Substitute Shane Long scored twice in the space of five minutes to hand Southampton a 2-0 victory over Leicester City this afternoon as the Saints continue to keep pace with the Premier League leaders Chelsea.
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Southampton were dominant in the opening 15 minutes of the game, but struggled to create any chances despite the formidable presence of Graziano Pelle up front.
Ryan Bertrand and Sadio Mane combined well on a number of occasions down the left flank, with a number of crosses from the duo just too far ahead of the potent Pelle, who also saw a goalbound effort well blocked by Wes Morgan.
Nathaniel Clyne pushed forward on the right flank and hit a 20-yard strike towards goal, but it was comfortably held by Kasper Schmeichel.
However, the best chance of the opening half-hour fell the way of Leicester captain Morgan, but the centre-back couldn't keep his header down from a corner as it sailed harmlessly over the bar.
The Saints continued to pour forward, but time and again their final ball lacked the required quality.
Mane was then presented with a chance to open the scoring in the 35th minute, but the Senegalese forward crashed his shot over the bar from the byline.
As half time approached, their frustration grew as Morgan Schneiderlin was shown a booking for a reckless tackle before Steven Davis suffered an injury and was replaced by Jack Cork.
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Pelle twisted and fired a half-volley wide of the near post just two minutes into the second half before Mane saw a goal ruled out for offside as the Saints continued on the front foot.
Leicester reminded the hosts of their threat on a few occasions though, as Esteban Cambiasso fired a free kick into the wall before Andy King poked an effort into the side-netting at the near post.
The home side pinned the Foxes inside their own box with a series of corners with 25 minutes remaining.
First, Jose Fonte's towering header was turned behind before another shot from the resulting corner was also bravely blocked.
Long was introduced in the 68th minute and it took the tenacious forward just seven minutes to find the net, as he guided a left-footed effort into the far corner after strong hold-up play by Pelle.
The 27-year-old had barely finished celebrating when he latched onto Victor Wanyama's lofted through-ball and kept his composure to slot the ball past an exposed Schmeichel to hand the Saints their eighth victory in their last nine matches.
Kristian Johnson
