. It was an amazing moment.

“This is the favourite moment of my career so far, hopefully there are many moments and goals more to come,” he added.

The visitors had few real chances, but Dan James should have levelled the scores when he poked wide after a lapse from the hosts’ defence, but that was as close as Leeds would come.

Despite a late surge in intensity, Marcelo Bielsa’s men were uncharacteristically flat, failing to create any real chances, and the Saints won with relative ease.

Leeds falling short of the mark has been a consistent problem this season and one which Bielsa will need to address, especially with games against the likes of Wolverhampton Wanderers and Leicester City to come in the next few weeks.

Southampton dominated with nineteen shots compared to the opposition’s three, but will hope to rack up more than one goal when they take on Burnley at home next weekend.

(Reporting by Adam MillingtonEditing by Christian Radnedge and Pritha Sarkar)



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