Southampton 2 Leicester City 0

Last updated : 05 January 2008 By Footymad Previewer
Andrew Surman and Gregory Vignal eased Southampton through to the fourth round of the FA Cup with first-half goals against a disappointing Leicester.

Southampton had little trouble disposing of Ian Holloway's disjointed team once they had gone ahead in the 16th minute.

Leicester had an early chance when new signing Steven Howard had a close-range header cleared from the line, but it was all Southampton once Surman had put them ahead.

The England Under-21 midfielder skilfully lifted the ball away from Richard Stearman before shooting across goalkeeper Paul Henderson and into the corner of the net.

Another new Leicester signing, Barry Hayles, almost equalised a minute later but failed to control from six yards and allowed Southampton goalkeeper Kelvin Davis to recover.

French full-back Vignal was booked in the 34th minute for a foul but two minutes later he was celebrating.

Vignal took a free-kick from fully 35 yards and the last touch appeared to be that of Stearman with a slight deflection which provided Southampton with their second goal.

Angry Holloway sent on Andy King and Bruno N'Gotty at the start of the second half in a bid to pep his midfield and for a time Leicester gave as good as they got without threatening the Southampton goal.

Davis did not have to make a single serious save and it was Southampton who should have gone further in front.

Adam Hammill should have done better with a diving header after 51 minutes and, in the 63rd minute, Grzegorz Rasiak had a header blocked on the line from Surman's cross.

Leicester attempted to stage a recovery near the end and Southampton's most impressive player, Youssef Safri, was booked for time wasting in the dying seconds, but Southampton deserved their win.