Goals from Rhys Browne and Olufela Olomola were enough to secure all three points for Yeovil in a 2-0 Sky Bet League Two victory over Crewe at Huish Park.
An energetic start to the game lead to a Yeovil opener in the 14th minute when an Otis Khan cross was flicked into the six-yard box by Francois Zoko and Browne was on hand to volley the hosts ahead.
For the rest of the half it was all Crewe, with Tom Lowery and Jordan Bowery forcing good saves from Artur Krysiak, but they could not find the equaliser.
Despite this continuing after half-time Ryan Dickson broke forwards on 56 minutes and crossed deep for Olomola, whose first touch gave him the space and the second deflected over Dave Richards to make it 2-0 to the Glovers.
Still the visitors pressed with Eddie Nolan thumping a header against the crossbar from a corner but the home side had opportunities of their own late on and stood firm for the win.
Mario Lemina’s performances throughout the month offered just a glimpse of what Southampton fans can look forward to seeing this season, the 24-year-old’s work-rate, physical presence, and composure on the ball consistently catching the eye.
After a pair of stellar showings against Crystal Palace and Manchester United in particular, the Gabon international is confident that there is more to come in October, both from himself and his new Saints teammates.
Receiving his Under Armour Player of the Month prize, he said: “I am very happy to win this award. I feel really good in this team and I hope I can continue like this going forwards.
“It’s really nice to have the fans talking and singing about me; I feel very comfortable in the Premier League, the style of our play and the style of the league suits me and brings the best out of me.
“I am happy to be here and to have made a good start. For October, I hope we can kick on and string some wins together, starting this Sunday. As for me, I just want to keep this good form up and continue improving.”
With three of Southampton’s next four Premier League matches at home Mauricio Pellegrino is keen his team return to winning ways against Newcastle United on Sunday and says they need to be more clinical to do so.
After consecutive one-goal defeats at the hands of Manchester United then Stoke City, the Saints manager feels his team deserve more than their eight points.
“We are doing positive things, but, at the same time, we have to improve in some different moments, to be more clever, to be more clinical and we are continuing in our way to try to show in this opportunity how we are," Pellegrino told Southampton’s official website.
Rafa Benitez has revealed that Sir Alex Ferguson let him watch Manchester United training before he took over at Liverpool.
The Newcastle boss is preparing to face the coach who he mentored into management on Sunday, Southampton’s Mauricio Pellegrino.
And Benitez has been speaking about the importance of young managers experiencing different football cultures, just as he did when he was between jobs in 2000.
‘I came here to England to see Alex Ferguson for one week when Steve McClaren was his assistant,’ said the Spaniard.
‘I went to see Tony Pulis at Stoke as well, he is my friend. He (Ferguson) had a different of working compared to Tony.
‘But it was a really good experience for me, I was very open minded to learn. It is good to be like that, especially when you come to England and you play in the European cup competitions (with a foreign team). They play in a different style, you have to understand what they do and how they do it.
‘Sometimes you are the better team, but they have a way of playing and they do it really well - I had to learn.’
Benitez will thrown open the doors of Newcastle’s training ground to a group of young foreign coaches next month.
He added: ‘I was doing that when I was a young manager, I was travelling around the world to watch different ways to do things, it’s really important
‘I went to Italy and my first manager to follow was Arrigo Sacchi at AC Milan. I had a good relationship with him. Then I was watching Claudio Ranieri and Fabio Capello.
‘I was asking, ”How do you do this? How do you do that?”. I had a lot of magazines and videos, analysing what they do.’
Saints boss Pellegrino played under Benitez at Valencia and Liverpool and was on his coaching staff at Anfield and Inter Milan.
Benitez always knew the former Argentina defender was destined for a career in the dugout.
‘We had a group of players, particularly the Argentinian players, who finished lunch and then stayed for a while talking about football and different cultures. He was one of them,’ said Benitez.
‘It’s a strange feeling to come up against Mauricio, because he was my player at Valencia and I signed him for Liverpool too - I had a lot of confidence in him. And after he was my assistant for the same reason.
‘Now, to see him on the other side and to know what he is thinking and what you are thinking, it will be interesting.
‘The problem when you were the manager and he was your assistant, when you wanted to surprise someone, he knows what you were thinking of how to surprise someone - so I’m not sure I can.’
The Saints headed into the international break following successive defeats, at home to Manchester United, and then on the road at Stoke.
While Pellegrino’s side have shipped only seven goals from as many fixtures this term, they have failed to find the back of the net on four occasions.
But with three of their next four league matches at home - starting with the visit of the newly-promoted Magpies - Pellegrino believes it is time for his goal-shy team to deliver.
“The game on Sunday is really important for us,” Pellegrino said. “It is true that every single game is important, but of our next four games, we have three at home and we have to push ourselves to get the points we deserve in other games.
“I would like to win as many games as we can, but the position right now does not mean anything. We have to keep going because we are dominating and controlling the games.
Liverpool will face competition from Barcelona in the race for £50million-rated defender Virgil van Dijk.
Scouts from the Catalan giants — who pushed hard to buy the Anfield giants’ midfield star Philippe Coutinho in the summer — watched the unsettled Dutchman in Holland’s clash with Sweden during the international break.
And they are now weighing up a move for the Southampton star.
Saints were unhappy with Liverpool’s pursuit of Van Dijk during the summer — forcing the Anfield club to apologise.
And if they do cash in, Southampton would rather sell the 26-year-old to a club abroad than the Reds, or any other Premier League rival.
Manchester City had also asked to be kept informed of any developments regarding Van Dijk’s future and Chelsea were in the hunt for him over the summer.
Barca’s interest in Van Dijk has grown at a time when Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has revealed his frustration that his failed bid to land the Saints star is mentioned every time his team make a defensive mistake.
Manchester City are plotting a £30million move for Ryan Bertrand in January, according to reports.
City are having to enter the market for a left-back after Benjamin Mendy’s potentially season-ending injury.
The Sun on Sunday report that City have turned their attention to Bertrand and are prepared to make their move in January when the transfer window re-opens.
A bid of £30m has been mooted but it is unclear if Southampton would budge.
City have been using Fabian Delph as an emergency left-back in Mendy’s absence.
Liverpool will face competition from Barcelona in the race for £50million-rated Virgil van Dijk. Scouts from the Catalan giants watched the unsettled Southampton defender in Holland’s clash with Sweden during the international break.
Arsenal and Spurs will go head-to-head for £30million star Riyad Mahrez in January.
Tottenham are in a race against the clock to complete their new stadium by the start of next season. The club are still unable to say if it will be ready to host the opening games of the 20-18-18 campaign.
Former Arsenal starlet Armand Traore has told how he once took a knuckle-duster to a north London derby at White Hart Lane — when already a Gunners player. The Nottingham Forest full-back ended up in a police cell for 10 hours as a result of his teenage moment of madness.
Santi Cazorla faces a battle to save his Arsenal career. The Spain star has not featured for the Gunners for nearly a year after two operations to cure an Achilles tendon injury.
Adam Lallana is targeting a return to action after the next international break. The Liverpool and England attacking midfielder hasn’t featured at all this season for either club or country after rupturing a thigh tendon over the summer.
Manchester United fear Real Madrid will demand David de Gea as part of any deal to sign Gareth Bale next summer.
Louis van Gaal has hit out at Jose Mourinho 16 months on from his sacking as manager at Manchester United after running into his successor in the corridors of Anfield at Saturday’s goalless draw with Liverpool
Phil Jones will get a bumper new deal at Manchester United and become one of the Premier League’s highest-paid defenders. The centre-half is set to be rewarded for his early season form with a contract worth around £150,000 a week.
Arsenal are lining up a £20million January move for Napoli defender Nikola Maksimovic. (Football Italia)
Rafa Benitez is being touted as a potential replacement for Ronald Koeman at Everton. (Sun on Sunday)
Newcastle are facing competition for Turkey international Cenk Tosun. (Sun on Sunday)
Former Manchester City man Bacary Sagna could be on his way to either Inter or AC Milan. (Gazzetta dello Sport)
With the January window on the horizon, there’s plenty brewing in the transfer market. All the latest deals and potential deals can be found here.
Barcelona will reignite their bitter feud with Liverpool after a failed attempt to sign Philippe Coutinho this summer by attempting to wrap up a deal to sign Virgil van Dijk, reports the Mirror.
The Southampton star was determined to join the Reds last summer but the sour relationship between the Saints and the Merseysiders meant a deal was impossible.
But the Dutch international could be willing to accept Plan B if it involves the Blaugrana, who could win out in the £50 million battle for the 26-year-old.
Chelsea and Manchester City had also been linked, but the player’s desire to move to Anfield stymied any desire to pursue a deal.
Netherlands international Virgil van Dijk looks set to be one of the January transfer window’s most wanted men.
Riyad Mahrez appeared intent on leaving Leicester in the summer, but interest appeared strangely cold, but the Mirror believes that could pick up in January.
Links with Chelsea and Barcelona failed to materialise into anything substantial, but the report details how Tottenham and Arsenal will compete for the Algerian’s signature in January.
The La Liga leaders will come back for the Foxes wide man, while Roma, who were most keen in the summer, could reignite their interest.
A £30m fee appears to be on the low side, but Leicester may be forced to drop their demands if the former PFA Player of the Year continues to be disillusioned with life at the King Power Stadium.
Benjamin Mendy’s ruptured ACL was a huge blow to Pep Guardiola, despite their free-flowing attacking dominance so far this season being enough to see them top the table alone.
Ryan Bertrand has emerged as a candidate to fill the gap and add more pace and energy from left-back, reports the Sun.
The Saints star could be available for £30m and add balance to Pep’s back four with Kyle Walker on the opposite flank.
Bertrand still has four seasons to run on his deal but could be sold to develop funds for Mauricio Pellegrino to invest elsewhere in his squad.
Stoke City manager Mark Hughes calls Kevin De Bruyne the Premier League’s best player after Man City’s 7-2 victory.
Everton are set to table a £31m bid for William Carvalho, but his club Sporting insist he is unsellable, according to the Daily Mail.
The Portugal international enjoyed a dominant display against Switzerland to help send the European champions directly to Russia 2018.
Under-pressure boss Ronald Koeman is said to be dissatisfied with his midfielders and sees the 25-year-old as an ideal upgrade.
Staying with Everton, the interest in Carvalho could mean the end of James McCarthy, who has consistently been at the centre of a club vs. country argument at Goodison Park.
The Mail believes Newcastle, West Brom and Crystal Palace are interested in the Republic of Ireland international.
Juventus have denied making a move for Lazio star Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, after the Serbian starred in a 2-1 win over the Old Lady.
“Milinkovic-Savic? Lazio have many important top end talent. We haven’t contacted them on the matter,” said director Beppe Marotta after reports of bids worth €70m this summer.
Guardiola is reportedly a big fan too, according to Calciomercato, with Man City set to make a bid for the Biancocelesti star in the coming weeks.