A nervy, hard-fought away victory - but Koeman and his side will happily take it. Thanks for following this live commentary this afternoon, stay tuned for a full match report plus news, views and opinions on this game, as well as the rest of the weekend's football action.
90+5: FULL-TIME! Sunderland 0-1 Southampton, and that's it!
90: The fourth official signals for FIVE minutes of stoppage time to be played... well. Five minutes to salvage something, Sunderland?
86: Replays show that yes, it was the correct decision. The ball did strike Yoshida, but his hands were in a natural position, trying to challenge for the ball.
85: PENALTY APPEAL! Not given, play on waves the referee!
82: Fatigue beginning to kick in for the visitors, they've played well but only have a one-goal lead, and need to do well to defend it with the time ticking down on this afternoon's affair.
80: Mané is replaced by Juanmi, whilst Clasie - who has been excellent - comes off to a round of applause from the visiting supporters by Oriol Romeu.
75: Bertrand is next in the referee's book, a yellow card for a cynical kick of the ball away into the crowd - giving his teammates brief respite to get back into position.
72: OOOH! Sunderland free-kick almost seals the equaliser, with Stekelenburg beaten, but Adam Johnson's effort doesn't swerve enough in time - rattling the top of the crossbar in the process.
70: Sunderland change - Jack Rodwell has come on, in place of an ineffective Steven Fletcher. Not particularly the Scotsman's fault, he's had virtually no service throughout, but they need more structure in midfield to get forward at pace.
68: It'll be a hammer blow to the hosts, but they need to get back into this match - and quickly too. Just twenty minutes plus stoppages left to play.. time for some alterations perhaps?
65: Tadić to take... and he scores, bottom corner! 1-0 to the visitors, and it's deserved.
64: PENALTY! SOUTHAMPTON, M'VILA WITH THE FOUL! His face tells the whole story, he knows he shouldn't have been sucked into making the challenge initially on Ryan Bertrand, and it will be frustrating for the Frenchman himself - having been one of Sunderland's best players thus far today.
60: An hour gone, still goalless, but you feel - not for long! Sebastian Coates this time with a defensive clearance, as Mané and Pellé are looking increasingly dangerous in-and-around the area.
55: It's all kicking off now! DeAndre Yedlin makes a brave headed clearance off-the-line, but gets injured in the process. Impending treatment for the loanee full-back, now - that was great defending.
49: A well-worked move by James Ward-Prowse from the resulting set-piece, but, in the end, it comes of nothing as Southampton keep possession in their own half.
48: A great tackle by M'Vila, the ball trickles out for a corner-kick as Bertrand's attempted delivery into the box was snuffed out effectively.
One substitution to report on: Fabio Borini has come on, replacing Ola Toivonen at the break.
KICK-OFF! The second-half has begun at the Stadium of Light now, neither side will want a point - they'll be eager for all three.
FT score: Bournemouth 0-1 Newcastle United
HT scores: Leicester City 0-0 Watford, Manchester United 0-0 West Brom, Norwich 0-0 Swansea, West Ham 1-1 Everton.
Elsewhere in the Premier League this afternoon:
It's goalless at the moment, but certainly not a dull 0-0.
Ronald Koeman doesn't look too happy on the touchline, his side have been dominant but haven't scored the goals to warrant that success in the final third of yet. Sam Allardyce meanwhile, will be content with his side's display - they've been pinned back in their own half for the majority of the game, but have held firm defensively.
HALF-TIME: Sunderland 0-0 Southampton
45+1: Watmore gets the final say on the half's action, going close as he accelerates into the box, before a sliding tackle by José Fonte disposesses him of the ball - as he was bearing down on-goal. A young, talented forward with nothing to lose, he's been one of Sunderland's brightest players thus far today.
45: The fourth official signals for just the one minute of stoppage time to be played at the end of the first 45, with a seemingly scrappy end to proceedings before the interval.
41: IMPORTANT INTERCEPTION! Virgil van Dijk makes an important interception - blocking Steven Fletcher's advances as he was just about to strike goalwards!
32: A warm round of applause around the Stadium of Light, as the attendance figures for this afternoon's game is revealed. 41,781 spectators currently in the stadium enjoying this fixture - not bad for a team in crisis, eh?
26: They've bossed possession too, but have no goals to show for it yet. 60-40% split, thus far (stats courtesy: EA Sports).
23: The momentum is firmly with the visitors now, they look dangerous each time they drive forward on the counter-attack.
20: Pantilmon called into action once more - does well again! This time, his reflexes are tested as Mané tries his luck, but his effort is blocked by the former City stopper.
15: WHAT A SAVE! Pantilimon continues to impress with his goalkeeping heroics of late, and he's made an excellent stop to deny Dusan Tadić from close-range! Still goalless, somehow..
11: Just before that, Jordy Clasie came close with a teasing effort from range - which flew over the crossbar and failed to trouble Costel Pantilimon in-goal.
10: Sadio Mané given the game's first yellow card for a challenge on Billy Jones, a clumsy tackle to bring the full-back down to ground.
5: An encouraging start from the hosts with Duncan Watmore - making his first senior start - roared on by the home supporters as he accelerates forward toward the Saints' backline.
KICK-OFF!
Southampton: Stekelenburg, Yoshida, Fonte (c), van Dijk, Bertrand; Ward-Prowse, Clasie, S. Davis; Mané, Tadić; Pellè.
Sunderland: Pantilimon, Jones, Kaboul (c), Coates, Yedlin; M’Vila, Gomez; Toivonen, Johnson, Watmore; Fletcher.
CONFIRMED team line-up's, as follows:
Manager Sam Allardyce will be grateful that his side are back on home soil having been defeated twice in their last five but conceding 25 goals in just 11 matches will not stand them in good stead here.
However, despite goals from Jermain Defoe and Steven Fletcher, there was nothing that they could do to prevent been humbled 6-2 by Roberto Martinez’s side with goals from Gerard Deulofeu, Romelu Lukaku, Sebastian Coates own goal and a hat-trick from Arouna Kone.
They headed into the last weeks match with Everton full of confidence having defeated bitter rivals Newcastle United the previous week.
Sunderland were brought back down to earth with an almighty bump and will be looking to get back on their feet with a vital victory here. They currently remain in the relegation zone with just six points and having lost five of their last seven matches in the top flight.
Their away form is also something to boast about even if unspectacularly as they remain unbeaten away in their five matches away from St Mary’s but with the only victory against struggling champions Chelsea.
The icing on the cake came last Sunday when they squared up against newly-promoted Bournemouth in a sensational South-Coast Derby. It was the Saints that came out on top with two great goals from Steven Davis and Graziano Pelle giving them the 2-0 victory.
It has been a terrific seven days for Koeman and his squad after the 1-1 draw with Liverpool they booked their place in the quarter-finals of the Capital One Cup with a 2-1 victory over Aston Villa.
Southampton are on the opposite end of the spectrum to their hosts as Ronald Koeman’s side are in a strong run of form. The Saints currently sit in the seventh positon having remained unbeaten in the last five matches with three of those been victories.
The availability of Jay Rodriguez and Shane Long remains unclear as both have been kept out of recent matches with foot and ankle injuries respectively. Jose Fonte is also a doubt for the trip to the North-East having been taken off last Sunday as a precaution.
The visitors will be without midfielder Victor Wanyama as he serves a suspension for his dismissal in the match against Bournemouth.
However a big blow for Allardyce will be the absence of captain Lee Cattermole who was forced off against the Toffees after he picked up a groin injury which is believed to have aggravated him for several weeks.
A big boost for the home side will be return of four key players with Fabio Borini, Ola Toivonen, Younes Kaboul and John O’Shea having all missed Sunday’s match through injury.
Saints have actually only one of their last ten matches between the sides but that did come last season with the memorable 8-0 victory at St Mary’s last October but have failed to win on Wearside since 2002.
The recent form between the two sides actually falls in favour of the home side winning the clash between two at the Stadium of Light last season with two goals from Jordi Gomez giving them a narrow 2-1 victory.
Hello and welcome to VAVEL UK's live minute-by-minute commentary of this afternoon's Premier League match, between Sunderland and Southampton. I'm Danial Kennedy and I'll be taking you through the game, which is set to kick-off at 3PM. Keep up with us beforehand though, as we look at the teams form leading into the game, and get some team news.