Southampton picked up their first Premier League win of 2017 and ended a run of four straight losses with a comfortable 3-0 win over champions Leicester City at St. Mary’s Stadium.

Midfielder James Ward-Prowse opened the scoring in the first half when his curled effort across Kasper Schmeichel nestled in the far corner, before Jay Rodriguez finished from close range to go into the break 2-0 up.

Claude Puel’s side were in the driving seat throughout and made it 3-0 when Dusan Tadic scored from the spot after Shane Long was fouled late on.

The hosts dominated the opening stages, with Jay Rodriguez, Nathan Redmond and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg all spurning chances in the opening 20 minutes.

With the lion’s share of the ball and chances racking up, Claude Puel’s side took advantage on 26 minutes when Cedric Soares found England U21 captain James Ward-Prowse in the box who, in turn, curled an effort across Kasper Schmeichel and into the far corner, with Three Lions boss Gareth Southgate watching from the stands.

Having taken the lead the Saints continued to dominate with Leicester’s best chance of an equaliser coming when Cedric brought down Shinji Okazaki on the edge of the area. However, Demari Gray’s free-kick was aimed perfectly at the middle of the wall.

The hosts doubled their lead with minutes to go before the break when, from Ward-Prowse’s deep free-kick, Maya Yoshida knocked the ball down into the path of Jay Rodriguez who volleyed home from a tight angle, more for the England gaffer to take in.

Into the second half and it was much of the same, with Saints having all the chances in the early exchanges, coming close when Dusan Tadic found Hojbjerg, but the Dane fired wide of the mark.

A moment to look away for the home fans when, with 54 minutes one the clock, defender Virgil van Dijk was forced off through injury. With Jose Fonte now at West Ham, youngster Jack Stephens took the place of the Dutchman.

Despite Ranieri’s changes, with Albrighton replacing Mendy at the break and then Musa coming in for Okazaki later on, the home side continued to dominate, with another chance falling to Jay Rodriguez who couldn’t get enough on his header, which was straight at Schmeichel.

The hosts had the ball in the back of the net for a third time when Wes Morgan put the ball into his own goal, only for the linesman to save the skipper’s blushes and raise his flag.

With Puel making his final change when Shane Long replaced goalscorer Jay Rodriguez, the Saints continued to dominate pushing for a third to see off the champions.

The Irishman was soon at the centre of things when he burst into the box and was brought down by Leicester captain Wes Morgan, Simon Oliver wasted no time in pointing to the spot and Saints had the perfect chance to wrap things up.

Serbian playmaker Dusan Tadic, who hadn’t scored since a 3-0 win over West Ham in September, stepped up and duly converted, all but sealing the win for Puel’s side.

With three points secured the home side continued to press and could have had a fourth, with Shane Long twice going close in the closing stages.

The victory takes the southerners up to 11th in the Premier League and sends them to Anfield for the second leg of the EFL Cup semi final in high spirits.

Here are FIVE things we learned from Southampton’s win over Leicester…

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Southampton fans will be more than happy with the result after a long spell of watching their side underperform in recent weeks.

The hosts looked calm, composed and in control throughout creating plenty of chances, something which has been lacking in their last few outings.

Puel can now take his side into consecutive cup ties with Liverpool and Arsenal in the EFL Cup and FA Cup respectively, with a whole lot more confidence.

Champions choking

The lack of title defence from the Foxes has been well documented this term, Ranieri’s side have the joint worst points tally for defending top-flight champions after 22 games, tied with the Ipswich side of 1962-63.

However, they were exceptionally poor on the south coast on Sunday. Failing to take advantage of the counterattacks for which they have become so well known, the Saints were untroubled throughout.

Missing Mahrez

There was a distinct lack of quality on the part of Leicester when they were allowed the rare chance to go forward, something which could have been tempered by the man away on international duty in Africa.

The Foxes were limited to half-chances and efforts from long-range, whilst last season’s other hero, Jamie Vardy, failed to register a single shot.

England headache

England boss, Gareth Southgate, was in the stands at St. Mary’s to cast his eye over those available for Three Lions duty on show, and it seemed the Englishmen in the Southampton ranks took notice.

‘Keeper Fraser Forster was solid when called upon, an improvement on his recent form, with the Saints’ first half goals came from England U21 captain James Ward-Prowse and the one-capped Jay Rodriguez.

Van Dijk worries

Having sold captain Jose Fonte to West Ham in the week, Saints fans will have been far from pleased to see the man who took the armband, Virgil van Dijk, hobble off after 54 minutes.

The Dutchman has been one of the standout performers in the Premier League this term and by far the best in a Southampton shirt.

Speaking after the game, manager Claude Puel confirmed the injury wasn’t too bad, but was unsure whether or not he would be available for the trip to Liverpool on Wednesday.