Nottingham Forest claims deserved victory at St Mary's with Morgan Gibbs-White securing a 1-0 win over Southampton

The Premier League's return to St Mary's for Southampton ended in disappointment as Nottingham Forest emerged victorious with a well-deserved 1-0 win.

Russell Martin had mentioned in his programme notes that some would call him naive for bringing his trademark passing game to the Premier League - and Saints style caught the eye in that respect.

But the final scoreline flattered them. The hosts created just 0.2 xG, compared to Forest's 2.31 and though they completed almost 300 more passes, Forest had 14 more touches in the opposition box and hit eight shots on target.

Nuno Espirito Santo's side should have been in front just after the half-hour. A blocked shot ricocheted kindly for Chris Wood, who took the ball on his chest and hit a ball to the far post that Nikola Milenkovic diverted past the post, missing a chance with an xG value of 0.73.

Saints looked more confident and in control after the break, but suffered the hammer blow 20 minutes from time, when Morgan Gibbs-White's header from Callum Hudson Odoi's clipped ball came back to him and he converted at the second time of asking.

They could find no way back from there and drop to 16th after starting the season with two straight defeats. Forest, meanwhile, are flying high in fourth.

Contrasting emotions at St Mary's - Opta stats

Story of the match in stats...

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