Neither the leaders nor the reigning champions will be quaking in their boots just yet, but that ominous rumbling at their backs is Manchester United on the charge.
Louis van Gaal’s side forced a fifth successive victory here at Southampton’s expense, a win achieved in spite of their clear defensive frailties, to suggest they are the most likely contenders from the pack to challenge the duopoly at the top.
Quite whether a team so awkwardly flung together at the back can sustain a long-term challenge given the power of Chelsea and Manchester City above them remains to be seen, but the thought of United building up a head of steam with funds to spend in January could yet unnerve.
Their vulnerability at the back was not sufficiently punished here despite the hosts’ pressure, and United retain their own ruthless streak to bail them out of tight occasions.
Robin van Persie's brace confirmed he has rediscovered his bite, and this whole team will be eager for Sunday's visit of Liverpool to Old Trafford. As unlikely as this win felt, they are the team on the up.
The locals’ fear had been this contest might merely expose the recent trajectories of the respective sides. Southampton’s blistering opening to the campaign under Ronald Koeman had set such an upbeat tone that the recent defeats to Manchester City and Arsenal, losses which would not normally provoke deflation, had sucked momentum from this team’s approach.
They had clearly also damaged confidence such was the edginess around the arena at every slightly misplaced home pass or mistimed challenge, with the absence of the injured Morgan Schneiderlin and Toby Alderweireld – such a reassuring pair down the spine of the side– keenly felt.
There was anxiety and uncertainty exacerbated by José Fonte's horrible error which presented Robin Van Persie with United's early lead, though in that context the manner in which the home side wrested back a semblance of first-half control merited acclaim.
They benefited from the disruption of the visitors losing Chris Smalling to injury, the centre-half pulling up after an innocuous challenge, but it was a mark of Southampton’s pedigree that they capitalised while their opponents were still adjusting to the shuffling of the pack.
The game had just edged beyond the half-hour mark when Marouane Fellaini surrendered possession wastefully to Steven Davis whose surge through the middle spread panic. Shane Long’s centre eventually reached Dusan Tadic with Paddy McNair choking his effort, but Graziano Pellè was free and thumped the loose ball in off the bar to convert his first league goal in a little under 10 hours with glee.
McNair would not see out the half, substituted after almost presenting Long with a second, with Van Gaal thrusting Michael Carrick into his back three. Every permutation of rearguard feels fragile at present, the three-man combination far too awkward. McNair’s withdrawal almost felt a mercy.
In truth, United had been becalmed from the moment they had eased ahead, Wayne Rooney’s heavy touch prodding the ball beyond Nathaniel Clyne for Fonte to collect only for Robin van Persie to anticipate the Portuguese’s back-pass.
The ball was played as the striker sprinted up on his opponent’s blind-side, Van Persie’s finish slipped through Fraser Forster and in before Maya Yoshida could scramble from the line.
It was no way for Fonte to mark his 200th appearance for this club, though United’s subsequent retreat into mediocrity offered him time to recover some pois. Other than Van Persie belting into the side-netting from distance in stoppage time at the end of the period, the threat posed by Van Gaal’s side rather spluttered out.
Their defensive readjustments, and Fellaini's general uncertainty as a midfield anchor, had long since left Southampton sensing an opportunity. While Jonny Evans desperately attempted to find some rhythm on a first appearance since that 5-3 capitulation at Leicester back in September, Long targeted Ashley Young who cut an unconvincing and uncomfortable left wing-back.
The former England winger was absent without leave up-field when Tadic crossed for the untracked Irishman, with Long’s point-blank header smartly pushed away instinctively by David de Gea. The goalkeeper has had to be United’s most consistent performer this term out of necessity.
He would have been helpless had Pellè better controlled his shot having been liberated beyond Carrick by Tadic’s neat pass, another move sourced by United sloppiness from Marcos Rojo.
Yet the carelessness was catching. United had hardly stirred as an attacking force when Wayne Rooney’s deep free-kick from the left touchline arced beyond the clutter of Southampton defenders in the six-yard box and was prodded in from close-range by Van Persie.
The Dutchman, with Fellaini also unmarked at his back, had been allowed to meander on to the looped delivery with ease. It was a dismal error for the hosts to commit and reestablished United’s unlikely lead. This time there would be no home recovery. A third successive defeat was hard to digest.
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