Southampton's winning run comes to an end as they are beaten 0-1 by Stoke City at St Mary's

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Ronald Koeman’s men went into the game looking to make it nine matches unbeaten in all competitions.

But they returned from the international break looking decidedly flat and were deservedly beaten by the Potters, who scored the only goal of the game trough Bojan Krkic after ten minutes.

The game had a rather odd feel to in the opening stages after the somewhat bizarre scene of the players lining up in the cold for the French national anthem, a Premier League wide initiative to show sympathy to the victims of the Paris attacks.

Saints were the first to really get going and came close to taking the lead on six minutes.

Stoke failed to clear the ball from their box and it eventually fell to Dusan Tadic, who hit a great left footed shot on the turn from a tight angle which whistled narrowly wide of the far post.

Up the other end Maarten Stekelenburg got down fairly comfortably at his near post to save from Bojan Krkic.

He was not able to repeat the trick on ten minutes though as Stoke took the lead.

The Potters worked the ball from Xherdan Shaqiri out on the right to Erik Pieters on the left and he put in a low cross. Bojan nipped in front of Jose Fonte at the near post and produced a brilliant finish, flicking it home with the outside of his foot inside the six yard box to beat Stekelenburg from close range at the near post.

Stekelenburg came to the rescue to stop Saints going two down on 16 minutes as Stoke broke quickly through Bojan, who fed in Shaqiri.

He was one-one-one with the Saints keeper who did a great job to spread himself to make the save.

Saints had half a chance on 22 minutes as Steven Davis delivered an inswinging free kick from the left which was met by Fonte but he could only head over.

Stoke were really in control of the game, with Saints making some very uncharacteristic and basic errors in possession.

They were also struggling to cope with Bojan and Shaqiri, who were getting in between the lines to collect the ball, while taking an early lead gave them every incentive to defend deep and make life really hard for Saints.

Victor Wanyama thought he might get an opening when Jack Butland spilled a cross but the ball hit the Stoke keeper who got away with it.

A quick Saints break saw Tadic press forward and into the area but he fired wide from eight yards out.

Cedric Soares took a nasty bang to the head from the flailing arm of Bojan moments before the break, causing an injury which required a lot of attention and an impressive bandage.

When the half time whistle there was plenty of work to do for Ronald Koeman, whose side had been decidedly below par for the first 45 minutes.

Stoke came out of the traps flying and should have been further ahead less than a minute after the restart.

Marko Arnautovic cut the ball back from inside the area to Shaqiri who had the chance to shoot from just inside the area but fired over the bar.

Saints recovered to start getting a foothold into the game for really the first time in the match.

They had stepped up their intensity levels and were seeing a lot more of the ball.

However, they still were not quite flowing in the final third as they struggled to create a clear cut chance in the face of some determined Stoke defending.

Wanyama at least tried to get a shot away from 20 yards, though it went wide of the post.

Saints made their first change on 64 minutes with Sadio Mane replacing Jordy Clasie. Steven Davis dropped into a deeper role with Mane playing through the middle.

Stoke immediately responded with Ibrahim Afellay coming on for Shaqiri.

Saints appealed for a penalty two minutes later as Shane Long bounced off of Arnautovic in the area but referee Lee Mason waved it away.

Mane caused problems as he sent several Stoke players the wrong way with a nice turn just outside the area but his left footed shot was central and easy for Butland to save.

Stoke made a second change on 71 minutes with Geoff Cameron coming on for Bojan.

James Ward-Prowse was introduced moments later for Steven Davis.

Arnautovic should have put the game to bed on 77 minutes as Glen Johnson played the ball round the back of the Saints defence, perfectly into the path of the on running midfielder.

He had time to pick his spot but blazed over the bar when he should have scored.

Ward-Prowse provided a decent free kick from a difficult angle as Saints tried to find a way back into the game but it was tricky header for Fonte who steered it wide.

Stoke came agonisingly close to a second again on minutes as Afellay came in from the right and unleashed a fierce low shot that flashed just wide of the far post.

Saints were asking for a penalty again moments later as Phillip Wollscheid attempted to clear a bouncing ball in the area but connected only with Graziano Pelle who was floored. It looked a much better shout than the previous one but again referee Mason turned it down.

Koeman had one last roll of the dice with five minutes remaining with Juanmi replacing Cedric before Stoke brought on Mame Biram Diouf for Jonathan Walters.

Ryan Bertrand kept Saintsin the game with a minute remaining as he was on hand to clear off the line after Afellay beat Stekelenburg.

The fourth official held up the board to show four minutes of added time for Saints to try and get an equaliser but all that happened was a frustrating late booking for Pelle, which means he is now banned for the trip to Manchester City.