Southampton 2 Leicester 0

Southampton 2 Leicester 0

Shane Long 75, Shane Long 80



Southampton's Shane Long celebrates scoring his first goal against Leicester City in the Premier League at St Mary's.

Persistence rather than flamboyance enabled Southampton to overcome stubborn Leicester City, as Shane Long came off the bench to claim his first league goals for the club since his £12m summer transfer from Hull. Two excellent finishes ended the Irishman’s wait for a goal and extended a fine start to the campaign by Ronald Koeman’s team.

The match kicked off amid relentless rain and a gloomy forecast for Leicester: the Foxes had failed to win in five matches and not even scored in their last three and now they were about to face the meanest defence in English football and a side that had not lost at home for seven Premier League games. At least the visiting manager, Nigel Pearson, was able to re-introduce his team’s top scorer, Leonardo Ulloa, to the starting line-up following minor injury, the Argentinian joining Jamie Vardy in a twin-pronged strikeforce as Leicester sought to break their goal fast. Southampton made just one alteration to the side that began last week’s victory at Hull, Sadio Mané replacing Shane Long.

The contest quickly settled into the expected pattern as Southampton, oozing confidence, hogged the ball. However, despite purposeful runs and crosses by Mané and Dusan Tadic, they lacked finesse with the final pass, meaning Kasper Schmeichel’s activity in the opening 20 minutes was confined to shouting encouragement to his resolute defenders. The only real fright for the goalkeeper in that period came when Ryan Bertrand, a regular threat down the left, pinged a dangerous cross to Tadic. The header that followed suggested that aerial power is not one of the winger’s many attributes.

In the 21st minute Nathaniel Clyne troubled Schmeichel for the first time, his 20-yard rasper forcing a save from the Dane. Leicester took that as a cue to assert their own ability going forward, and they won a couple of corners in quick succession, Wes Morgan going close with a header from one of them. Southampton responded by raising the tempo and putting the away team under further strain, but Leicester continued to defend defiantly, with Esteban Cambiasso proving a sturdy screen to the rearguard. And when Southampton did forge an opening, they continued to undo their good work with errant final passes.

Mané was looking the most likely source of a goal and should have confirmed that impression in the 35th minute, when his attempted cross was blocked and the ball broke back to him, only for the Senegalese to send a shot skyward from 10 yards. He might have made amends for that two minutes later if Tadic had not over-hit an attempted through-ball to him when Leicester were for once caught short at the back.

It was obvious that a point would have been warmly welcomed by the visitors as they tried to clamber out of the bottom three and at half-time they looked a fair bet to get one.

Four minutes after the break Southampton finally found fluency, but Graziano Pellè fired over from Tadic’s cross after a flowing move. Mané turned a Bertrand cross into the net moments later - the goal was disallowed for offside, but the sight of the net billowing bred renewed life into the home supporters who had been rendered silent by their team’s unfamiliar lack of creativity in the first half.

Bertrand fuelled their hopes further with another powerful run and cross in the 59th minute, the ensuing corner leading another effort on target from Clyne. The full-backs were Southampton’s main threats, Bertrand then producing a swerving long-range shot that Schmeichel held well. José Fonte and Morgan Schneiderlin also went close following corners, both being denied by last-ditch interventions by dogged Leicester defenders.

Koeman brought on Long for Mané in the 68th minute and that soon proved critical. Pellè teed his team-mate up nicely after taking down Jack Cork’s cross but a nifty finish was still needed and that is what Long produced, curling into the far corner with his left foot. The Irishman had endured a galling wait for his first league goal for his new club but was soon celebrating a second, again finishing smartly after Leicester’s offside trap malfunctioned. Chris Wood could have cut the deficit late on but dinked the ball wide when clean through.

Mind you, no one is getting carried away at St Mary’s. “The Saints are staying up!” chanted the happy locals.