Not every week will there be an eight-goal fiesta for Southampton on the south coast. Some days there will be ugly 1-0 affairs, ground out on a physical battleground.
And so it was on Saturday (local time) against an obdurate Stoke City side full of long balls and flicked headers, robust shoulder barges and full-blooded tackles.
It took a lone goal, shortly after the half hour, from Senegal's Sadio Mane to clinch the points but manager Ronald Koeman wasn't complaining.
"Maybe it is nicer to win like this," the Dutchman told reporters at St Mary's Stadium. "I mean it was difficult because we didn't kill the game. We created eight good chances and, you know, if you don't score the second the game is difficult.
"With their physical strength they made it difficult but that was one of the best first halves of the season. It was more difficult than last week but nicer to win."
But if Southampton were more sizzle than sausage in their first match since walloping Sunderland 8-0 last weekend, they showed more than enough steel at the back to suggest their lofty position of second in the Premier League does not flatter them.
"It is basic to win games, with organisation and defending well," Koeman said.
"Defending isn't only for the defender, it is team work --that's the key of our position (in the table) that we play with good organisation.
"It is not easy to score against Southampton. We have players who can score, Mane showed it today. And they are the two reasons we stay so high up in the table -- players who can score and our defending."
EXPLOSIVE MANE
Darling of the Southampton terraces Graziano Pelle acquainted himself with the woodwork on a couple of occasions but it was left to another close-season signing, the explosive Mane, to score the only goal.
It was a first in English football for the former Red Bull Salzburg player who had a goal scrubbed off last weekend after the Premier League retrospectively deemed it an own goal.
"I think he thought, 'OK, they will not take it away again'," Koeman smiled after his player had slotted home the winner.
The victory lifted Southampton above champions Manchester City into second spot with 19 points from their opening nine games.
They have gone seven league games without defeat at St Mary's and have conceded just one goal at home all season, scoring 15 in the process.
"Maybe people aren't surprised any more about our qualities and about our performances," Koeman said.
"It is nice because we will enjoy tomorrow but then on Monday we go again. It is great for the fans but we know we need to keep going."
Next up in the league is the long trip to Hull City on Nov. 1 but first up is a trip to Stoke in the fourth round of the Capital One Cup on Wednesday.
