Southampton 3-0 Middlesbrough
Last updated on .From the section Football
A Guly Do Prado brace helped leaders Southampton maintain their 100% home record with a superb win over fellow high-flyers Middlesbrough.
The Saints fully deserved their victory after dominating the match but were helped by defensive errors from Boro.
Guly opened the scoring when he headed home unchallenged before he added a second from Rickie Lambert's nod down.
David Connolly ensured the win with a late superb drive to keep Saints top, three points ahead of West Ham.
The result will have been a sobering one for Middlesbrough, who have started the season strongly and would have gone level with Nigel Adkins' side had they won.
But from the off that never looked likely as the hosts made a lively start, with Jose Fonte seeing an effort deflected over the bar.
It came as no surprise when Guly gave the home side the lead on 15 minutes after being allowed plenty of space to head home Danny Butterfield's superb right-wing cross.
More poor defending allowed the Brazilian to double Southampton's advantage soon after when Adam Lallana's left-wing cross to the back post found Lambert in acres of space and the striker's header back across goal gave Guly a simple tap-in.
Guly was denied a first-half hat-trick when his shot came back off the post as Boro failed to look anything like the side that had only conceded three goals in six previous away matches.
However, Scott McDonald had a glorious chance to give them a foothold in the match just before the break but, after he had rounded Saints goalkeeper Kelvin Davis, the striker could only find the side netting.
The second half was a more sedate affair, with Connolly's late strike, into the top corner following Lambert's lay-off, the stand-out moment.
Lambert himself nearly added gloss to the victory but his volley was well saved by Jason Steele, while Nicky Bailey's 25-yard drive was parried by Davis to ensure Saints kept a clean sheet.
