page_title: 2016–17 Southampton F.C. season
section_title: January–March 2017
hierarchical_section_title: 2016–17 Southampton F.C. season / Premier League / January–March 2017
caption_attribution_description: Pre-season friendly Wednesday 2 August 2017 Image by Lewis Commons
context_page_description: The 2016–17 Southampton F.C. season was the club's 18th season in the Premier League and their 40th in the top division of English football. In addition to the 2016–17 Premier League, the club also competed in the FA Cup, EFL Cup and UEFA Europa League. The season was the club's only campaign with manager Claude Puel, who took over from Ronald Koeman on 30 June 2016. The club finished eighth in the Premier League table, having won twelve, drawn ten and lost sixteen of their 38 matches played. They were knocked out of the UEFA Europa League at the group stage, having won two, drawn two and lost two of their matches, and the FA Cup in the fourth round, while they finished as runners-up in the EFL Cup Final losing 3–2 to Manchester United.
  Following the end of the 2015–16 season, Southampton released goalkeeper Will Britt, midfielder Gastón Ramírez and defender Josh Debayo, while veteran goalkeeper Kelvin Davis retired. The club also sold striker Juanmi to Real Sociedad, midfielder Victor Wanyama to Tottenham Hotspur, winger Sadio Mané to Liverpool, striker Graziano Pellè to Shandong Luneng, defender Bevis Mugabi to Yeovil Town, and defender Jordan Turnbull to Coventry City.
context_section_description: On 2 January 2017, in their third game in six days, Southampton travelled to Goodison Park to face Everton, losing the match 3–0. After much of the game lacked clear chances on goal, the home side opened the scoring after 73 minutes when Enner Valencia scored his first goal for the club. Leighton Baines scored a penalty following a foul by Maya Yoshida on Valencia less than ten minutes later, before Romelu Lukaku made it three before the end of the match. The loss saw the Saints drop to tenth in the table. Southampton lost their fourth league game in a row on 14 January, after they were beaten 1–0 away to Burnley. The visitors came closest to opening the scoring in the first half through Dušan Tadić, whose shot was cleared off the line, and also enjoyed the majority of chances in the second period. However, it was the hosts who scored the only goal of the game through substitute Joey Barton, who scored a free kick in the 78th minute to send the Saints down to 13th in the league table.
  Southampton won their first Premier League game in over a month on 22 January, beating league champions Leicester City 3–0 at home. James Ward-Prowse opened the scoring in the 26th minute with a first-time shot after a Cédric Soares cross from the right wing. The hosts continued to dominate, culminating in a second goal in the first half courtesy of Jay Rodriguez, who converted a free-kick from Ward-Prowse. Leicester enjoyed a number of chances to get back into the game later on, with Wes Morgan coming closest to scoring for the visitors, but Southampton continued to attack as an own goal by Morgan was later disallowed as Maya Yoshida was offside. Morgan was involved again as he brought down Shane Long in the box in the 85th minute, with Dušan Tadić scoring the resulting penalty kick to win the game 3–0. Southampton lost 2–1 to Swansea City the following week, dropping a place in the table as a result. After a relatively slow start, Swansea opened the scoring through Alfie Mawson in the 38th minute, going into half-time with the advantage. The Saints increased the pressure after the break, with Shane Long equalising after 57 minutes against the run of play, although Gylfi Sigurðsson scored a second for the hosts later on.
  On 4 February 2017, Southampton hosted West Ham United and lost 3–1 to drop back to 13th in the league table. New signing Manolo Gabbiadini opened the scoring on his debut after 12 minutes, but the visitors equalised just two minutes later through Andy Carroll. Pedro Obiang scored a long-range effort just before the break, and later on Mark Noble made it three for the Hammers. The following week, Southampton picked up their biggest win of the season when they beat bottom-placed Sunderland 4–0. After a relatively even opening to the game, Gabbiadini opened the scoring for the Saints after half an hour with his second goal in his second game, converting a cross from Ryan Bertrand. On the stroke of half-time the recent signing doubled the visitors' lead with his third goal in two games. Shortly before full-time it was 3–0 thanks to an own goal from Jason Denayer, and in injury time Shane Long made it four to take Southampton up to 11th in the table. Wahbi Khazri scored a consolation before the end, but it was disallowed for handball.
  In their first game after the 2017 EFL Cup Final, Southampton went ahead of Watford in the table when they beat the side 4–3 at Vicarage Road on 4 March 2017. The hosts went ahead within four minutes through captain Troy Deeney, but the Saints responded and equalised 24 minutes later through Dušan Tadić following some poor defending. Nathan Redmond put the visitors ahead on the stroke of half-time, after Tadić and James Ward-Prowse worked the opportunity. Southampton pushed for a third into the second half, with Manolo Gabbiadini coming closest to scoring, but the Hornets equalised through Stefano Okaka on 79 minutes. Gabbiadini scored his sixth goal for the Saints just four minutes later and Redmond scored a fourth for Southampton, with Abdoulaye Doucouré scoring a third for Watford in stoppage 
caption: James Ward-Prowse was the first player to score for Southampton in the league in 2017, against Leicester City.
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