Southampton 0 City 2
Match Report by Colin Hall
City surprised and delighted their followers in equal measure with an impressive 2-0 victory at title contenders Southampton. Goals from David Nugent and skipper Matt Mills secured the side's first win in seven visits to St Mary's Stadium and completed a league double over their hosts.
Despite the acquisition of Danny Drinkwater from Manchester United (via Barnsley) and loanee Nathan Delfouneso from Aston Villa, City remained unchanged from the team that destroyed Forest in last week's FA Cup replay, so both new arrivals had to settle for places on the bench. Meanwhile, the home side were missing several influential players, including top scorer Rickie Lambert and winger Adam Lallana.
The visitors made a strong and positive start, with Jermaine Beckford sending an audacious volley wide within the opening minute. The hosts responded, with ex-City striker David Connolly twice going close. The second of these chances, resulting from a wayward Neil Danns pass, should have presented a stronger test for Kasper Schmeichel in the City goal.
City were quick to punish this profligacy, as Nugent collected an excellent ball from Mills to cut in from the left and open the scoring It was a particularly sweet strike for the former Portsmouth hitman, who unsurprisingly attracted particular abuse from the home following.
The Saints reacted forcefully to this blow and a needlessly-conceded free kick on the edge of City's penalty area almost offered them the chance of a quick leveller. But the training-ground move was well anticipated by left-back Paul Konchesky, who was able to clear the danger.
Nugent continued to threaten the home defence and almost doubled City's lead with an angled effort that flew narrowly wide. However the Foxes kept pressing and a further reward was not long delayed.
A Paul Gallagher corner was not fully cleared, and Lloyd Dyer sent centre-back Sean St Ledger free on the left for a composed cross headed home by Mills. The skipper, a former Saints trainee, made no attempt to conceal his joy at finally breaking his scoring duck for City.
As the home side reeled from the blow, Dyer almost added a third when bursting clear, only to take an extra touch which allowed Jos Hooiveld to intervene. But City were now rampant and even the introduction of Drinkwater, for the injured Gallagher, failed to disrupt their rhythm, as they restricted the Saints to sporadic half-chances before half-time.
Schmeichel was twice called into action soon after the resumption, denying Connolly once more and then a point-blank header from Dean Hammond. However City also continued to pose a threat at the other end, with Konchesky being especially unfortunate to see a free-kick strike the inside of a post and rebound along the line.
Saints manager Nigel Adkins rang the changes in an attempt to inspire his team revival, but the City defence, with Mills and St Ledger both looking particularly assured, remained steadfast, and was well protected by Danns, Drinkwater and a resurgent Richie Wellens.
Delfouneso, introduced as a replacement for Beckford, almost made an instant impact when connecting with a Wellens cross, but his volley narrowly cleared the bar. Nevertheless, City held on to their lead with some comfort and many home fans were heading for the exits well before the final whistle brought a merciful side to their side's misery.
In contrast the visiting contingent, rewarded for their support before the game with free scarves and food/drink vouchers from club owners King Power, remained vociferous throughout the entire game and were deservedly thanked by the players afterwards. However some of the chants, berating both absent colleagues and forthcoming opponents Brighton in particularly graphic and offensive terms, will have caused concern both within the club and beyond. If we decry other fans (notably Forest's) for failing to comply with certain standards, we should expect our own followers to adhere to those standards themselves
The result was particularly satisfying for manager Nigel Pearson, making his first return to the club who controversially dismissed him in the summer of 2008 and thus paved the way for him to take the reins for his first spell at City. It also dispelled the clouds that had begun to gather after a series of disappointing league performances and results, which led many to question his suitability to complete the task assigned to him.
Whether this result and the way in which it was achieved, marks a real turning-point in our league campaign, or merely the latest in a series of false dawns, remains to be seen. But Pearson has some momentum to take into the forthcoming home clashes with Swindon and Middlesbrough.
Southampton: Davis; Harding, Martin, Hooiveld (Richardson 65), Fox; Cork, Hammond (c) (Holmes 56), Schneiderlin, Falque (De Ridder 56); Connolly, Do Prado. Unused subs: Bialkowski, Reeves.
City: Schmeichel; Peltier, Mills (c), St. Ledger, Konchesky; Gallagher (Drinkwater 42), Danns, Wellens, Dyer; Beckford (Delfouneso 75), Nugent (Howard 87). Unused subs: Logan, Kennedy.
Goals: Nugent 15, Mills 26 Booked: Konchesky, Nugent
Attendance: 21,014 (592 away) Referee: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire)
The views expressed in this report are the opinions of the Trust member nominated to file the report only and do not represent the views of the Foxes Trust organisation