Southampton moved up to third place in the Premier League table on Saturday night thanks to a 2-0 win over Fulham at St Mary's Stadium.
Rickie Lambert got the home side off the mark on 20 minutes before Jay Rodriguez doubled their advantage towards the end of the first half.
The win saw the Saints stretch their unbeaten run to seven matches in all competitions.
Read Sports Mole's minute-by-minute report below to find out how the action unfolded on the South Coast.
Hello there and welcome to Sports Mole's live text coverage of this evening's Premier League encounter between Southampton and Fulham at St Mary's Stadium.
We should be getting some team news through soon. We'll bring it to you as soon as we do.
SOUTHAMPTON: Boruc; Clyne, Lovren, Fonte, Shaw; Ward-Prowse, Lallana, Schneiderlin, Wanyama; Rodriguez, Lambert
The Saints make a total of two changes to to this side that earned a 1-1 draw at Manchester United last weekend as James Ward-Prowse and Rickie Lambert replace Steven Davis and Pablo Osvaldo.
SOUTHAMPTON SUBS: K Davis, Ramirez, Cork, Lee, Guly, Chambers, Hooiveld
No sign of the Fulham starting XI just yet. Someone needs to tell Martin Jol to get a move on.
FULHAM: Stekelenburg; Riether, Senderos, Amorebieta, Richardson; Ruiz, Sidwell, Parker, Kasami; Berbatov; Bent
Fulham make just the one change for today's match as the sidelined Brede Hangeland makes way for Fernando Amorebieta.
FULHAM SUBS: Stockdale, Kacaniklic, Karagounis, Duff, Hughes, Rodallega, Zverotic
There are four other Premier League matches currently taking place, all of which are about to come to an end. Once those full-time results are through we'll bring them to you right here. In case you haven't been following the afternoon's action it's been another dramatic day in England's top flight.
PREMIER LEAGUE FULL-TIME RESULTS:
Aston Villa 0-2 Everton
Liverpool 4-1 West Bromwich Albion
Manchester United 3-2 Stoke City
Norwich City 0-0 Cardiff City
There was also an early kickoff in the Premier League today as Arsenal earned a 2-0 win at Crystal Palace thanks to goals from Mikel Arteta and Olivier Giroud.
Speaking of the table, what do today's results do for this match between Southampton and Fulham? Well, a win for the Saints would see them move into the Champions League place while three points for Fulham would see them climb into the top half.
HEAD TO HEAD: It's been fairly even between these two teams when they've met down the years, with Southampton winning 21 matches to Fulham's 18. Meanwhile, there have been 21 draws.
It was honours even in both games last season as the teams played out a 2-2 draw at St Mary's Stadium before a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage.
RECENT FORM:
SOUTHAMPTON: DWWWWD
FULHAM: DLWLWW
Around 15 minutes to go until this one gets underway. Southampton are sure to be favourites to get the points tonight, and it would be quite something for them to gatecrash the top four. However, Fulham are likely to be buoyed by their recent back-to-back victories.
It's also worth pointing out that today marks the 150th birthday of the Football Association. No doubt the game's founding fathers would have been pleased to see such entertainment across the country this afternoon.
Not long to go now, and St Mary's Stadium is filling up nicely.
Five minutes until kickoff and the players are just about to make their way out onto the pitch.
The pre-match rituals have been done and it will be Southampton to get us underway. Here we go!
It's been a fairly even start so far, with Southampton just about edging it. Both teams looking busy.
OFF THE LINE! Nearly an opening goal for the hosts after a mistake by Senderos. The centre-back was caught in possession, allowing Lallana to burst into the box. His cross was palmed away by Stekelenburg before Schneiderlin's follow up was cleared off the line by Amorebieta. Early drama at St Mary's Stadium.
SAVE! Poor from Senderos again as he lets the ball bounce in the area, giving Lambert a sight of goal. However, the striker's effort is a tame one that Stekelenburg gathers.
No real threat from Fulham so far. The visitors have Bent playing as the lone striker high up the pitch while Berbatov sits a bit deeper. Southampton are in control at the moment.
Fulham boss Martin Jol is out on the touchline looking his usual brooding self. He can't be too happy with what he's seeing from his players at the moment. They're second best to most balls as the home side dictate the tempo.
CHANCE! Some patient build-up play from Southampton ends with Wanyama having a crack from about 25 yards, but his strike narrowly skips past the post.
One area that is likely to be concerning Martin Jol at the moment is his side's defence. Fulham's back four have looked a bit shaky so far, suffering from a lack of communication at times.
GOAL! SOUTHAMPTON 1-0 FULHAM (LAMBERT)
Southampton lead and it's Rickie Lambert with the goal! A corner was flicked on at the near post, and there was Lambert lurking at the back stick to head into the net. That one can be filed under 'simple but effective'.
SAVE! Nearly two in two minutes for Southampton, but Stekelenburg saves brilliantly from Rodgriguez. The winger was given time and space to run into the area before his goal-bound effort was kept out by the Dutchman.
The home side really have their tails up now. The passing is slick, the movement is sharp, and Fulham are just about clinging on.
Classic Berbatov. The Bulgarian wants a free kick down the right side after tussling with Shaw, but referee Andre Marriner waves play on. Needless to say, the striker looks bemused.
In contrast to Southampton's pacey passing style, Fulham are struggling to string two passes together at the moment. They've had the ball in some good advanced positions as well.
WIDE! Not a bad header from Rodriguez as he nods wide from 12 yards following a good cross from Shaw. The full-back did well to get the ball into the box with two Fulham shirts around him.
OFF THE POST! Lambert almost grabs his second, but he's denied by the woodwork! The striker worked himself a yard of space on the edge of the box before unleashing a powerful low drive towards goal. However, it clips the post.
One thing that impresses about this Southampton side is the balance within it. There's plenty of speed and skill in there, but there's also a bit of muscle to boot.
SAVE! Another good stop from Stekelenburg denies Lambert a second goal. The striker peeled away from Senderos with ease before getting his head on the end of Ward-Prowse's cross. It looked as if it might be going in, only for the Fulham goalkeeper to palm the ball away with a great instinctive stop.
Southampton increase the pressure with a couple of corners, though Fulham do well to stave off the danger. Still, the visitors can count themselves lucky that they're not at least a couple of goals down.
GOAL! SOUTHAMPTON 2-0 FULHAM (RODRIGUEZ)
Well, they're two goals down now! It's a brilliantly worked goal from the home side as Lambert heads Lallana's cross back across goal, allowing Rodriguez to nod in at the far post.
One minute added time.
HALF TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 2-0 FULHAM
The referee blows the half-time whistle and it's Southampton who go off the pitch the happier as they lead Fulham 2-0 thanks to goals from Rickie Lambert and Jay Rodriguez.
The Saints have been absolutely superb so far, and it could be argued that they deserve another goal or two to the ones they have already. In contrast, Fulham have hardly had a sniff. The visitors look well off the pace, but they also haven't been allowed to find any sort of rhythm.
As it stands, Southampton will be moving up to third place in the table after nine matches. Sound good, Saints fans?
Right, the players are back out after the half-time interval and it will be Fulham to get the second period underway. Is there a way back for the visitors? They've made a change as Aaron Hughes replaces Sascha Riether.
To be fair to the visitors they've looked lively in the opening few minutes of the second half. That should encourage Martin Jol.
Fulham are enjoying their best spell of the match at the moment. They're putting plenty of crosses into the Southampton area, but the ball is just not falling for them in the 18-yard box.
It can be safely said that Bent and Berbatov are looking like a strike partnership that have little understanding of one another. A couple of times in the last few minutes there has been a lack of communication between the pair when in an advanced position.
More patient build-up from Southampton ends with Rodriguez lashing the ball over the crossbar from 25 yards. The hosts are looking comfortable.
More patient build-up from Southampton ends with Rodriguez lashing the ball over the crossbar from 25 yards. The hosts are looking comfortable.
You have to say that the contrast in managers down on the touchline is quite amusing. Mauricio Pochettino looks cool as a cucumber while Martin Jol appears dishevelled, tucking his shirt into his trousers.
This is mightily frustrating for Fulham at the moment. The Southampton fans are cheering their side every time that they pass the ball. It's party time at St Mary's Stadium.
Around 25 minutes of normal time left and Southampton continue to play with a high intensity that is proving too much for Fulham. Not only is their passing a movement excellent, but they are pressing very hard indeed to win the ball back when they are not in possession.
CHANCE! What a goal that would have been for Southampton! Rodriguez meets a cross in the centre of the box with a spectacular acrobatic volley, but he can only put it wide of the post. That nearly had everyone on their feet.
There's very little that Fulham can be pleased with tonight. They have been truly woeful at times, showing a real lack of motivation.
SUBSTITUTION: Fulham make their second change of the match as Hugo Rodallega replaces Darren Bent. Bent has offered his side nothing this evening.
Rodallega's first involvement sees his try to float a pass through to Ruiz, but he gets it all wrong and Boruc comes off his line to gather.
SUBSTITUTION: Now it's a change for Southampton as Guly do Prado comes on for goalscorer Jay Rodgriguez.
Ten minutes to go and, barring a miraculous comeback, Southampton look like they have the points wrapped up. For the record, it will be the first time that the Saints have moved up to third place in the table since 1989.
SUBSTITUTION: Fulham's final swap of the night sees Alex Kacaniklic introduced in place of Bryan Ruiz.
Credit to Southampton; they're 2-0 up with just over five minutes left and they continue to be professional and work hard for each other.
The Saints are quite happy to run the clock down now as they keep possession and make Fulham chase the ball.
Two minutes added time.
YELLOW CARD: Aaron Hughes goes into the book for Fulham after bringing down Shaw. Meanwhile, Jack Cork replaces James Ward-Prowse for Southampton.
FULL TIME: SOUTHAMPTON 2-0 FULHAM
The full-time whistle goes and Southampton move up to third place in the Premier League table thanks to a 2-0 win over Fulham. Rickie Lambert got the Saints' first before Jay Rodriguez added a second.
Anyway, that's all from me for now. Thank you very much for your company and enjoy the rest of your weekend. Thanks again and goodnight!
Anyway, that's all from me for now. Thank you very much for your company and enjoy the rest of your weekend. Thanks again and goodnight!
