A late brace from substitute Shane Long secured Southampton’s 2-0 victory over Leicester City on Saturday, as the Saints kept their second place position in the Premier League secure.
Southampton dominated the first half with Graziano Pelle, Dusan Tadic and Sadio Mane all coming close but Leicester were proving resilient, they continued to dominate and it was Shane Long who secured the three points with his two goals four minutes apart.
It was saints who dominated from the off with Pelle just missing out on a low ball into the box but the Italian was flagged offside, he came close again when a brilliant ball in from Bertrand just missed the head of Pelle before being cleared.
Southampton had the ball in the 51st minute after a another good ball from Bertrand with Mane managing to nip in front of Kasper Schmeichel causing St Mary’s to erupt but the celebrations were dampened when the assistant raised his flag for offside.
Leicester were defending for their lives but still managed to cause their opposition problems with Andy King hitting his long distance into the side netting, Bertrand was causing the Leicester defence havoc all afternoon again putting another good ball in to Pelle whose header was deflected and his own long range effort was comfortable for Schmeichel.
Things looked bleak for Southampton in their search of the three points but 15 minutes from the end they finally made the breakthrough, Pelle brought down a ball into the area before he teed it up for substitute Long who curled it beautifully into the bottom corner.
Long failed to score a goal in the league since his transfer from Hull City but managed to get his second four minutes later, a brilliant dink pass from Victor Wanyama managed to catch out the whole Leicester defence leaving Long with a clear run on goal and Irishman kept his cool to slot home.
The last opportunity of the match fell to Leicester and it was huge opportunity to get back in the game, substitute Chris Wood managed to get through on goal and Fraser Forster at his mercy but managed to dink the effort wide.
Leicester all credit to them played well defensively considering the amount of the pressure that Southampton put them under but their problem is front of goal and will need to address that as soon as possible. Southampton however seem to be going from strength to strength but their true test will be after the international break when they face Arsenal aswell as Manchester United and Manchester City.
| Southampton (2) | Leicester City 0) | ||
 |  |  |  |
| Forster | 6 | Schmeichel | 6 |
| Clyne | 6 | De Laet | 6 |
| Fonte | 6 | Wasilewski | 6 |
| Alderweireld | 6 | Morgan | 6 |
| Bertrand | 8 | Schlupp | 7 |
| Davis | 5 | Cambiasso | 5 |
| Wanyama | 6 | James | 4 |
| Schneiderlin | 6 | Drinkwater | 6 |
| Tadic | 5 | King | 5 |
| Pelle | 6 | Vardy | 5 |
| Mane | 6 | Ulloa | 5 |
| Subsitutes | |||
| Reed | N/A | Powell | 5 |
| Cork | 5 | Wood | 5 |
| Long | 7 | Moore | 5 |