No one said it was going to be easy staying up in second place and again Saints had to stay calm and collected and win the game when they had the chance to.
Saints opened a massive 8 point gap between themselves and Arsenal in 5th place, that may change on Sunday, but even if the Gunners should win their game this weekend it would still mean that their will be a 7 point gap between that vital 5th place spot.
The first reaction of many was that Leicester came to St Mary's to defend, that certainly looked the case but you have to ask the question whether that was their choice or whether it was more out of neccessity as Saints attacking style forces most teams on to their back foot.
Again it was a good display from Saints who have the ability to attack from all areas be it the strength of Pelle up front, the pace of Mane on one side or the guile of Tadic on the other, then you have the three central midfielders and if that isn't enough the two full backs rampage on the overlap and are great crossers of the ball, add the height of Fonte and Alderweireld at set pieces etc and just about the only person who doesn't pose an attacking threat is Fraser Forster although his distribution is quick and accurate so that is probably not strictly true.
It was a game that Saints dominated as was shown by the 65% possession and 18 shots compared to the visitors 5, but the issue was that the Foxes weren't letting us get a real sight of goal in the first half and chances were few and far between with Sadio Mane whizzing a shot just over the bar being just about the only real good chance before the break.
After the break it was more of the same and the only question would be whether Leicester could hold on, last season this was a game we could have easily lost with a lack of concentration, but we kept on doing the basics and working the ball forward and of course the main difference between now and last term is that we have a plan B.
That came in the 68th minute when Ronald Koeman took off Sadio Mane and brought on Shane Long, some Saints fans were surprised by this, Mane had probably looked our best chance of a goal and indeed had had an effort ruled out for offside, TV replays showing this was the correct decision.
It didn't take Long long to change the game, 7 minutes to be precisely and the goal was a shining example of how Saints work the ball forward and put sides under pressure, Wanyama slid a ball up the line to Jack Cork who put in a good cross to Pelle in the box, the Italian held it up well and then found Shane Long who had made the right run at the right time and he then curled the ball round the outstretched Schmeichel.
When strikers score they often go on little bouts of scoring and Long took only another 5 minutes to get his 2nd Premier league goal for the club, it looked a mile offside, however Long had timed his run perfectly and cooly slotted the ball under the keeper to seal the win for Saints.
The last 10 minutes were now comfortable, the pressure was off Saints and they concentrated on closing out the game and not do anything stupid, although just about Leicester's only real threat came with 2 minutes left when Jose Fonte got caught napping when the Foxes returned a clearance down the centre and Wood found himself goal side of Fonte and bearing down on Forster one on one, the keeper came out made himself big and Wood shot wide.
The last kick of the match almost saw Long make it a hat trick, it wasn't to be but the three points were safely in the bag and the crowd left St Mary's once again with a big smile on their face.
Man of the match had several contenders, if we look at the full 90 minutes it would have to be again Victor Wanyama, last season his competitve steel was never in doubt however hsi control and passing were, now suddenly he has a composure about him gained from having a season in the Premier under his belt and his distribution is now excellent, if we go over the 90 minutes then Wanyama has to be MOM.
However there is another case and that is Shane Long, some have questioned why we paid so much for Long, but we paid the price because we need someone of his quality to offer us options, he was just the player needed at that time, someone who can offer pace and can finish. for the first 70 minutes we had plenty of pace and passing but we just lacked that bit of finishing, Long came on and offered us that, watch the TV highlights and see the little runs he makes to pull defenders out of position, his first goal was typical of that, a run one way to make the gap for the ball to be played into Pelle and then losing his man to give that option for Pelle to find him and enable him to finish with aplomb.
All in all though another satisfying win, one that we needed to grind out and we will find over the season we will have to do that a lot as sides suddenly start to fear us and are not prepared to attack us as they were last season, the Sunderland game sent out a warning to the other clubs and since then we have found the likes of Stoke and now Leicester not willing to risk coming out at us and be murdered on the counter attack.
It was also another win were it was a real team effort, from the manager who again showed why he is not a one trick pony with the right change at the right time, right down through the side were every man did his job, if there is one reason why we have been so good this season it is because we are carrying no passengers, every man has a job to do and does it well.
The league table is a joy to look at, we now have two weeks to enjoy it before our trip to Villa, win that and we set ourselves up nicely for some real tests up to Christmas where we have the chance to make this season really special.