Jay Robinson hit the post twice for Southampton in the defeat by Stoke
Stoke City clung on with 10 men to beat Southampton and maintain their unbeaten start to the season.
Second-half goals from Lewis Baker and Sorba Thomas, either side of Divin Mubama's dismissal, gave the Potters a third Championship win from their opening three games.
But Mark Robins' men had to survive a late rally from Southampton who pulled a goal back through Taylor Harwood-Bellis in the 79th minute but were unable to find an equaliser.
The victory ensures the Potters remain top of the table after beginning a league campaign with three straight victories for the first time since 1998-99 when they were in the third tier.
Meanwhile, the defeat was the first of Saints boss Will Still's reign as his side dropped to 10th.
Southampton were without Everton-bound winger Tyler Dibling but made an encouraging start with Adam Armstrong, twice, and Shea Charles having chances inside the first 10 minutes.
They suffered an injury setback when Welington was forced off and eventually taken down the tunnel on a stretcher.
However, it was Saints who came the closest to scoring in an end-to-end first half when Jay Robinson hit the post with both his initial effort from Flynn Downes' cross, and again from the follow-up.
The home side were almost celebrating again early in the second half when Harwood-Bellis met a Mateus Fernandes corner with a powerful header, only to be denied by a brilliant flying save from Stoke goalkeeper Viktor Johansson.
Two minutes later Stoke took the lead when Thomas broke down the left and Million Manhoef's deflected shot was saved by Southampton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu only to fall to Baker to allow him to score his second goal of the season from the rebound.
Stoke were reduced to 10 men just five minutes later when striker Mubama was shown a second yellow card for diving following a one on one with Bazunu.
But, despite that disadvantage, Stoke extended their lead when Johansson released Thomas with a quick throw and the Welshman ran through to fire past Bazunu.
In a repeat of their earlier duel, Harwood-Bellis did beat Johansson with a header from another corner with 11 minutes to go but that proved to be only a consolation for Southampton.
'We can get better' - reaction
Stoke City manager Mark Robins told BBC Radio Stoke:
"It was a brilliant win. I thought we were outstanding with 11. We went down to 10, we had to dig in and we conceded a really poor goal from a set play.
"Their delivery and the amount of them meant that they were going to get a chance at some point. The second goal in the end killed them off, which was fantastic.
"The players remained calm and they've worked really hard for that victory.
"I've said before the city motto – Vis unita fortior (united strength is stronger) – is really pertinent, really relevant and we can use that to galvanise.
"The quality of the players, the work, the desire to work for the support, the supporters to get right behind the team, all those things makes it a really, really heady mix and we can really kick on.
"We've got to enjoy it tonight. We've won three out of three for the first time in a long time, but we don't get carried away. The exciting thing for me is we can get better."
Stoke boss Mark Robins: "It was brilliant win."
Southampton manager Will Still told BBC Radio Solent:
"It's a frustrating one. We've gifted them two goals again. We don't need to play balls inside.
"That's been one of our main points. We need to stop playing that sort of short pass inside, because it's the ideal moment for the opposition to press and we've done it three times.
"We didn't get punished in the first half for doing it. Probably [they are habits the players have got into] but we just need to unlearn that.
"They [Stoke] have been incredibly efficient and we've probably lacked a bit of that cutting edge and efficiency in front of goal in both boxes."
Will Still: "It's a frustrating one."
