Saints fans will consider this a game of two halves and that their team was poor in the first half and good in the second, but that would be a little unfair on the visitors who came to firstly clamp down on the game and secondly to go on the break.
Bristol City have one of the meanest defences in the Championship and it was clear that the way they have achieved that is by three rows of defensive players and a lone striker up front, they were content to pass the ball around when they got possession and quick to hoof it forward.
This made for a very frustrating first half for Southampton as they tried to impose themselves on the game and not helped by a referee who seemed quick to give fouls against them and brandish yellow cards, but not so fast for Bristol City's indiscretions.
Saints had their chances, but it was City who had the best chances, heading over the bar from close range and Gavin Bazunu called into action for an acrobatic save from an in swinging cross and also standing up big and brave before plunging to grab the ball as the City attacker clean through on goal attempted to round him.
It is fair to say though the natives were restless at the half time whistle, some were impatient, most hoped that we would be a little better in the second half.
They got the answer after the restart when Kyle Walker Peters took the ball in his stride from Adam Armstrong and cut across to unleash a curling shot into the far corner to give Saints the lead and this was a pivotal moment.
For the rest of the half we should have dominated and if there was really one gripe we should have doubled the lead and put the game to bed, but when we didn't we stuck to our task and made sure that the visitors rarely got a chance to equalise.
As the game wore on we grew in confidence, especially Charley Alcaraz who started to get that swagger and instead of playing simple balls when facing his own goal turned and ran at players, it was good to see.
As the game wore on City started to huff and puff more, but Saints were more of a match defensively and saw the game out with relative ease for a 10th match unbeaten and 24 points out of the last 30 to move back into 4th place.
Overall there has been a lot of muttering about the Huddersfield game and the first half of this one, but the truth in the last two games we have cut the lead of the top two and they are now starting to look over their shoulders.
Perhaps at times this is not the most exciting football to watch, but we are not there for excitement, we are there to see our team win and take another step towards promotion.
We have now sorted out the defence, we just now need to sort out scoring more goals and I saw enough in how we are adapting the game and players finding the confidence to turn and take players on to suggest that we will fix this side of our game.
A 1-0 win is sometimes the most satisfying of scores, it means that everyone has done their job, the goalkeeper who is starting to grow in confidence and stature, the defence who in the main were tight, the midfield who showed they can adapt when changes are made and the strike force who were unlucky not to see a couple more go in.
It was a team win and perhaps the last word should go to Ryan Manning, yes he put a few balls awry, but he was far from the only culprit in that respect, but his final action was vital in the final minute of the game as he chased back and held off a City player bursting through on the right and did enough to make sure that he could not do any damage before reinforcements arrived, perhaps not a goal of the quality of Kyle Walker Peters, but just as vital to the final scoreline.
It was his final action of the game being injured in the process, but you could see his team mates appreciated his effort and the contribution made.