SO IT was just a blip not a crisis after all. After five successive defeats, Southampton regained a semblance of stability with a handsome victory over Everton, their first over a side who finished above them last season. An own goal by Romelu Lukaku in the first half and a neatly taken second from Graziano Pelle just after the hour sealed the game before Maya Yoshida’s header brought some extra pre-Christmas cheer to St Mary’s.
The absence of three key players — Morgan Schneiderlin, Dusan Tadic and Victor Wanyama — and that worrying run of defeats forced Ronald Koeman to change the system, but Southampton’s cause was helped immeasurably by Everton’s frailty in the air at the back. The warning signs were out in the