Jonathan Pearce goes viral for what he said on commentary about Southampton and Rishi Sunak

Jonathan Pearce goes viral for what he said on commentary about Southampton and Rishi Sunak during the defeat to Brighton on Saturday.

He could be heard saying: It’s the fourteenth time this season Southampton have conceded three or more. Rishi Sunak relegated last year. His football club will be relegated this year. That’s a rare double for you.

Subsequently, footage of this was recorded and uploaded onto social media, getting thousands of likes and millions of views.

Johnathan Pierce that is commentary GOLD😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/Ac59l7zZaR

— The 44 ⚽️ (@The_Forty_Four) February 23, 2025

Jonathan Pearce’s bizarre slam of Rishi Sunak pic.twitter.com/I2ZEqhzC2e

— Macefield (@Macefield) February 23, 2025

Goals from Joao Pedro, Georginio Rutter, Kaoru Mitoma and Jack Hinshelwood sealed a thumping 4-0 win for the Seagulls to put more misery on a Saints side bound for relegation from the Premier League.

Southampton manager Ivan Juric, per Sky Sports:

“Everything [went wrong]. It was just a huge difference between the two teams, in intensity, in quality, in everything.

“It was something good in my life, as a coach, not conceding goals. If you see the numbers that I have in the past – last year, I had 19 clean sheets [at Torino]. We are not good enough to defend in the way that I have been used to defend.

“The squad was trying to play football with lots of possession and that didn’t go well. I changed everything to try to do other types of football and things didn’t go well. Now I have to find a way to compete better.

“It was a game that I had the feeling that we can compete and maybe do better some things. But we are competing and today was like a feeling, a sensation that there is a huge difference between two teams. I never had that feeling before.

“When you do a performance like this, for me it’s a disaster, it’s really bad. I’m not used to it, I have to say. The feeling of that huge difference, I never had this feeling. Really everything disappointing in this moment.

“We have to be a really tough, really strong team and try to do our best. I cannot say something wrong about my guys. They are really extremely professional, extremely positive.

“They want to do everything we try to do and it’s just not good enough. There is no problem that you can say this guy or the other guy or the situation is bad. They are just trying and it’s not good enough.”

Brighton head coach Fabian Hurzeler:

“You can never expect to win 4-0, but overall we were very happy with the performance. I think the key today was to defend in a quite compact way, to be very sharp for the second ball, to win your personal duels, and we did it, I think, in general, quite good.

“There were some phases where we struggled a bit with the second ball, we had a lag in our midfield, but in general I was happy with the performance.

“That’s the only thing we can really regret today, that we didn’t score more goals. There were a lot of chances. Ramsdale had an outstanding performance today; he made several really, really good saves,

“Hopefully we keep this momentum…score more goals and use the chances in a more effective way the next time.”

Twitter users reacted as Jonathan Pearce goes viral for what he said on commentary about Southampton and Rishi Sunak…

@MattCas04807118: He’s very different but very good.

@NewmanHay: It’s rare JP does a bit of decent comms but that was good.

@mjkyorkshire: @FootballCliches a very random analogy even for Jonathan Pearce on MOTD saying Rishi Sunak was relegated last year, then following it up with he faces an unusual double of seeing his team relegated this year. Never heard an election loss described as relegation before.

@eyesareopen78: Classic, that ranks up there with “they think it’s all over”

@alfiecassidy62: That Rishi Sunak joke on #MOTD 😭😭😭😭

@GerryHassan: #MOTD turning into Celebrity MOTD as in lots of games they cover they home in on celebs & public figures in crowds such as Ed Sheeran, Richard Osman & even Rishi Sunak. Hopefully not part of a new trend covering football.

@JackRutterrr: In hindsight, Sunak was and is miles better than Starmer.

@BSaundersSport: Very much enjoyed #MOTD twisting the knife in Southampton on a game they lost 4-0 by reminding everyone that Matt Le Tissier and Rishi Sunak are supporters.

Zenith: I’ve always liked Johnathan Pearce

Jack 🐐: Quality commentary

Geez and Onion: He’s done him there.

Benn: Brilliant commentary as per usual, legend 👏🏻👏🏻

brand_air: 😂😂 gotta love it

Callum H: no way hahahaha

Zakkie: An amazing double at that 😏😂💙

Glastonbury2: One of the most uniquely British lines in football commentary you are likely to hear

Laurence: Best commentator out there

Sith_Trooper657: As a Pompey fan who dislikes the Tories just as much as the red side of Hampshire – I enjoyed that a lot 😂

Esther: Watching the game because he can not afford to watch it on sky