Watch: Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhuttl cries tears of joy as Saints defeat Liverpool

The Austrian coach broke down in joy and his emotional celebrations might have confused some fans to think Southampton just managed to win the Premier League. That is how much the win against Liverpool mattered to Hasenhuttl.

With wins against Liverpool becoming rare for Southampton, it was a memorable evening for Hasenhuttl, who took over the south-coast club in 2018. Before this win, Southampton's last victory against the Merseyside club came almost five years back.

“There were tears in my eyes – because of the wind!”, Hasenhuttl jokingly told BBC Sport.

“When you see our guys fighting with everything they have, it makes me really proud. You need to have the perfect game against Liverpool and I think we did have that.”

After taking an early lead in the first half, Hasenhuttl's club defended deep for long periods but the Austrian admitted that it was deep into stoppage time when he felt Southampton could get a big result.

“It felt like we were under massive pressure and the defending around the box was the key today – then still try and play football. We did it in a good way,” he said.

Whereas Liverpool counterpart Jurgen Klopp was left frustrated by the 1-0 defeat to Southampton after the troika of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane failed to rattle the net despite dominating possession.

“What was disappointing? How long have we got?” he told the BBC. “The start, obviously, not only the goal but the start in general. Congratulations to Southampton, they deserved it.”

“At the beginning, how we played, where we lost the balls – it’s not rocket science. We should have done much better. We played into their hands with the start,” he said.

“These are outstanding players, but they were not ready from the start.”

Liverpool are now three matches without a win.