Southampton piled on the misery of a Bournemouth side that are now winless in five consecutive Premier League matches.
The home side had all the running of the opening half and Steven Davis deservedly opened the scoring off the back of a superb flowing move. Graziano Pellè doubled the advantage five minutes later, towering above Sylvain Distin to head home from six yards for his sixth goal of the season. The Italian celebrated with one of his club’s sports therapists Graeme Staddon, a New Zealander, with a haka-style celebration after the All Blacks’ recent World Cup triumph. The goal extends Pellè’s impressive record under Ronald Koeman with the 30-year-old having racked up 80 goals in 126 appearances for the Dutchman at a rate of 1.56 games per goal.
The Cherries lifted in the second half after producing no real threatening patches of play in the opening period, but still lacked any cutting edge. Still sorely lacking the influence of Callum Wilson up front, the visitors toiled hard in the second period but couldn’t break open the Saints’ defence.
Southampton
Maarten Stekelenburg – 6.0: Rarely tested and dealt with all that came his way.
Ryan Bertrand – 7.5: Found a lot of joy pushing up the left-hand side and saw his fabulous cross turned in for the opener.
Virgil van Dijk – 7.0: Another solid performance by the Dutchman, rarely caught out of position and recovered well if he was.
José Fonte – 7.0: Used the ball well and pushed up at times when space opened in front of him.
Cédric Soares – 7.0: Pushed up well and did what was required defensively.
Victor Wanyama – 6.5: Aggressive and strong in his challenges, which saw him win a lot of the ball but also pick up two yellow cards.
Jordy Clasie – 7.0: Started so many of the Saints’ attacks with clever passing from deep. Little less effective after the break.
Dusan Tadić – 6.5: Not as influential as he has been in recent weeks but still a solid game and a good cross for Pellè’s goal.
Sadio Mané – 7.0: A lot of movement and carrying the ball from deep but didn’t have many memorable patches in the second half.
Steven Davis – 7.5: Very tidy in possession and smart movement off the ball. Made a great run for his goal.
Graziano Pellè – 7.5: Limited time on the ball in the second half but had a brilliant opening period. Another goal and could’ve quite easily had an assist as well.
Substitutes
Maya Yoshida – 7.0: Came on for Fonte at the half and was solid in defence.
Oriol Romeu – 6.5: Did what was needed of him. Substituted on for Clasie in the 71st minute.
James Ward-Prowse – N/A: Substituted on for Tadić in the 80th minute.
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