The watching Roy Hodgson will have been impressed by Southampton’s England quartet — for 85 minutes at least.

But how close Saints came to self-destructing before finally dispatching a Norwich side who look desperately vulnerable in the relegation dogfight.

Morgan Schneiderlin’s sweet strike got them off to a dream start, but they had to wait for Rickie Lambert to provide a second goal within two minutes of arriving as a 56th-minute substitute.

Lambert then set up Jay Rodriguez to make it 3-0 and as Norwich faced another away-day nightmare, Rodriguez crashed a terrific drive against the bar.

But these two teams are the worst in the Premier League at throwing away leads and it almost happened again.

With time running out, defensive howlers from Jose Fonte and Guly do Prado gave Norwich an unlikely way back through Johan Elmander and Robert Snodgrass.

And they were within a whisker of an equaliser in stoppage time, only for Alex Tettey’s slip to allow the Saints to break and score through Sam Gallagher.

What Saints new chairman Ralph Kruger must have made of his topsy-turvy first home game is anyone’s guess.

Manager Mauricio Pochettino admitted his young side badly need to concentrate. ‘It’s a great lesson we have to learn,’ he said. ‘We controlled the game and when Rickie came on his contribution was great, but we lost focus and laid down our guard.’

As for Norwich, with the worst defensive record in the top flight, things look grave. This was their 11th away defeat and with their last four games of the season against Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal, Chris Hughton’s side are staring down a barrel.

One has to feel for Hughton, who was brutally honest after the Norwich fans turned on him.

‘For the majority of the game, Southampton were better than us,’ said Hughton. ‘It’s never nice hearing that kind of thing from the fans, but it’s their club and they want to see us being more competitive.’

Gaston Ramirez, making his first league start since New Year’s Day, headed over inside the opening 90 seconds and then provided the opening goal with just five minutes on the clock.

Steven Davis, Rodriguez and Ramirez were all involved in the move, with the latter playing a wonderfully weighted ball through for Schneiderlin to turn past John Ruddy.

Davis glanced a header wide soon after the Frenchman’s 10th goal for Saints, before Joseph Yobo used his strength and experience to stop Rodriguez getting a shot away after latching onto a fine Lallana pass.

James Ward-Prowse did well to stop Gary Hooper capitalising on defensive confusion in a rare moment of respite for Norwich, who soon saw Davis and Ramirez come close from the edge of the box.

Referee Kevin Friend waved away appeals from Norwich’s players for handball against Jose Fonte on the edge of the Saints box. Eight City players surrounded the referee in the next break of play, which was soon followed by Hooper wasting Norwich’s best chance of the half by firing into the side-netting.

Davis was booked for a strong challenge on Martin Olsson as frustrations began to come to the surface, with the Norwich full-back involving in a tussle with Rodriguez soon after.

Anthony Pilkington was booked for attempting to turn in a Hooper cross with his arm and Southampton fans became audibly frustrated with Artur Boruc’s poor kicking as half-time approached.

The Poland goalkeeper continued to look shaky when play resumed, although Saints were back in the ascendancy.

Ward-Prowse forced Ruddy into action with a 25-yard strike, before the teenager sent in a corner which Rodriguez nodded just wide.

In an attempt to put the match to bed, Pochettino surprisingly withdrew captain Lallana after 57 minutes – but it reaped immediate rewards.

Fonte’s long ball was flicked on as Ramirez put pressure on the Norwich defence, with the ball falling kindly for Lambert, who turned past Yobo and slotted impressively past Ruddy.

The goal saw Hughton take drastic action, bringing on Elmander, Nathan Redmond and Ricky van Wolfswinkel in the 65th minute.

However, Saints soon pulled further ahead. Ruddy did wonderfully to deny substitute Guly do Prado, but the rebound fell for Lambert to flick onto Rodriguez to net.

The England forward rattled the crossbar with an incredible long-range effort and Ruddy denied Lambert as Saints looked to pull further ahead, before Norwich launched an improbable comeback.

With 85 minutes on the clock, a wayward Fonte backpass fell kindly for Elmander and the on-loan striker slotted coolly past Boruc.

A minute later and more sloppy Saints play saw Norwich further reduce the deficit.

This time Guly was the guilty party, losing possession as Van Wolfswinkel tested Boruc and Snodgrass struck home the rebound.

It was an ending few could have predicted and, having held on following an injury to Dejan Lovren, Saints broke to put the game out of sight. A slip from Yobo saw Davis race through and square for teenager Gallagher, whose shot crossed the line before it was hacked away.

—Daily Mail