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The only goal of the game came in the opening minutes. A Brady backpass sold his keeper short and under the pressure from Pelle, Jakupovic scuffed his clearance into midfield. Wanyama was pleasantly surprised to find the ball at his feet but with an empty net on the horizon, he still had plenty to do. His first-time side-footed shot was struck perfectly and the Hull defence could only watch as it sailed into the net.
Koeman seems to partner Schneiderlin with Wanyama in the team's tougher fixtures and it was a mark of respect to Hull that the Kenyan enforcer got his fifth start here.
Despite the early goal, Hull were the better team in the opening 30 minutes. Southampton, uncharacteristically sloppy with their passing, ceded the midfield battle to Livermore and Huddlestone. Most of the home team possession was taken by resident ballhogs Diame and Ben Arfa. But while Diame powered past a couple of defenders at a time and Ben Arfa tricked his way behind the defence, neither could create scoring opportunities for themselves or their increasingly isolated striker.
Ben Arfa had Hull's only effort on target and it was a tame back pass of a shot from 20 yards. The only other worrying moment for Forster was an Alderweireld clearance sliced over his crossbar.
Despite Hull's first half possession it was the saints that were creating better oppurtunities. Shane Long twice burst through the opposition back three. Heading over a meek looking Keeper but wide of the net in the 22nd minute and unable to convert a glorious 1 on 1 chance as Jakupovic tried to make up for his earlier mistake.
The second half was a different story. As good as Diame was in the first half, he was terrible in the second. The fact he was still awarded man of the match by the stadium announcer speaks to how poorly his teammates performed after their promising start.
Steven Davis, put in his usual 7/8 out of ten performance and almost got his first goal of the season after Pelle's blocked shot fell to him in the six yard box. Jakupovic made himself big this time and deflected the ball wide.
Mane was introduced for Long on the hourmark, and the Irishman, only a Tiger for six months, received a nice applause from every corner of the stadium. Bruce, sensing the game slipping away, reverted to a 4-4-2 formation, with Aluko replacing McShane.
It didn't take Mane any time to get amongst the action, unfortunately his most noticable contribution was to bounce a shot over the bar from an unmissable position. After winning miss of the month against Spurs, he has already wrapped up the November award with this effort.
As Hull huffed and puffed in the closing stage, they never looked like troubling Forster and Southampton, in fairness, could have added to their tally. Pelle hit the side netting after good wingwork by Mane and Davis blasted over on the break as he perhaps was looking more to waste time then wrap up victory.
There is now more than a quarter of the season gone and the Saints just keep on winning. Next up, two massively out of form sides in Leicester and Villa. One could forgive the travelling saints a good sing song: