Saints confirmed their best start for 31 years, but Queens Park Rangers did not make it easy for them in a tough game that needed character and spirit to win it.
Saints supporters had a big smile on their faces as they left St Mary's on Saturday, the fact that Chelsea had gone to form and beaten Aston Villa and thus prevented Saints from topping the league was an aside, what was making them smile was the fact that Saints had won a game with not only domination and quality but when it hadn't gone their way they had the guts to dig in and win it.
On another day it could have been a rout, the pattern was set early on and Saints had a series of chances which were well set up but they couldn't quite find a finish due to the determination from a QPR side who looked like they had come for a battle.
The scoreless first half was perhaps a disappointment to the home fans but cases could be made for it being fair or unfair to both teams, Saints had played a lot of nice football but as mentioned there wasn't the finish there, Tadic hit a post and Schneiderlin placed a shot just wide but Rangers were digging in and the longer the game went on the more hope they got.
The game changed on 54 minutes when Mane rescued an overhit cross, held the ball up and then sublimely backheeled it for Plastic Bertrand to hammer it past Green in the visitors goal.
You had the feeling then that Sains would start to bury Rangers and initially that looked the case with a couple of good chances that should have been buried, but the next goal would fall to Charlie Austin who swivelled and volleyed home for an equaliser and what looked like being the goal of the game.
But the lead would last only a couple of minutes, Shane Long with his first touch after coming on as sub crossed for Pelle who flicked the ball up and then swivelled to bury the ball in the far corner for a goal that probably shaded Austin's effort in the goal of the match stakes.
Saints should really have closed off the game in the last 20 minutes or so but couldnt quite find a third, Rangers only moment of danger came when Kranjcar firstly throwing himslef to the ground to win a free kick and then rattling the crossbar with it, although in fairness I thought Forster had it covered if it had been lower.
All in all though a satisfying win for Saints, ok it hadn't been the rout that we had hoped for, but it highlighted the spirit we have on the field and the tactical nous we have on the bench, make no bones about this we would have drawn this match last year, perhaps even lost it,but as the game pattern changed Ronald Koeman had the nous to change his team and he wasn't afraid to do so.
Indicative of this was the decision to take Mane off immediately after the QPR equaliser, to some that would appear folly with Mane having been at the heart of many Saints attacks, but Koeman knew that Mane was tiring after a hard week and was also on a yellow card and we couldnt afford to lose him if he mis timed a tackle, on came Long who had an immediate impact on crossing for the Pelle piledriver and had a few chances himself.
Saints now have great attacking options, Pelle is the focal point of many of them, be it as a target man to play into and bring others into play or as the man who finishes the move, Mane offers pace and guile as shown with his back heel for Bertrand's goal and how he payed in Morgan Schneiderlin for his chance in the first half. Dusan Tadic is well, Dusan Tadic he is at the heart of everything and makes it happen.
The option of Shane Long should not be underestimated either,he has a good work rate and a phenomenal burst of speed, he had an impact yesterday and is as good as most clubs in this division will have coming off the bench.
There was no smashing of Harry Redknapp's team into the ground as many hoped, but there was the satisfaction of knowing that we have a team that can adapt to any situation and win when things don't go our way, when we need to we can out pass teams, but conversely when we have to get stuck in we can do that as well, we have a flair about us that I haven't see since the days of Le Tiss, Shearer and the Wallace brothers in the 89/90 season when we finished 7th, but unlike that team we have steel at the back, so we have the opportunity to better their exploits and we could well do that.
What this game proved was that Koeman has not only built a squad to adapt to whatever situation is needed, but he has the nous to steer it at crucial times.
Man of the match
Given the obvious candidates, Pelle for his overall play and goal, Tadic for his usual trickery and Mane for his great home debut, a game like this that ultimately came down to graft and work rate, my choice is Steven Davis, Ronald Koeman is rotating his central midfielders to a degree and all have their merits, Davis tough is the real unsung hero, eek in week out he puts in a top knotch display without which in many occasions the ball wouldnt get to the three players mentioned to allow them to do their magic.
Davis links our defence with attack, wins the ball and does the simple things well, when he is doing them it's easy to overlook them, when they aren't being done is when you notice he isn't there, yesterday he got on with it, never stopped running, never stopped playing simple balls into the right areas and made sure that QPR never got to dominate the centre of the park.