Saints 1 - Leeds 0

This valiant victory should have been remembered for James Beattie's seventh goal in six games to confirm his re-emergence as a striker of real pedigree.

Instead, his classy 42nd minute strike and a battling team display were eclipsed as the talking point by a moment of madness from Hassan Kachloul.

The Moroccan midfielder was sent off for a second yellow five minutes from time as tempers boiled over in a heated finale.

Leeds showed their frustration at finding Saints harder to crack than Lazio and began to put the foot in, using niggling fouls and sly digs to try and break Southampton's previously flawless discipline.

But the ill feeling went back further than that, slightly over a year in fact to last season's clash at Elland Road, where Patrick Colleter was sent off in another bad-tempereD climax.

Then, Michael Bridges got an injury-time winner as Saints lost their composure as the Yorkshire side used the same unsettling tactics.

And Kachloul fell into the trap as he continued his feud with Lee Bowyer, who had kicked out nastily at him in the previous meeting.

His first booking was harsh as he looked to be giving the ball back to Leeds in the correct place for their free-kick.

But referee Paul Durkin classed it as throwing the ball away and issued a card for an offence that paled into insiginficance compared to Olivier Dacourt's sliding lunge on Mark Draper moments earlier. Both crimes were apparently worthy of the same penalty.

Next, Rio Ferdinand bumped Tahar El Khalej to the ground. The Moroccan was deemed to be over-reacting by the referee, who seemed to sanction Alan Smith not giving the ball back after Paul Jones had thrown it out to allow the physio on to the field.

The niggly Smith then ran across to try his luck on Draper, the unprovoked jostle sparking the desired angry reaction.

Kachloul ran straight across to join the fracas, taking the opportunity to hit out at Bowyer. It was at least a second booking and both Draper and Smith also had their names taken once Durkin had sorted it all out.

As Kachloul stalked off, he appeared to flick his head at Bowyer, which, if deemed a butt on video evidence, could land him in hot water with the FA.

The Leeds approach achieved its initial aim as the unsavoury incident left Saints with five minutes of stoppage time to survive - and a man short.

Fortunately, it did not alter the outcome as Saints dug in as strongly in the closing minutes as they had done throughout the game.

At a total outlay of around £4 million, the entire Southampton side cost less than a quarter of the £18 million David O'Leary has just paid for Ferdinand, who has now been on the losing side in both games for his new club.

By contrast, Saints paid only £350,000 each for El Khalej and Claus Lundekvam, who were resolute, focused, brave and virtually inseperable in the man-of-the-match stakes with strong competition from Jason Dodd.

Behind them, Jones made three outstanding saves, including a key fingertip effort over the bar from a curling free-kick by Dacourt.

That was the turning point as, two minutes later, Marian Pahars slipped a cute ball for Beattie to dart away from Ferdinand and outsprint Dominic Matteo before drilling into the bottom left corner - a finish of a player brimming with confidence.

It was a sweet moment for Beattie, who had been narrowly pipped for the Carling Player of the Month award for November by the beaten Leeds keeper Paul Robinson.

Saints showed steely resolve as they doggedly denied Leeds time and space on the ball. You would not have known Jason Wilcox was playing, save for one woeful shot over the bar, and Mark Viduka was snuffed out superbly.

All Leeds' attempts at a fluent build-up were scuppered by a watertight defence and a midfield that hustled and closed down at every turn.

For all their millions spent and supposed aristocracy, Leeds were left huffing and puffing with few serious goal attempts to trouble Jones as Glenn Hoddle's men refused to budge.

Saints did not exactly pepper the goal themselves - but they had no need to. They had got in front and simply held on to what they had.

The Champions' League challengers may have got Kachloul sent-off - but it was Southampton who had the last laugh.