Former Southampton legend Matt Le Tissier has expressed optimism following the club’s tight Championship play-off semi-final victory over Middlesbrough.

Southampton had reason to rejoice on Wednesday night, as a narrow 2-1 victory over Middlesborough advanced them to the Championship play-off final. After a goalless draw at The Riverside Stadium last Saturday, St Mary’s was shocked early on when Riley McGree put Boro ahead after only five minutes.

Ross Stewart equalized for the Saints shortly before halftime, but the game was decided in extra time since neither team could break the other down in the second half. Shea Charles scored three minutes into extra time to seal the victory.

The evening was somewhat tense, with the “Spygate” claims dominating the conversation. Middlesbrough’s Luke Ayling reported a discriminatory remark made by Southampton captain Taylor Harwood-Bellis, while the Saints’ head coach Tonda Eckert stormed out of the post-match press conference after being asked, “Are you a cheat?”

The EFL has previously punished Southampton after they were suspected of sending a member of staff to witness Middlesbrough training. Southampton have requested additional time to respond to the charges so that they can conduct an internal investigation into what occurred. Under normal circumstances, they would have 14 days to respond to the charges, but the EFL has requested “a hearing at the earliest opportunity” due to the play-off final being scheduled for May 23.

Matthew Le Tissier strikes an upbeat note following the contentious Southampton win.

Former Southampton legend Matthew Le Tissier posted on the Middlesbrough match on the social media platform X the morning after the game. He couldn’t contain his joy at the Saints booking a place at Wembley: “The morning after the night before, and what a night it was at St Mary’s. Fantastic atmosphere, a terrific advertisement for EFL football, and I felt both sets of players worked extremely hard. Going 120 minutes at this point in the season requires a lot of effort.”

He also praised Middlesbrough, albeit he believed Southampton deserved to win the match: “A lot of respect for Middlesbrough’s performance. I felt they were fantastic, especially in the first leg, but I thought the second half last night, and going into extra time, we were the superior team.”

On the subject of the “Spygate” allegations, Le Tissier believes it would be unfair to punish Southampton players based on what someone else within the club has done: “I really hope that with the stuff that’s gone on off the pitch, that the players don’t get punished because they’ve put in a brilliant effort since January, unbeaten in the league since the middle of January, and to take away from that achievement would be really harsh. But we’ll see what happens and take it from there.

Le Tissier’s argument that Southampton players should not be punished for “Spygate” is unlikely to be persuasive.

Southampton may have overcome Middlesbrough to get to Wembley, but their position in the final is not yet confirmed due to the Spygate charge.

Middlesbrough are definitely upset with Southampton’s actions. After the match, their head coach, Kim Hellberg, called the situation “disgraceful” and said it “breaks my heart.” Boro is seeking a sports fine against Southampton for the incident, and, according to Michael Walker’s story in The Athletic earlier this week, “Middlesbrough would prepare for the play-off final regardless of whether they win the tie against Southampton or not.”

Southampton have been charged under a rule enacted during the last “Spygate” scandal involving a match between Derby County and Leeds United in January 2019. The EFL fined Leeds £200,000 after a member of their staff was found photographing a Derby training session. The new rule was implemented particularly to deal with such complaints.

Matthew Le Tissier’s argument that Southampton’s players should not be punished since someone else’s actions lead to their current circumstance is unlikely to be persuasive to the EFL.

Sheffield Wednesday, for example, lost 18 points this season due to frequent late wage payments and entering administration. None of this was the players’ fault; in fact, they were routinely paid late; yet, when such fines are imposed, the club is punished rather than the players themselves.

The EFL has a wide range of punishments at its disposal if Southampton is found guilty of the charges brought against them, and one of these two clubs will be deeply disappointed, regardless of the outcome of the EFL’s investigation into what happened at Middlesbrough’s training ground.