Ralph Hasenhuttl made just a couple of changes to his starting line up for the visit of Chelsea and after early pressure from the visitors Saints came from behind to put in a gritty performance and take all three points.
Would Ralph keep the same side or change things was the big question in the pubs before the game, the answer was he opted to play Romain Perraud a specialist left back in place of Djenepo and brought in Ibrahimo Diallo in place of Joe Aribo.
The first change was harsh on Djenepo who was excellent against Manchester United, but shrewd thinking, the second was also shrewd, it was never going to be a game that Saints would dominate, if we wanted to get something out of the game, it would always be about getting behind the ball, battling for it at every opportunity and working our socks off.
After all it was only back in April that Chelsea came to St Mary's and took a poor Saints side to the cleaners 6-0, the first task was to make sure that didn't happen again.
But for the first 25 minutes it was Chelsea who threatened the most, they almost caught us out on several occasions and finally did when Raheem Sterling scored at the second attempt, Chelsea's players arrogantly celebrated the goal, as did their fans who gleefully informed the home crowd they had won it all.
But this is a different Saints side from 4 months ago, it has spirit and it has players hungry to play the game, the goal seemed to galvanise the home side and indeed the home supporters, who had less than 5 minutes to wait to see their side score and it was a screamer from Romeo Lavia that got them out of their seats, from the stands it looked straight forward, but replays showed that it was a glorious curling shot that was far from easy to execute.
Now Saints were fighting, they scrapped and they battled and more to the point they niggled and upset the rhythm & composure of the Chelsea superstars, as the break approached you thought that we were good value to go in all square.
But the half wasn't finished yet and it was apt that Adam Armstrong would send us into the break in the lead a minute into stoppage time.
The striker has not had a good time at St Mary's since he arrived, indeed it looked like he would leave a month or so ago, but he has got into the side and deservedly kept his place, over the past few games he has been at the heart of a lot of our attacks and his work rate is formidable, in truth some have been slow to recognise this and give him praise, but with his goal last night it made a few wake up and notice that there is a lot more to his game than just goals.
Now Chelsea were riled, Jorginho was fuming that no action had been taken on Che Adams who had seemingly flicked a ball into his face whilst he was on the ground half way through the first half and he was still haranguing the ref as he went down the tunnel at half time, clearly Chelsea's players had lost composure and focus.
The second half would remain goalless, but it was Saints who would create the best chances, Elyounoussi should have scored with a free header and an overhead kick from the rebound and it looked like a third had been added when a header beat the keeper and appeared to be past Thiago Silva who flicked out a heel and somehow kept it out.
Even on the hour mark when Saints lost Lavia to a hamstring injury it didn't upset the performance, on came Joe Aribo, Saints reshuffled the central midfield three and it was business as usual.
Shortly afterwards Armando Broja returned to the St Mary's pitch, in truth he didn't do too much, a run that was pushed out of the danger area and a header that lacked power and was possibly going wide, although Gavin Bazunu made sure there were no embarrassing mistakes and made sure that it was to the left of his post.
Ralph made a couple of late subs, Romain Perraud had run himself into the ground and on came Djenepo with 17 minutes left and to break up the game on came Lyanco, this time in the back line and not up front with 4 minutes left.
We have seen late goals against Saints quite often, but not on this night, Saints kept their concentration and their shape to the final minute and St Mary's erupted on the final whistle.
This was a victory that showed some of the sceptics that over the summer we have quietly got on with things and rebuilt, not only the team but the coaching staff, it has been a learning curve for both, but slowly and game by game we have improved, but it is not only the new signings that have upped their game, some of those who have been here longer are benefitting from what is clearly a new spirit in the dressing room.
Jan Bednarek again sat out the whole game on the bench, he must have looked on and wondered why he wants to leave, undoubtably he is a good player, but has he really bought into the programme as they say, he had to sit and watch as a team came of age before him and he is not a part of it.
This was a team performance, three weeks ago there were so called leaked reports that Ralph Hasenhuttl had lost the dressing room, the games since then including this one clearly show this was not the case.
It is hard to single out individuals from last night, some like Gavin Bazunu just got on with their job and did what they did well, Armel Bella-Kotchap was immense and he seems to have revitalised Mohammed Salisu who looked jaded in the last third of the season, but not now.
Adam Armstrong for me was the second only to Bella-Kotchap and only by a thin margin, the striker not only capped his game with the winning goal, but his workrate is phenomenal, he never stopped and was at the heart of most attacks creating as well as having chances.
Ibrahima Diallo came in for his first start of the season, his only previous Premier League action being the last 15 minutes at Spurs, he battled and harassed and showed why he is a good squad player and on this performance potentially a first choice.
Every squad needs players who you don't notice because they just quietly get on and do their job, they don't hit 25 yard passes they just get the ball and lay it 10 yards to their own man, some would not have noticed Diallo last night, there were others who were doing the flashy stuff, but Diallo was where he was needed at the right moments.
These are just three performances, I could single out every player who saw action on the pitch, it was a night to enjoy, as someone said to me afterwards, "This is why we go to football, for nights like this"
But this is Southampton FC, this is not the start of a charge to the Premier League title or perhaps even the top 7 these days, but it is the start of a new era, I said yesterday that Ralph Hasenhuttl kept this club in the Premier League when he had no money, not just for players but for coaches, some disagree but he did a good job in the circumstances.
Given that situation, he deserves to show he is up to the task now the purse strings are loosened and he has experienced coaches to help him not just on the bench but the training ground, it seems that there is a new optimism running through this football club, it is time to enjoy it and not let the past drag us down, it has to be a clean sheet for everyone and then we can judge them on what they do this season and not what they have done in the past.
Moussa Djenepo is evidence of that, the opening 5 Premier league games has seen him contribute more to the club than in his previous 3 years, lets hope that continues and support him.
It will not always be nights like this, but we can have hope for this season, we have made some good signings, we might make another one or two in the next 24 hours or so, we have a team spirit and we have owners who have a vision for the club, all we need now is to accept that there will be bad days, but when they happen they hopefully will be just that and not bad runs.