Tottenham Hotspur's visit to the St Mary's Stadium pitted Ange Postecoglou and Russell Martin - two managers under increasing pressure - against on another with both looking to arrest their side's poor form.
Ravaged by injury, the Spurs boss will be delighted that his side won the match very early on, giving him the opportunity to protect his threadbare squad in the second half ahead of Thursday's Carabao Cup quarter final.
Spurs got off to a flying start with James Maddison capping off an excellent move (not least due to an sublime turn, run and pass from Djed Spence in his maiden Premier League start) inside the first minute. In truth, the match was won 13 minutes later with goals from Son Heung-Min and Dejan Kulusevski forcing Russell Martin to make an early sub and change formation.
Unfortunately for the soon to be dismissed manager, this made little different with Pape Matar Sarr and Maddison sealing the 5-0 victory by half-time. This allowed Ange Postecoglou's team to take it's foot off the gas in the second half and withdraw Son, then Maddison, early to ensure no injury flare ups.
Here are four things we learnt.
Bergvall has what it takes
Lucas Bergvall started a Premier League match for the first time at Southampton, and he didn't disappoint. There were errors in his game, some dallying on the ball, a couple of misplaced passes and trying a little too much, but the way he handled filling in at the base of Spurs midfield showed a maturity beyond his years.
With Yves Bissouma having had a nightmare performance against Chelsea and Rodrigo Bentancur still suspended, the young Swede may have showcased enough to keep his place in at least one of Spurs remaining matches before Christmas against Manchester United or Liverpool. Most impressive was his ability to take the ball from the defence under pressure and move his side up the gears, but his Postecoglou will have been pleased to see him respond well to receiving some physical treatment from experienced opposition and never wilting.
It seems clear can expect bright things from Bervall.
Gray will be great
If Bergvall's performance wasn't enough to get Spurs supporters excited about the future, summer signing from Leeds Archie Gray will have done the rest. So far this season Gray has played in both full back positions and now finds himself at centre back, partnering the also inexperienced Radu Dragusin. All this from a central midfielder yet to see his 19th Birthday.
Gray's passing out of defence was crisp and precise while his composure under pressure was unwavering. What might have been less expected was this slender teenager playing in an unfamiliar position could read a pass in behind and block a shot from the edge of the six yard box, but that's exactly what happened as he prevented Yukinari Sugawara putting away Southampton's best chance of the match in the 88th minute from close up, preserving the Spurs clean sheet.
Spence can deliver
As with both of the above players, it should be noted that all of this has come against comfortable the worst side in the Premier League. That said, Djed Spence will be delighted to have begun the game by able taking on a pass from deep, turning his man and driving the ball forward before finding the perfect pass for Maddison to score. The former Middlesbrough right back may be 24-years-old, but he had only played 8 top flight matches for Spurs before this match and this was his first start.
Following on from his explosive beginning, Spence was composed, energetic and aggressive throughout his time on the pitch, moving to left-back when Destiny Udogie was substituted early on, and will have reassured Postecoglou that he can at the very least deputise more often for the Italian left back and Pedro Porro on the other side.
Don't be surprised to see Spence start more matches in the remainder of 2024 with the Spurs defence injury ravaged and him having only impressed in his limited minutes so far this season. This may be the platform for him to be more than a squad player if he takes his chances.
Spurs supporters have had enough
With Spurs having stuttered by and large during the first half of the season, the supporter base has become increasingly frustrated. Often the manager will receive their fair share of this ire, and Ange Postecoglou has had to deal with criticism recently (not always in the most constructive way), but by and large the away supporters were united behind the Australian. Daniel Levy and ENIC, however, were not made to feel so welcome.
With some exceptional performances from the team in white so far this season, and the reasonable assumption that the extensive injury list has been a huge reason for Spurs' inconsistency, the club's fans can be forgiven for looking at a summer transfer window which again left the squad thinner than necessary.
No wingers who seem to really suit the system this manager prioritises, a lack of a genuine 'number 6' midfielder to play deep and the requirement for 31-year-old Ben Davies to again provide cover at both left centre back and left back might more easily be forgiven if ENIC didn't have form for doing as little as could be got away with, or if there had been even one trophy since 2008. Imagine if Fraser Foster hadn't been rolling back the years this past few weeks in Guglielmo Vicario's absence?
ENIC have consistently left managers short of the tools they really need, and Spurs have been at best bridesmaids, never brides, in the past 16 seasons. The result? Scoring five goals by half-time to arrest recent form in yet another entertaining display and yet the chants of "we want Levy out" and "I don't care about Levy, Levy doesn't care about me" persisting up until and beyond the final whistle.
January provides the opportunity for Spurs to reinforce Postecoglou's squad, and if done so with some quality and Spurs finish the season with some success, this noise would likely calm. That is unless it is too little too late.