At this rate Saints are going to be glad to see the back of The Dell which, in its final season, is suddenly no longer the fortress it was.

For the third time in five Premiership home games, they were beaten by an inferior side whom they should have whipped.

But while they probably deserved to win against Coventry and Middlesbrough, they cannot say the same about this dismal affair as they failed to find any kind of spark.

It was the first time they had failed to score at The Dell under Glenn Hoddle; even more depressing was the fact that they never really looked like doing so.

It was such a let-down because this game was a major crossroads in their season to determine whether they would push on into mid-table or be sucked into the kind of relegation battle they believed they had left behind.

With a hat-trick of tough fixtures coming up, they really needed a victory which could have catapulted them up to 12th and provided much-needed breathing space ahead of the trip to Old Trafford on Saturday.

Instead they are now looking anxiously over their shoulders once more with the pressure on as they go into a tough run of games.

The one possible heartening factor is that they do seem to play better against quality opposition - which City definitely were not.

They were robust and resilient but otherwise unremarkable, relying on discipline and dogged determination to grind out a result in much the same way that Southampton themselves did at Bradford.

In many ways they played Saints at their own game, adopting a similar formation to the one which has proved so successful for Hoddle's men on the road this season.

They played with one up front but supported by two wide men who would drop back to bolster the midfield where City effectively won the game.

They stifled the home side who for the first time this season never really got their passing game going. Saints found themselves continually closed down and looked increasingly over-anxious as their frustration grew.

It needed a cool head to take control and slow the game down so that they could patiently probe for the right opening.

Instead they went at it hell for leather and with no real control or purpose to their play as Joe Royle's side clamped down hard on Matthew Oakley and Matthew Le Tissier who were given scant opportunity to set the side moving. And even they were denied to Hoddle for the second half through injury.

Southampton, who switched to three at the back with Stuart Ripley given a first league start of the campaign at right wing-back, badly missed the powerful and positive running of Jo Tessem who was not risked at only 85 per cent fit.

The idea was to counter City's strength in midfield which ultimately proved crucial as Saints lost their way, even when they reverted to a flat back four after the break.

There was plenty of perspiration but very little inspiration with a distinct lack of quality on the final ball into the box.

The powerful pairing of Steve Howey and Spencer Prior repelled virtually every cross with impressive new signing Richard Dunne adding his considerable weight to the cause at right-back.

Saints lacked the guile or the nous to play through them and as their frustration grew, so their play became more ragged.

Yet they began brightly with Marian Pahars tormenting Paul Ritchie who, like some of his team-mates, looked edgy early on.

After just three minutes Pahars whipped in a 25-yard shot which Nicky Weaver spilled. It came back quickly at Hassan Kachloul who was unable to hit the target under pressure from Dunne.

That might have swung the game but instead City began to settle and they dug in strongly, albeit without posing a serious threat.

There was another turning point just after the half hour as Le Tissier delivered a pinpoint free-kick on to the head of Claus Lundekvam running in from deep. But, with his first goal for the club beckoning, he got underneath it and nodded a good chance over the bar.

It proved costly because on 36 minutes City were gifted the lead as Stuart Ripley miscontrolled and lost the ball to Jeff Whitley just inside the opposition half.

Tahar El Khalej stepped up to play offside as Dickov cunningly ran across the back line, timing his run to perfection before peeling off to meet the perfectly-weighted pass through the inside-left channel.

Even so there was still plenty of work to be done but the new Scottish international showed the poise of a man in form steering clinically past Paul Jones into the bottom right corner for his 50th goal for City.

Whitley also made the second deep into injury-time with a sweeping pass to Danny Tiatto in space behind Kevin Davies on the left.

He ran on and whacked a hit-and-hope angled shot into the top right corner with awesome power to register his first league goal for City. Although the shot was across him, Jones stood no chance.

Yet again though it followed another pivotal moment with El Khalej drawing a fine diving catch from Weaver just seconds earlier.

That might have salvaged a point but Southampton's last-ditch gamble had left them stretched at the back and the second goal, though a killer, was largely an irrelevance.

There were other potential turning points. Kachloul drew a superb fingertip save from Weaver with a thumping 30-yard free-kick and the keeper made another good stop from an angled volley by Pahars moments later.

Most notably Whitley's clear handball from Trond Soltvedt's flick which should have won a penalty. The referee ruled it was ball to hand but the player's arm was definitely raised to block.

But it would be churlish to blame that for the defeat when Saints deserved nothing else for a strangely flat display, quite out of keeping with recent form.