Southampton have broken an unwanted Premier League record as they became the first team to be relegated with seven games still to play.
The writing has been on the wall for a long time but the Saints’ fate was sealed with their 3-1 away loss to Tottenham.
Their relegation in match week 31 means they beat the record previously jointly held by Ipswich and Derby County, whose relegation was confirmed with six matches left to play in 1994-95 and 2007-08 respectively.
Southampton are also trying to avoid breaking another dubious record by having the lowest-ever points tally in a season.
The team is currently languishing at the bottom of the table with just 10 points, while Derby managed only 11 in the 2007-08 season.
Ahead of their last game, which they drew 1-1 with Crystal Palace, Southampton manager Ivan Juric said: “I don’t want it to be that we are the worst team in the history of Premier League.”
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A 2-1 victory for Wolves at bottom-three club Ipswich on Saturday opened up a 22-point gap to safety for the south coast club.
It left Southampton needing a draw or win in north London to to mathematically stay up for at least another week but a first-half brace from Brennan Johnson set the visitors on course for a swift return to the Championship.
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Mateus Fernandes pulled one back to give his team a glimmer of late hope before Mathys Tel struck a stoppage-time penalty.
The Southampton players were applauded by their supporters after the final whistle.
They have won just two games all season, against Everton in November and Ipswich in February.
Their 23 goals scored is the fewest in the top flight while the 74 they have conceded is the most.
