Sunderland 0-4 Southampton
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Manolo Gabbiadini turned away from Lamine Kone before coolly beating Vito Mannone for his second goal
Manolo Gabbiadini scored twice in his second Southampton appearance as his side beat Sunderland who missed the chance to move out of the relegation zone.
The Saints took the lead in the 30th minute when Gabbiadini converted from Ryan Bertrand's cross.
The Italian scored again seconds before the break with a brilliant turn and finish inside the penalty area.
Jason Denayer's own goal and Shane Long's simple finish late on gave the visitors a fully-deserved, comprehensive win.
Sunderland came into the game on the back of a stunning 4-0 win at Crystal Palace, but remain bottom of the table after managing just one shot on target, a tame 30-yard strike from Didier Ndong.
The win for Claude Puel's side is just their second in the Premier League since Christmas and their first points on the road in 2017.
Familiar name haunts Sunderland
Marco Gabbiadini is best remembered at Sunderland for a goal in the Black Cats 2-0 play-off semi-final win over local rivals Newcastle in 1990
Gabbiadini is a name famous on Wearside with Marco Gabbiadini scoring 87 goals in 183 games between 1987 and 1992.
But it was Manolo - no relation to the former Sunderland man - who impressed in Southampton's fine victory.
The striker signed for £14m from Napoli in January and now has three goals for the club, following his debut goal against West Ham last week.
His first strike could be viewed as lucky with the ball coming off Sunderland centre-back Lamine Kone's head before deflecting into the net off Gabbiadini's forearm.
There was no doubt about the second however, which came at the end of an excellent team move.
The 25-year-old turned brilliantly in the area before an excellent right-footed finish beat Vito Mannone.
Eleven passes led to Southampton's second goal before it was finished by Gabbiadini (number 20)
Dismal Sunderland miss opportunity
Sunderland were buoyed by their win last week but now must feel like they are back to square one.
David Moyes' side started the game bottom but would have gone 16th with a victory after relegation rivals Crystal Palace and Hull City both lost.
The Black Cats started relatively brightly in the game but had no answer when Southampton got into their stride.
Substitute Fabio Borini headed Sunderland's best chance wide late on but the hosts failed to provide any service to top scorer Jermain Defoe, who did not have a shot in the 90 minutes.
"This is a game gone and the games are running out. We have to win some if we have a hope of staying up, simple as that," Moyes said afterwards.
Pressure lifted from Puel
Oriol Romeu gained possession 13 times - more than any player on either side
On Thursday, Saints boss Puel said the team were "angry" at recent results after six league defeats from seven matches.
The Frenchman's side responded however with a fine confidence-boosting performance with the EFL Cup final against Manchester United just two weeks away.
Long and Gabbiadini both missed good chances with the score at 2-0 before the late goals rounded off the win.
Gabbiadini starred with two goals but Oriol Romeu was also excellent in midfield.
The former Chelsea and Barcelona man had more touches (91) and completed more passes (72) than any other player and also made six interceptions and won seven aerial duels.
'We made mistakes' - manager reaction
Sunderland didn't play well - Moyes
Sunderland manager David Moyes: "We didn't play well, not as well as last week. We made some defensive mistakes.
"We had a great chance to maybe move out of the bottom three had the games gone for us, but unfortunately it didn't fall for us. Southampton themselves had fragile confidence, but they got a goal off their centre-forward's arm.
"We played OK without creating too many clear-cut opportunities, and the more attacking changes we made the worse we became."
Puel delighted with 'fantastic' victory
Southampton manager Claude Puel: "Today, first of all, was about the clean sheet. We showed a very good spirit and attitude in a difficult game. A good team performance showing plenty of confidence and quality.
"Manolo Gabbiadini is a technical player of quality who can finish well. It's great for us, and as a team it's now important to continue this work."
Man of the match - Manolo Gabbiadini
Southampton have had mixed recent success in signing Italian strikers - think Dani Osvaldo compared to Graziano Pelle - but Gabbiadini has made the perfect start with three goals in his first two games
Gabbiadini matches Zlatan - the best stats
Manolo Gabbiadini became the 16th player to score three goals in his first two Premier League appearances, and the first since Zlatan Ibrahimovic in August.
The Italian was also just the second Southampton player to score in his first two Premier League games for the club, after Henri Camara in February 2005.
Sunderland failed to score a first-half goal for the 19th time in the Premier League this season, a joint league-high with Crystal Palace.
Only Swansea (28) have conceded more home goals in the Premier League this season than Sunderland (24).
All three of Saints' away Premier League victories this season have seen them score at least three goals (3-0 vs West Ham, 3-1 vs Bournemouth).
The past two occasions Southampton have scored four goals in a Premier League match away from home, the other side has been relegated at the end of the campaign (Wolves in 2003-04 and Aston Villa in 2015-16).
What's next?
Sunderland are heading to New York, external for some winter training next week as they are without a game because of the FA Cup's return.
They next play in the Premier League on 25 February against Everton (kick-off 15:00 GMT).
Southampton's next game is the EFL Cup final on 26 February (kick-off 16:30) and do not play again in the league until Watford on 4 March.