Southampton carried on their superb form under interim boss Tonda Eckert with a fourth consecutive Championship win as they comfortably beat 10-man Leicester City.

Saints took the lead when Taylor Harwood-Bellis headed the ball home from a Ryan Manning free-kick.

Finn Azaz made it 2-0 shortly after when he was slipped through by Leo Scienza and curled the ball into the net at the near post.

Leicester teenager Olabade Aluko was then sent off before the break for a second yellow card when he brought down Tom Fellows with a clumsy challenge.

Saints capitalised on the man advantage, Harwood-Bellis once again heading into the net from a Manning delivery to extend their lead at half-time.

The win puts Saints just two points behind the play-off places and above the Foxes on goal difference who drop to 13th in the table.

Southampton fired themselves in front after 20 minutes.

Manning whipped in a curling free-kick from the left and Harwood-Bellis headed past Asmir Begovic.

The Foxes nearly brought themselves level immediately after as Gavin Bazunu had to scramble across his goal to keep out a header by Jordan James.

Saints' fine start then got even better when in-form forward Azaz was played into the box by Scienza and bent in a neat finish.

Summer signing Azaz has now scored in three consecutive Championship games for Saints, coinciding with their upturn in form.

Aluko was sent off after 33 minutes when the 19-year-old tried to stop Fellows making a burst down the right wing but hauled him back.

It was only the Leicester academy graduate's second ever senior appearance for the Foxes and his first start, having played once before for them in the Premier League.

The hosts added to their lead just before the break as Manning sent in an inswinging corner from the right which was headed home once again by centre-back Harwood-Bellis.

Southampton continued to push for more goals after the break but a toothless Leicester managed to prevent the scoreline becoming any worse.

Marti Cifuentes' inconsistent Foxes drop three places in the table and are still yet to win back-to-back games on the road since February 2024.

Southampton interim boss Tonda Eckert told BBC Sport:

"I'm very pleased, we knew that we needed to invest a lot today for a clean sheet because obviously there's a lot of quality on the other side of the pitch and we managed that quite well.

"I think there was one situation early on in the game after a corner when the ball dropped inside the box and I feel that was the only real moment that they had inside the box and being able to say that over 90 minutes I think is a compliment to the boys.

"I'm happy to go on, to go into another game on Saturday, it's going to be a big challenge coming up and we need to make sure that we carry on the momentum.

"I want to go to Millwall and win another game on Saturday. That's what it is about. I don't look too far ahead. It's a big game coming and that's all I focus on."

Leicester boss Marti Cifuentes told BBC Radio Leicester:

"It's a disappointing night, both the result and performance. The first goal had too much impact. It doesn't matter that it's a clear offside, we didn't react well after that.

"I am disappointed because it is not what we wanted to offer to our fans. It's not easy to come here, it's a long trip. We wanted to give them something else, in terms of the performance and points.

"We're going to try again on Saturday. There is no hiding when you have such a performance, you need to look at yourself, be very critical, and analyse what went wrong."

On Aluko's red card on first start: "He will be stronger after this, we will be here to help him. I am sure he will be a good player for us. I trust him, he has been playing well for us, and we think that he's a very good player.