CHERRIES paid the price for a lacklustre first-half performance as Southampton claimed the south-coast bragging rights with a comfortable 2-0 victory. 

Steven Davis and Graziano Pelle plundered the goals in a five-minute spell that arrived on the back of complete Saints domination during the opening half an hour.

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Visiting boss Eddie Howe injected some impetus by introducing the lively Junior Stanislas but despite a strong penalty claim and the dismissal of Victor Wanyama in a far better second half, Cherries could not find a way through.

Howe named three changes from Cherries’ last Premier League outing, the 5-1 home defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

Harry Arter made his first Premier League start at the expense of Joshua King, while Adam Federici lined up in goal in place of the injured Artur Boruc.

Steve Cook missed out due to an ankle complaint with captain Simon Francis switching to centre-half, as he did in the League Cup at Liverpool in midweek. Adam Smith at came in at right-back.

Sadio Mane made a nuisance of himself from the outset as piercing noise levels from both sets of supporters reverberated round St Mary’s.

Southampton’s first real threat came following a swift, intricate exchange down the right with Pelle springing the offside trap only to be denied by Francis’s vital deflection.

Saints were again afforded too much room on the right to tee up Wanyama to fire towards the top corner but another crucial touch, this time from Sylvain Distin, saw the powerful shot wander wide of the far upright.

Cherries continued to invite pressure and Ryan Bertrand’s cross from deep found Pelle to nod down for Mane to volley into the ground and narrowly over the crossbar.

Smith enjoyed a rare burst forward for Cherries and drew a crunching challenge which saw Wanyama booked but the pressure continued to build at the other end.

Mane switched to the right, got round Daniels and beat Distin at the second attempt, forcing Federici to parry his cross-shot which Matt Ritchie did well to clear on the volley.

As the first half an hour drew to a close, Cherries had seen just 31 per cent of the ball without registering a single shot yet had prevented Saints from testing Federici with an on-target effort.

But the creaking Cherries were eventually breached a minute later when Pelle’s deft flick into the left channel released Bertrand to cross for Davis to crash home from close range his second league goal of the season.

And with the Cherries resolve broken, Southampton doubled their lead when Dusan Tadic collected a cross-field pass, teased Smith and provided a powerful, swirling cross for Pelle to overpower Distin and head back across Federici.

Cherries should have scored with their first real opening on the stroke of half-time as Dan Gosling’s ball was just cut out by Virgil van Dijk but the clearance fell to the former-Everton midfielder to nod narrowly wide.

Howe's double change at the interval saw King and Stanislas replace Murray and Marc Pugh and the visitors immediately found themselves on the front foot as Gosling fired over and Stanislas had a shot charged down within six minutes of the restart.

Much of the play was in front of the Southampton backline but it was enterprising nonetheless. 

Charlie Daniels and Stanislas combined well to thread through to King only for van Dijk to cut out the danger before Arter jinked past Davis and Wanyama before drawing a late challenge from the Dutch centre-half.

A clever corner saw Ritchie backheel into the path of taker Smith but his drilled centre evaded a packed penalty area before Cherries had a legitimate penalty appeal waved away when Cedric’s outstretched arm prevented Arter’s clever dink reaching Gosling.

With Howe’s men in the ascendency, the manager introduced Lee Tomlin, whose direct running drew the foul which saw Wanyama sent off for a second bookable offence with 13 minutes to play.

Stanislas’s corner was headed over at the near post by Gosling and his next flag-kick provided a flurry of activity which ended with Ritchie’s shot being charged down by van Dijk.

Tomlin wriggled his way in from the left channel and let fly with Cherries’ first shot on target after 86 minutes but Maarten Stekelenburg was equal to the effort.

King quickly followed up with a 20-yard shot that was comfortably saved as Southampton exerted enough control to see through the result, despite Cherries ending a match in which they had been run ragged for 45 minutes with more possession and more attempts at goal.

Saints: Stekelenburg, Cedric, Fonte (Yoshida, h-t), van Dijk, Bertrand, Wanyama, Clasie (Romeu, 70), S Davis, Tadic (Ward-Prowse, 80), Mane, Pelle. Unused subs: Juanmi, Ramírez, Caulker, K Davis (g/k).

Booked: Wanyama.

Sent off: Wanyama (second booking).

Cherries: Federici, Smith, Francis, Distin, Daniels, Ritchie, Gosling, Surman, Arter (Tomlin, 72), Pugh (Stanislas, h-t), Murray (King, h-t). Unused subs: Cargill, MacDonald, Kermorgant, Allsop (g/k).

Booked: Gosling, Francis.

Attendance: 31,229, including 3,066 visiting supporters.

Referee: Craig Pawson (South Yorkshire).