Southampton cruised to a comfortable win in their Premier League clash against Sunderland as they hammered the Black Cats 8-0 at St Mary's Stadium this afternoon.
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The Saints took the lead in the 12th minute under bizarre circumstances as Black Cats defender Santiago Vergini diverted the ball past Vito Mannone into his own net as he tried to clear the ball inside his own box.
Southampton doubled their lead as they capitalised on further poor defending from the visitors when Will Buckley's pass hit the back of Sebastian Larsson. Steven Davis picked up the loose ball and teed up Graziano Pelle in the middle, who was left with a simple finish.
Gus Poyet's side almost got a goal back when Larsson curled a free kick over the wall from 25 yards out, but Fraser Forster was on hand to make a good save to beat the ball away from the net.
Sunderland felt they should have been awarded a penalty when Steven Fletcher was brought down by Forster when through on goal, but referee Andre Marriner waved their claims away.
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The home side took advantage of the decision as they scored their third goal of the game when Dusan Tadic beat the challenge of Vergini before finding Jack Cork in the area, who found the net with a neat finish.
In the second half, the Saints almost added to the scoreline when Davis latched on to a knockdown from Pelle, but the midfielder fired his effort over the bar.
Patrick van Aanholt kept his side in the match to prevent the visitors from going four down when he blocked an effort from Tadic on the line after Shane Long had found the winger in the box.
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However, it was brief respite for the Black Cats as Pelle broke upfield and fired an effort past Mannone, which the keeper could only parry into Liam Bridcutt, and the midfielder watched helplessly as he guided the ball into his own net.
Pelle did get his second of the match when the Italian collected a pinpoint pass from Tadic inside the area, and he managed to hold off Vergini to curl an effort past Mannone.
Another error from Sunderland allowed the home side a sixth when Mannone sliced his clearance to Tadic, and he found the net from 30 yards with a curling effort.
Southampton added to the humiliation of the Black Cats when Victor Wanyama added a seventh goal as Tadic found the run of the midfielder, and he slotted the ball home.
Sadio Mane completed the hammering when he added an eighth goal in the 86th minute, firing Ryan Bertrand's cross into the net as the Black Cats equalled their record defeat.
Simon Sinclair
