Twitter Reacts as Southampton Beat Sunderland 8-0 in EPL Blowout

Any positive vibes built up by Sunderland during their victory over Stoke City before the international break were quickly squashed by Southampton on Saturday. Saints scored eight goals, including five in the second half, and also held a clean sheet to secure the massive blowout.

Two of the tallies were of the own goal variety. That includes the opening marker, which came courtesy of Sunderland defender Santiago Vergini. Southampton never looked back from there with five different players finding the net. Graziano Pelle was the only one to score twice.

Squawka Football passed along a shot of the scoreboard after the final whistle mercifully blew for the Black Cats:

ESPN Stats and Info noted it was tied for the second-most lopsided result in Premier League history:

OptaJoe added that it's the first time in nearly two years a side reached the eight-goal mark:

The victory keeps Southampton in third place, which is a shock even at this stage of the campaign given their offseason losses. Rickie Lambert, Adam Lallana, Dejan Lovren, Luke Shaw and Calum Chambers all headed to other Premier League clubs.

Max Bretos of ESPN rightfully believes that makes the result all the more impressive:

Bill Barnwell of Grantland jokingly thought he was looking at an American football scoreline:

Oliver Holt of the Mirror clearly wasn't expecting the attacking outburst:

On the flip side, Ben Smith of the BBC points out the debacle is obviously a major step in the wrong direction for Sunderland:

The performance of the Cats' defense was poor enough to merit its own hashtag, which quickly became the top trend in the UK. Bleacher Report UK was quick to get in on the fun:

Most people will just be happy they didn't field a similar fantasy lineup to Mark Donaldson of ESPN:

With each passing match it's becoming tougher to ignore Southampton. The Saints were not on the radar after the mass exodus and suddenly they are showcasing form on the same level as Chelsea and Manchester City. Maintaining it will be difficult, though.

As for Sunderland, all they can really do is move forward as quickly as possible. It was one of those days where everything that could go wrong did and there's not really much to learn from it. They need to regroup for a clash with Arsenal next week.