Southampton coast past Brighton & Hove Albion

Southampton continued their rampant pre-season form by comfortably dispatching Brighton & Hove Albion 3-1 at the Amex Stadium tonight.

The Saints, who have won all five of their summer encounters, scoring 15 goals along the way, maintained that status quo on 19 minutes through Dusan Tadic.

The Serbian will hope that he bagged the first of many goals for the club by smashing home from 20 yards following Jose Fonte's marauding run forward.

Tadic came agonisingly close to his second just minutes later, poking a foot out to reach Nathaniel Clyne's cross but his effort trickled wide of the mark.

Ronald Koeman's side secured their second of the night just before the break, as another Southampton new boy Graziano Pelle fed Steven Davis, who slotted home on 44 minutes.

The Premier League outfit killed off the jovial contest on 67 minutes, as James Ward-Prowse smashed home from 25 yards to end a two-and-a-half-year goal drought.

Brighton gave their supporters something to cheer about with 16 minutes remaining through Kazenga Lua-Lua, but it was not enough to derail Southampton's pre-season form as the South Coast club made it five from five.