[31] Despite leading Southampton to back-to-back promotions in 2011 and 2012, manager Nigel Adkins was fired in January 2013, with the club in 15th place in the Premier League table, and was replaced by former Espanyol boss Mauricio Pochettino.

[38] Despite winning the subsequent penalty shoot-out, the Saints could not overhaul the points lead of their opponents and it was Arsenal who won the second Memorial Cup and joined Athletic Bilbao on the honours list.

The Saints started the game well, as defender José Fonte scored in the fourth minute with a header from Adam Lallana's corner to put the home side a goal up early.

[61][62] After more domination by the visitors in the second half, the hosts finally pulled a goal back courtesy of Jay Rodriguez in the 66th minute, who converted a chance following a shot by José Fonte saved by Brad Friedel.

[63][64] After half time Southampton continued to play well, with a penalty possibility for Adam Lallana turned down ten minutes after the break, before Morgan Schneiderlin headed in a cross from Rickie Lambert to score his second goal of the season and go 1–0 up against the Welsh side.

[67][68] After the break the visitors increased their attacking presence, but it was Southampton who scored next when Gastón Ramírez took advantage of another mistake by Krul from a Jason Puncheon cross to put the home side 2–0 up in the 60th minute.

[67][68] Jay Rodriguez scored late in the game, but was offside when the ball was played to him, and 2–0 it remained for the Saints to pick up their third win of the season, including their first clean sheet, to move out of the relegation zone for the first time in over a month.

The game started well for the home side, who dominated possession in the early stages and broke the deadlock in the 32nd minute when Rickie Lambert converted a chance from an Adam Lallana free kick.

[28][29] After a weekend without a game due to Chelsea's FIFA Club World Cup commitments, Southampton returned to St Mary's on 22 December to face Sunderland, who sat just one position above them in the table.

The game started well for the Saints, who went ahead after only ten minutes when top scorer Rickie Lambert converted a cross from Guly do Prado on the left of midfield in the injured Adam Lallana's place.

From the start Arsenal played quickly to try and mount the pressure on the Saints, but the home side made it difficult for the Gunners to break through the defence and eventually broke the deadlock themselves when Gastón Ramírez took advantage of some weak defending to put Southampton in front.

[81][82] In the 33rd minute, a controversial penalty was awarded to the visitors when Rodriguez was seen to have been brought down in the area by Enda Stevens, and Lambert converted the spot kick for his ninth goal of the season to put the Saints ahead.

[83][84] The team continued the pressure on Chelsea, and eventually scored a second when Luke Shaw crossed for Jason Puncheon to volley into the top corner, and the side held on to take a point from the match and move one away from Newcastle below them.

[87][88] In the 27th minute, Rooney scored the second for the home side as he tapped in a header by Patrice Evra from a Robin van Persie free kick awarded for a foul on Phil Jones by Rodriguez.

[89][90] In the second half the Saints largely outplayed the hosts, and eventually on-form striker Rickie Lambert equalised when he headed in Jay Rodriguez's knock-on from Jack Cork's cross in the 64th minute.

[91][92] The home side continued the pressure on the visitors, and in the 22nd minute Steven Davis made it two when Joe Hart failed to catch a shot from Rickie Lambert with the midfielder running into the box for the tap-in.

[95][96] A scrappy first half continued on, with the home side unable to equalise until the very end of the first period when QPR goalkeeper Júlio César parried a shot from substitute Jay Rodriguez into the path of Gastón Ramírez, who chipped the ball into the net for 1–1.

[95][96] Shaky defending from substitute left-back Luke Shaw and centre-back Maya Yoshida led to the visitors' second (and winning) goal, when Park Ji-sung crossed the ball in for a Jay Bothroyd tap-in past Artur Boruc.

[95][96] Robert Green replaced the injured Júlio César late on, and the move came good when he made an athletic save to deny Yoshida in the last few minutes, giving QPR only their third win of the season and leaving Saints in the relegation mix.

Southampton were arguably the more likely to score early on in the game, with attacking players Adam Lallana, Gastón Ramírez, Jay Rodriguez and Rickie Lambert all enjoying first-half chances, and City goalkeeper Mark Bunn played his part in denying the visitors.

[99] On 16 March Southampton hosted Liverpool, and after a shaky start the home side went ahead through Morgan Schneiderlin's fifth goal of the season, converting a Gastón Ramírez cross headed down into the penalty area by Jay Rodriguez.

[100][101] Following the final two-week international break, Southampton returned to St Mary's on 30 March to face Chelsea for the third time in the season, ahead of the visitors' FA Cup replay just two days later.

Despite a number of key injuries, including captain Adam Lallana and playmaker Gastón Ramírez, Southampton started the game at a high tempo, with Jay Rodriguez coming close early on after a long run through the Chelsea defence.

[104][105] A controversial Artur Boruc save denied Reading a consolation, and despite added pressure Southampton held on to record a third consecutive victory in the top flight for the first time since December 2003, and move up to 11th.

[106][107] Just before the hour mark, however, the Saints finally broke the deadlock when Gastón Ramírez found himself free of the West Ham defence and, on the second attempt, slotted the ball into the visitors' net.

The hosts started the stronger of the two sides, with Àngel Rangel and Jonathan de Guzmán coming close early on, with Jack Cork and Jay Rodriguez responding for the visiting Saints and forcing saves from Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm.

[108][109] Rickie Lambert came close to scoring with a free kick, and from the resulting corner Adam Lallana converted into the Swansea net but the goal was disallowed for a foul on Vorm by the Southampton captain.

[110][111] For Southampton the standout player was Jay Rodriguez, who took a number of opportunities to shoot but only hit the target a few times, although West Brom had their fair share of chances too (many involving Chelsea loanee Romelu Lukaku) in a largely cagey and scrappy opening 45 minutes.

[112][113] After the break the Saints continued to enjoy the majority of scoring opportunities, with a notable chance for Adam Lallana going astray, followed by a period of dominance for the hosts in which Clint Dempsey and Tom Huddlestone came close.

[8][9] In the last ten minutes Chelsea were awarded a penalty for a handball by Steven Davis, and substitute captain Frank Lampard converted confidently to seal a 5–1 win at St Mary's, knocking Southampton out of the competition.