Manchester City chalked up an impressive away win with goals in either half from Robbie Fowler and Paulo Wanchope.
Southampton never recovered from Fowler's fourth minute goal and hardly ever looked like pulling back the deficit. They were a well beaten side by the time Wanchope added the second five minutes from time.
There was an early scare for Southampton when Paul Jones was obliged to make a diving save to keep out a shot from Fowler, but two minutes later in an identical situation on the edge of the area, Fowler was able to beat Jones with a fiercely struck left-foot shot.
Southampton once again relied heavily on leading scorer James Beattie, but he endured a poor match failing to make the best of three clear first-half offerings.
The nearest Southampton came to scoring in the first half was in the 41st minute when David Seaman managed to block a close-range shot from Graeme Le Saux and Beattie.
Manchester City sat comfortably on their lead and always looked dangerous on the break.
Joey Barton shot over in the 48th minute and Fowler had another effort cleared from the line in the 54th by Claus Lundekvam.
Southampton Gordon Strachan used three substitutes in a bid to break the deadlock, but it was Manchester City who went closest to scoring again when the ever dangerous Fowler flashed a header wide.
With the Saints committed to attack in a desperate bid to gather an equaliser, City ran away to score a second with five minutes remaining.
Steve McManaman played Wanchope clear from the halfway line with the Saints appealing for offside and the tall Costa Rican striker ran away to beat Jones with a right-foot shot to seal an efficient City performance.