Southampton made four changes for the trip to Fulham in the FA Cup fifth round, with Nathan Wood, Flynn Downes, Caspar Jander, and Tom Fellows coming in to the side.
Tonda Eckert vowed to go strong, and he was true to his word at Craven Cottage. Léo Scienza and Finn Azaz both started in a Saints team intent on causing an upset.
Both teams started brightly. First, Tom Fellows found space out wide courtesy of a long clearance from Daniel Peretz. Fellows' cross was too deep and easily dealt with by the Fulham defence.
After Caspar Jander's misplaced pass was easily cut out, Fulham forced a corner of their own, which was defended well by the Saints' defence.
Southampton dangerous on the counter-attack
In the tenth minute, Southampton carved Fulham open when Cyle Larin held the ball up and offloaded to Downes. His pass found Azaz inside the penalty area, but his intended through ball to Larin was intercepted.
The first shot on target went to Fulham. Oscar Bobb danced into the area and hit a tame shot which Peretz fielded easily.
Fulham were unfortunate not to go ahead when Daniel Peretz' clearance ricocheted off Ryan Manning and into the Saints' net. However, the referee had spotted an infringement and blown his whistle before the ball went into the net, much to the relief of the Southampton fans.
Scienza misses golden chance to put Saints ahead
Scienza should have put the Saints ahead in the 21st minute when he ran clear of the defence, only to place his shot wide of Benjamin Lecomte's far post.
Peretz did well to keep out Joachim Andersen's far-post header as the half-hour approached before Samuel Chukwueze tested Peretz with a rasping low drive from range.
Good work from James Bree down the Saints' right side resulted in a chance for Léo Scienza at the far post. The Brazilian got it all wrong, though, and shinned his volley out for a throw-in on the far side.
Cyle Larin did brilliantly out wide to turn a long clearance from Jander into a counter-attack. Larin cut in from the left, but his cross was intercepted as players arrived in the box for Southampton.
Scienza's driving run through the middle presented Finn Azaz with a great opportunity to cross in the 40th minute. However, the Irish international's cross was way too high for Fellows to reach as he arrived at the far post.
Taylor Harwood-Bellis was alert to a Harrison Reed cross-shot, which he did well to clear inside his own six-yard box under pressure.