LEICESTER SOUTHAMPTON 2
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But for many frustrated home supporters, defeat to the struggling 10-man Saints is fresh evidence Foxes manager Claude Puel should exit stage left.
Leicester may be eighth in the Premier League but dissent towards Puel will be turning to open revolt at this rate.
After an embarrassing FA Cup exit at League Two Newport with a weakened team, Puel wheeled out his big guns.
But a lack of imagination in the final third meant star striker Jamie Vardy hardly had a single effort.
Instead, Leicester shot themselves in the foot, conceding a daft early penalty which James Wardprowse converted.
The visitors even had Yan Valery sent off in first-half stoppage time but still made it 2-0 before half-time through Shane Long.
Despite Leicester dominating the second half, as Wilfred Ndidi pulled a goal back, they failed to regularly stretch keeper Alex Mccarthy.
Former Saints boss Puel (below), whose side were booed off, said: “The fans are disappointed like us. We wanted a good response after our cup game.
“We were a little nervous. The second goal was a bad moment and made it more difficult to get back into the game. We have scored a lot of goals in counter attack but we have to improve to find more creativity in the final third – especially against a deep defensive block.”
Saints started brightly as Stuart Armstrong played in Long and Nampalys Mendy fouled him with a clumsy challenge. Referee Michael Oliver rightly pointed to the spot and Wardprowse converted for his first goal of the season. Foxes keeper Kasper Schmeichel got two hands to it at full stretch, diving to his right, but couldn’t keep out the 11th-minute opener. Rival full-backs Valery and Ben Chilwell both went in the book in the 34th minute for clashing by the touchline. It served to finally spark Leicester into showing some urgency and intensity after an awful start. From the resulting free-kick, Wes Morgan nearly equalised. James Maddison’s delivery wasn’t cleared and Morgan’s left-foot shot was going in until Jan Bednarek cleared it off the line. Rookie Valery, 19, then saw red for a second caution on Marc Albrighton in the 45th minute. But it was the visitors who made it 2-0 when Long escaped from Mendy and Ricardo Pereira, and Schmeichel could only divert his right-foot effort in.
The hosts made a double change at the break and pushed to get back into it with Harry Maguire and Maddison shooting from distance.
They halved the deficit when Ndidi deflected in Pereira’s cross from the right on 58 minutes after a good pass from sub Demarai Gray.
But Saints defended deeply with great resolve and organisation as Jannik Vestergaard headed numerous crosses clear.
Hasenhuttl, whose side climbed out of the bottom three despite missing seven players, said: “I am very proud of this team. It was a long time to go with 10 men but after the red card we were not frightened.
“The first half showed we had a very good plan and forced mistakes. The way we defended with passion was unbelievable. Such wins can be a very big boost.”