Southampton crushed Charlton 5–1 on the road and ended a drought at The Valley that had lasted since 1990. The win, built on four goals in eight minutes, marked Tonda Eckert’s third straight victory as interim manager and pushed the team well clear of the danger zone. The first half was so dominant that the match was practically settled before the midway point, a clear sign that the Saints are in their most confident stretch of the season.
High pressure and a relentless start
Southampton’s intensity showed right away, reflected in the number of chances created in the opening minutes. Before the net even moved, Jander, Armstrong and Azaz had already missed good opportunities — many of them sparked by Leo Scienza, who took charge early. The goal felt inevitable, and it arrived in the 14th minute when Tom Fellows delivered a precise cross and Ryan Manning met it at the far post with a header.
What came next caught everyone off guard. Two minutes after the opener, Armstrong doubled the lead. The forward shot twice before finally beating Kaminski, and from that moment on he became central to the plays that followed. He dropped deeper to combine, opened space for runners and played a decisive role in the sequences that produced the third and fourth goals. Jander scored first after a quick exchange, then Azaz took advantage of another move through the middle to round the keeper and tap it in.
The fifth came shortly before halftime, once again through Azaz, this time finishing after a deflected cross from Fellows. Between those goals, Scienza still missed two dangerous chances — one over the bar and another saved by Kaminski. Charlton only managed to pull one back in stoppage time, when Lloyd Jones headed in from a corner.
A calmer second half, but always under control
With such a wide lead, Southampton managed the game well after the break. Armstrong forced Kaminski into another big save, and Scienza tried two more shots that carried some danger, but the pace slowed. Charlton got slightly closer to the box, complained about a possible penalty and created a look through Campbell, yet nothing that truly changed the tone of the match.
The result carries weight on both sides. For Southampton, it represents three straight wins under Eckert, 21 points in the bag and a rise to 14th place, putting the team closer to the playoff positions and easing the pressure at the bottom. For Charlton, it’s a second home defeat in a row and a warning sign in the middle of the table, with the club stuck on 23 points and feeling the growing demand for consistency.