Southampton 3-0 Leicester City: Tonda Eckert keeps Saints flying as Foxes are swept aside

Tonda Eckert made it four wins out of four as Southampton caretaker by masterminding a 3-0 victory over Leicester City in the Championship.

Finn Azaz scored for the third match in a row and Olabade Aluko was sent off on his first professional start, either side of Taylor Harwood-Bellis’ brace of headers in a horror first half for the Foxes.

The four wins under Eckert match the number they had managed from the start of last season until Will Still’s sacking.

Saints had been three points off the relegation zone when Eckert took charge and they are now two points shy of the promotion places – with the German the favourite to take the job permanently.

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Match action

Eckert, appointed as under-21s boss in the summer, had already beaten QPR, Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton Athletic since being given temporary charge at the start of November.

But Leicester looked like a tougher challenge on paper – with the Foxes winning the last four meetings between the clubs, along with victories over Norwich City and Stoke City in their previous two fixtures to put their season back on track.

Saints took the lead in the 18th minute, albeit fortunately, as replays suggested Harwood-Bellis was offside before he met Ryan Manning’s pinpoint free-kick.

Jordan James almost hit back immediately, but Gavin Bazunu pulled off a stunning save to push away the header before Saints doubled their lead.

Swift counters have become a trademark of Eckert’s reign and they scored from another when the ball moved from Manning to Adam Armstrong to Leo Scienza to Azaz in the blink of an eye.

The Irishman settled and beat Asmir Begovic at his near post to score for the fourth time in three club games.

Aluko had been living on a disciplinary tightrope after he was booked for dragging down a countering Scienza in the sixth minute.

And the 19-year-old full-back, who had only one first-team minute on his CV, hacked down Tom Fellows to receive a second booking and completed a nightmare 33 minutes for the visitors.

Relentless

From there Saints were relentless. Fellows blazed over from the angle and Begovic remarkably saved from Scienza before Harwood-Bellis celebrated his brace.

This time there was no controversy as another perfect set-piece delivery found the once-capped England defender to nod in.

Having scored five in the first half at the Valley, they had followed it up with a three-goal 45 minutes.

Armstrong went close either side of the interval, and Scienza forced Begovic into another smart save to continue the one-way traffic.

The hosts eased off in the latter stages as they settled for three goals, three points and a clean sheet.

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