Southampton manager Nathan Jones said “only the blame is on me” as bottom-of-the-table Saints fell to Nottingham Forest for a sixth consecutive Premier League defeat.
Forest recorded their first away league win of the season and moved out of the relegation zone, with Taiwo Ooni scoring the only goal at St Mary’s.
In the 27th minute, Lyanko carelessly lost possession on the halfway line with Brennan Johnson capitalizing and racing clear, before he pulled it back for Oweny, who buried the chance. – Forest’s second-ever league goal of 2022-23.
The Saints failed to get a shot on target and have not picked up a single point in four games since Jones replaced the sacked Ralf Hessen-Huttl in November.
“We need to improve. It’s all on me, I’m fully responsible for that,” Jones told Match of the Day.
“The blame is on me, I set them up, asked them to do some things but we need to give ourselves a better chance to win the game.
“We can’t give away a goal in a game and we’ve done that in almost every game. Something has to change quickly and we need a bit of luck.”
Imperving Forest have now lost just two of 10 games in all competitions and have moved from 18th to 15th, above West Ham, Everton and Bournemouth.
Southampton are in their 11th consecutive top-flight campaign but have now won just one of 13 in the league since beating Chelsea 2-1 on August 30.
At both half-time and the end, the home fans booed their team off the pitch and Jones could understand why.
“The crowd are disappointed, we are bottom of the Premier League and they want to see more quality,” added the former Luton Town boss. “Pretty much everything we have to improve.
“We have to keep clean sheets, take chances, show more courage in the final third.”
Southampton captain James Ward-Prowse urged his supporters to be patient, adding: “As players we know and understand their frustrations. They will have to bear with us, it’s a different squad to ours. The pass was first.
“We are in the early days with the manager and it will take a while. Obviously time is not our friend and we need to change that quickly.”
‘I really challenged the players’
Before the match started, it featured the team with the worst home record against the team with the worst away record.
Chey Adams had a wonderful chance to put the hosts ahead after just six minutes but shot wide from inside the penalty area.
It proved costly as Forest, with just two points from their last eight games on the road, hit the crossbar through the impressive Johnson before he set up Oweny for the opening goal 15 minutes later.
The first half got worse for the hosts when centre-back Armel Bela Kotchap, a member of Germany’s World Cup squad, though he failed to feature, was injured after just 34 minutes and was replaced by Duje Caleta-Car. took
Southampton gave their fans little chance to cheer for the remainder of the half, with the atmosphere changing with the team spurred on at the break.
Siko Mara had a rare chance for Saints in the second half but headed wide, although it deflected and was wrongly awarded as a goal kick.
Jones made an attacking triple substitution in the 64th minute, with Arebo, Samuel Edozie and Adam Armstrong coming on, but none of them tested Forest goalkeeper Dan Henderson.
Forest then debuted Brazil international midfielder Gustavo Scarpa, who became the club’s 24th signing of the campaign after he joined Forest on a free transfer from Palmeiras last month.
The visitors were happy to defend deep with Willie Boley, Joe Worrall and Serge Aurier outstanding for Forest as they frustrated the hosts.
“It’s definitely better to be out of the bottom three than that but it’s one step at a time,” said Forest boss Steve Cooper. “I really challenged the players to get that first win and challenged myself and the staff, we’re all in this together.
“We’ve had a few chances to get out of the bottom three, now we’re out, but the aim is not just to stay out but to go up the table.
“It’s a long way to go and hard times make you stronger.”
Singh Gill made league history.
History was made at St Mary’s when Bhupinder Singh Gill became the first Sikh-Punjabi to serve as an assistant referee in a Premier League match.
The 37-year-old, who qualified as a referee at the age of 14, has previously said he hopes to inspire the next generation.
He said, “My dream has always been to reach the top of the game, to be a role model for future officials and to inspire more people from diverse backgrounds, especially from the South like me. of Asian background.”
