Dusan Tadic has a late penalty saved as Southampton are booed off following a draw 0-0 with Hull City at St Mary's

The most meaningful action of a turgid game came in the final seconds as Dusan Tadic had a penalty saved for Saints before Cedric Soares cleared off the line to prevent Hull walking away with the win.

The poor performance, and yet another goalless effort in front of their own fans, ensured Saints were booed from the pitch, with the majority of them being aimed at manager Claude Puel as he went down the tunnel.

Hull had the first chance of the game as they hit Saints on the counter attack.

The Tigers managed to work a three on three which allowed Alfred N’Diaye to feed the ball into Kamil Grosicki.

He opted to take on a first time shot from the edge of the area that whistled narrowly wide of the near post.

Grosicki came even closer on six minutes as he curled a brilliant 25 yard free kick up and over the wall but watched it hit the outside of the post with Fraser Forster left rooted to the spot watching it.

Saints were lucky to escape again as one simple ball over the top put Oumar Niasse away from Maya Yoshdia but Jack Stephens came across to get a block on the shot and send it wide.

It was certainly not the start to the game Saints would have hoped for.

Hull were well organised, happy to soak up pressure and try counter attack at pace whenever they got the opportunity.

That said their lack of quality meant there would always be plenty to keep Saints interested.

However, there was an increasing sense of frustration around St Mary’s as the half wore on as, aside from a few bright moments in and around the box that petered out, it was Hull looking by far the more threatening.

It was only added to by the fact Saints were sitting increasingly deep and allowing Hull more of the ball even though they certainly weren’t giving away many chances.

The best Saints managed in the first half were a couple of late efforts from Manolo Gabbiadini, who was trying to make something happen, but on both occasions he was crowded out.

Grosicki tried his luck one further time before the half time whistle but picked out Forster.

Saints were met by a chorus of boos when the half came to an end.

It was not so much the fact the game was goalless but a reflection on the way the game had gone and the fact Saints had ended up sat so deep against a team threatened by relegation, failing to register a single shot on target during the first 45 minutes.

Saints had a few half hearted appeals for a penalty waved away by referee Mike Dean three minutes after the restart as Sofiane Boufal brought the ball down just outside the area but opted to try and break forward rather than have a shot.

He went down under the challenge of Harry Maguire but the Hull defender had won the ball.

Dusan Tadic had been fairly quiet but tried to make something happen, cutting inside in the box before hitting a shot but it was deflected behind.

Nathan Redmond was the next to have a go from outside the area but missed the target.

Despite that the game was still just drifting along from a Saints point of view and so Puel took action to try and address the situation with a double change on 59 minutes with Josh Sims and Shane Long on for Boufal and Gabbiadini, with the latter change also getting booed.

Saints were starting to get a little more joy though, and Steven Davis had a half chance as a cross broke to him just outside the box but he put well over the bar.

Tadic had an effort from distance on 67 minutes but again it was wide of the target.

Maguire became the first player in the book for chopping down Long before Hull made a first switch with Markus Henriksen replacing Evandro Goebel.

With Hull looking increasingly like they were content to pack up and go back up north with a valuable point to help their survival bid, the game was crying out for something to happen.

Puel’s changes had not brought with them a switch in tactics, rather like for like replacements, and the pattern of the match was not really altered.

For all of that though Saints knew that even on a bad afternoon they probably needed only one goal to come away with a victory.

Henriksen provided a reminder that Hull were not totally done with a shot from 20 yards that was blocked, but the onus to win the match really was on Saints.

They almost got in on 80 minutes as Redmond fired in a low cross from the left by-line but Maguire was there just ahead of Tadic to slide in and get it behind.

It was panic stations in the Hull defence from the corner as Eldin Jakupovic flapped at the ball and presented it straight to Tadic, but the keeper made up for it by charging out to block his first time shot.

Hull made a defensive change to try and hang onto their point with seven minutes remaining as Tom Huddlestone came on for Grosicki.

Niasse was presented with a rare second half chance for Hull moments later but after a terrible first touch on the edge of the area he blazed over the bar.

Puel had one final roll of the dice with three minutes left as he brought on Jay Rodriguez for Redmond while Hull introduced another defender in the shape of Michael Dawson who replaced Markovic.

Despite a very poor display Saints were given the chance to get a win as they were awarded a penalty in the last minute.

N’Diaye was adjudged by referee Dean to have held Yoshida in the area to prevent him contesting a cross from the left.

Hull were incensed, though N’Diaye clearly had his hands on Yoshida.

Tadic stepped up to take the kick and drilled it low and hard. It was a clean strike but not aimed at the bottom corner and Jakupovic dived to his left and made a terrific save.

Saints so nearly lost the match in stoppage time as Niasse managed to turn a flicked corner towards goal but Cedric Soares was on the line to head away and stop Hull bagging the three points.

The final whistle was met by loud booing from the Saints fans unimpressed by what they had seen.