Southampton maintained their impressive form in the Premier League by claiming a 2-0 victory over Leicester City this afternoon.
Shane Long came off the bench to score twice in the final 15 minutes as the Saints extended their winning run to four matches.
Here, Sports Mole takes a closer look at the events that unfolded at St Mary's Stadium.
Match Statistics:
Southampton:
Shots 18
On Target 6
Possession 65%
Corners 13
Fouls 10
Leicester City:
Shots 5
On Target 0
Possession 35%
Corners 4
Fouls 12
Was the result fair?
Southampton weren't at their very best, but they were dominant throughout and deserved to claim the three points. It seemed that Leicester were happy to sit back and try to wait for their chance to hit the Saints on the counter. Their gameplan was working until the 75th minute, when Long curled in his side's opening goal and the striker quickly made the game safe five minutes later. It may have taken them a long time to make the breakthrough, but Southampton were the only side trying to win the game and their positive play and constant pressure finally yielded a well-earned victory.
Southampton's performance
The Saints came into this match on the back of a three-game winning run and they started brightly against a team lacking severely in confidence. They were on top in the first half and had seven attempts on goal, but they were only able to test the keeper once. After the break, they looked much more threatening and it seemed to be only a matter of time until the deadlock was broken. When they did finally score, it was a great team move that led to Long's goal and they never looked like relinquishing their lead.
Leicester City's performance
Nigel Pearson will be disappointed that his side were 15 minutes away from snatching a point, but their defence was eventually breached after coming under intense pressure. They struggled to really impose themselves on the match and their best moments in the game came on the counter-attack. It was not the worst performance from the Foxes, but it means they have now lost four games in a row and have failed to score in all of them. That is not surprising given that they only had five attempts on goal, with none of those finding the target.
Sports Mole's man of the match
Shane Long: The Irishman was only on the pitch for 22 minutes, but he was the difference this afternoon. He opened the scoring with a brilliantly-taken goal after being set up perfectly by Graziano Pelle. Five minutes later he repeated the trick by latching onto Victor Wanyama's through-ball, before showing great composure to slot past the keeper. He almost grabbed a hat-trick in stoppage time, but his double was more than enough to keep up his side's remarkable run of form.
Biggest gaffe
With a couple of minutes left to play, Chris Wood had a huge chance to pull a goal back for Leicester and put Southampton under some pressure. He latched onto a ball over the top and found himself faced with just Fraser Forster to beat. However, with the keeper left on the ground, he somehow put his strike wide of the post and it ended any hopes of a late comeback.
Referee's performance
Michael Oliver didn't have any contentious calls to make, but he did rightfully disallow a goal from Southampton early in the second half. There can be no complaints about the bookings he handed out and he tried to let the game flow as much possible.
What next?
Southampton: The Saints return to league action after the international break with a visit to Aston Villa.
Leicester City: Following the international break the Foxes have a crucial match against fellow strugglers Sunderland.
Alex Meyers
