Southampton earned a slender 1-0 win away to Hull City this afternoon courtesy of Victor Wanyama's early opener.

The former Celtic midfielder struck after just three minutes, capitalising on a botched clearance from Eldin Jakupovic to strike into an empty net from 40 yards.

Below, Sports Mole takes a look at who excelled and who did not at the KC Stadium.

© Getty Images

Goal

Eldin Jakupovic: Directly at fault for the goal after his hashed clearance allowed Wanyama to score, but made amends with a series of key saves afterwards. (6/10)

Defence

Paul McShane: Struggled with the pace of Long in the first half and never really got to grips with the game. Subbed just after the hour mark for Aluko. (4/10)

Curtis Davies: Certainly Hull's best defender on the day and played a big role in keeping the talismanic Pelle relatively quiet for 90 minutes. Unlucky to be on the losing side. (7/10)

James Chester: Did well to negate Tadic, but it was his loose back-pass that forced Jakupovic to clear his lines in the build-up to the first goal. (5/10)

Ahmed Elmohamady: Produced one or two dangerous crosses in the game but did not do it regularly enough for Hull to benefit from. (5/10)

Midfield

Tom Huddlestone: Floated one or two dangerous crosses into enemy territory, but also saw quite a few get blocked. Not his best game. (4/10)

Mohamed Diame: The heartbeat of an otherwise lifeless Hull performance. Far and away their best player today and might consider himself unlucky to be on the losing side. (7/10)

Jake Livermore: The game passed him by somewhat and he found himself unable to influence proceedings at either end. One to forget. (4/10)

Robbie Brady: By no means Hull's worst player but the Irishman found himself negated by Clyne and struggled to affect the game from out wide. (5/10)

Hatem Ben Arfa: Completely anonymous throughout and was subbed midway through the second half. He might have been the creative spark that Hull needed on another day. (4/10)

Attack

Abel Hernandez: His best moment was an 86th-minute overhead that flew into row-z. Was barely given an inch by a disciplined Saints defence and was never going to add to his three goals so far this term. (4/10)

Substitutes

Sone Aluko: Never got into the game despite having 25 minutes to do so after replacing Paul McShane. He was not the answer for Bruce today. (4/10)

Stephen Quinn: Spurned a good chance to equalise in the dying minutes after sending a header over the bar from Huddlestone's corner. One of Hull's few good chances in the game. (4/10)

Goal

Frasier Forster: Quite literally did not have a save to make throughout the 90 minutes, courtesy of the four defenders in front of him. Unlikely to have an easier game this season. (5/10)

Defence

Nathaniel Clyne: Excellent performance to keep Brady quiet on the left-hand side of midfield in another display that enhanced his reputation. (7/10)

Jose Fonte: Pulled off one crucial block in the second half to thwart Diame's effort from outside the box. Another fine performance from the captain. (7/10)

Toby Alderweireld: Did not put a foot wrong all afternoon and produced a number of crucial clearances and blocks throughout the encounter. Man-of-the-match display from the Belgian. (8/10)

Ryan Bertrand: The left-back continues to impress on loan from Chelsea and performed well here again in front of England boss Roy Hodgson. (7/10)

Midfield

Morgan Schneiderlin: Sat in front of the defence very well and was another Saint that managed to enhance his reputation here this afternoon. (6/10)

Victor Wanyama: Scored the only goal of the game - a 40-yard strike into an empty net after Jakupovic's error, but he still had it all to do. Fine finish. (7/10)

Steven Davis: Would have had a couple of assists if not for the profiligacy of his teammates on the day. Got forward excellently and nearly scored himself, too. (7/10)

Dusan Tadic: One of Southampton's quieter players and spent most of the game on the periphery. (4/10)

Attack

Shane Long: Industrious performance in attack for Southampton, but really should have converted at least one of the several goalscoring chances that he had against his former club. (5/10)

Graziano Pelle: Had to wait 90 minutes to try to improve his impressive goalscoring record as of late, but skewed a good chance wide from Mane's cross. Looked a bit tired overall. (4/10)

Substitutes

Sadio Mane: Missed the chance of the game within minutes of coming on for Long by somehow flicking over the bar from less than six yards out. (3/10)

Jack Cork: Replaced Tadic on 81 minutes and helped Southampton see out their lead. (6/10)