Southampton prevented Stoke City from extending their unbeaten run to five matches by sealing a 2-1 victory in the Premier League at the Britannia Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Ronald Koeman's side have got back on track following three games without a win, and it was thanks to a double from Graziano Pelle, who scored both of his goals in the first half.
Marko Arnautovic struck back for Stoke after the half-time break, and even though Mark Hughes's team put the Saints under pressure for most of the second half, they did not do enough to inspire a comeback.
Despite picking up the points, it was a sour end to the match for Southampton as Sadio Mane was given a straight red card one minute into stoppage time.
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The home side had a handful of early chances in the game, one of which came in the second minute when Giannelli Imbula picked the ball up in his own half before unleashing a 30-yard shot.
The January signing's attempt went wide of the target, but the Potters seemed to be showing intent when Erik Pieters's cross into the box was shakily cleared by Southampton, but only as far as Ibrahim Afellay.
The Dutchman latched on to the rebound, but the visitors regrouped and managed to block his attempt. The momentum changed in the 11th minute, though, when the Saints found the breakthrough.
At first, Pelle was denied by goalkeeper Jack Butland, who pulled off a decent save to prevent the forward's header from creeping under the crossbar, but the resulting corner ended up differently.
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The Italian forward rose above his markers in the box to meet Steven Davis's delivery and he made no mistake this time as he managed to get his header past Butland's gloves.
Minutes later, Butland prevented Shane Long from getting on the scoresheet as the England international dropped to the floor to stop the ball from nestling into the bottom right corner.
Arguably Stoke's best chance of the first half came to Mame Biram Diouf, who was in a good position to head home from close range after latching on to Glenn Whelan's cross, but he ended up sending the ball over the bar.
Hughes's side had the majority of possession, but they struggled to deal with Southampton's prowess on the counter-attack and they were punished once again on the half-hour mark.
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Pelle doubled his tally by slotting the ball into the bottom right corner after some one-two play with Dusan Tadic, who supplied the threaded ball for the goal.
After extending their lead, Southampton took control of the final few minutes of the first half and dominated the field with their intricate passing.
After the break, the momentum swung back in Stoke's direction as they managed to pull a goal back in the 52nd minute thanks to Arnautovic.
The Austrian scored his 10th goal of the season by flicking Afellay's low cross into the roof of the net, and from that point on, Stoke had their tails up.
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The Potters produced waves of attack and six minutes after scoring, Arnautovic had another opportunity as he held up the defender before thumping a powerful shot from the box, but Fraser Forster was alert and made the stop.
Southampton maintained their threat on the counter, but they were under the cosh at times in the second half, and defender Virgil van Dijk made a vital block to deny Diouf from scoring.
Afellay was involved in the move as he threaded the ball through for Geoff Cameron, who passed across the area for Diouf, but after the forward unleashed his shot, Van Dijk managed to get in the way and deflect it over the bar.
Stoke continued to dominate, but they struggled to make their plays count in the final third and they almost conceded a third goal in the 88th minute when James Ward-Prowse's free kick had beaten Butland but clattered off the crossbar.
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It looked as though Southampton were going to end the match relatively unscathed, but referee Lee Mason sent off Mane in the 91st minute after catching Pieters's head in a collision.
The Saints move up to seventh in the table, five points behind a European spot, while Stoke drop down one place to ninth.
Danielle Joynson
