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Rodriguez's double fires Southampton past south coast rivals Bournemouth

Southampton produced a stirring second-half performance to come back from a goal down and defeat south coast neighbours Bournemouth 3-1 at the Vitality Stadium.

Jay Rodriguez's double, after Ryan Bertrand had scored his first goal of the season to cancel out Nathan Ake's early opener, earned the Saints only their second Premier League away win of the season.

Despite being criticised by fans for his bland style of play, manager Claude Puel has now led Southampton to seventh place in the table.

Positives

Jay Rodriguez needed a goal after a string of glaring misses in recent weeks and his double -- the second a brilliant long-range volley -- will do his confidence the world of good.

Southampton have struggled to score, especially away from home, so Puel will be hoping the floodgates open now.

Maya Yoshida also showed it may not be a disaster if captain Jose Fonte leaves in January with a solid display after being picked ahead of the Portugal Euro 2016 winner.

Negatives

This was not the way midfielder Harrison Reed would have wanted to celebrate signing a new four-and-a-half-year contract.

The youngster, asked to deputise for the banned Oriol Romeu, got overran in midfield before being hauled off at half-time by Puel.

Sofiane Boufal needs to keep his temperament in check. The club-record signing was booked for diving and substituted after narrowly escaping a second yellow card for a rash tackle.

Manager rating out of 10

8 -- Claude Puel made half a dozen changes from Wednesday's 0-0 draw at ten-man Stoke and his decision to leave out captain Fonte was a major surprise.

Southampton were out of sorts for much of the first half and fortunate to go in 1-1 at the break but Puel reacted swiftly by taking off Reed and bringing on Steven Davis at half-time and the Northern Irishman's arrival had a huge influence.

Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best. Players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)

GK Fraser Forster, 6 -- Seemed to pick up an injury early on, which affected his distribution. Could have got down quicker for Ake's goal.

DF Cedric Soares, 7 -- Got up and down the right hand side to good effect and stifled the threat of Bournemouth's wingers Marc Pugh and Ryan Fraser.

DF Maya Yoshida, 7 -- Did a good job keeping Bournemouth top-scorer Callum Wilson quiet and made some vital interceptions.

DF Virgil van Dijk, 8 -- Won everything in the air and did not give the pacey Joshua King any openings.

DF Ryan Bertrand, 8 -- Appeared to revel in being booed by the home fans following a loan spell at Bournemouth early in his career. Took his goal superbly to give Southampton a foothold in the game.

MF Harrison Reed, 4 -- Woefully inadequate before being hauled off at half-time.

MF Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, 6 -- Had an awful first half when he seemed incapable of passing to his own teammate but improved once Davis came on.

MF Jordy Clasie, 7 -- Did an excellent job of shielding the back four after Puel's half-time switch.

MF Sofiane Boufal, 7 -- Produced some brilliant pieces of skill before being taken off to save him from a dismissal.

FW Jay Rodriguez, 8 -- Finally found his shooting boots with one poacher's finish from close range and another net-busting strike.

FW Nathan Redmond, 6 -- Made some clever runs but fluffed a great scoring opportunity after being given a goal on a plate by Boufal.

Substitutes:

MF Steven Davis, 8 -- Changed the game after coming on at half-time. Set up Rodriguez for his first goal after a determined run.

MF Dusan Tadic, 6 -- Looked lively after replacing the hot-headed Boufal.

FW Shane Long -- Didn't really get a kick