Southampton recorded their second hard-fought 1-0 win in the space of four days as they condemned hosts Norwich to a fourth successive Championship defeat.

The Saints followed up Sunday's victory over local rivals Portsmouth with their first away win of the campaign in the league, with Kuryu Matsuki scorijng what proved to be the winner early in the second half.

Tonda Eckert's side are now well placed in the top half of the table after 10 games, despite starting the campaign with a four point deduction, while the Canaries remain too close to the bottom for comfort after another disappointing display.

A keenly contested first half saw both sides create decent chances, with Norwich having the best of them after just four minutes.

Oscar Schwartau did well to cut inside young defender Zach Abbott after being picked out by Anis Ben Slimane but, with a clear sight of goal, he curled his shot just over the bar.

• Watch FREE Championship highlights | Latest EFL news and rumours
• Not got Sky? Latest Sky Sports deals or stream EFL games with no contract📺

Saints keeper Daniel Peretz then made good saves to deny first Mathias Kvistgaarden and then Jacob Wright after James Ward-Prowse had curled a long range free-kick just wide for the visitors.

Eckert's side looked more and more dangerous as the half progressed and it needed a smart reflex stop from keeper Dan Grimshaw - making his league debut in place of the injured Vladan Kovacevic - to keep out Samuel Edozie's volley just before the break.

Southampton also started the second period with purpose and were rewarded in the 54th minute when they got their noses in front.

The goal was made by a darting run into the box from the left by Edozie, with his cross only being half cleared into the path of substitute Caspar Jander. The German midfielder's low shot was saved by Grimshaw but the ball ran free to Matsuki who drilled home the loose ball from close range.

Norwich almost equalised minutes later when it needed a goalline block from Lewis Dobbin to deny Jose Cordoba after the Panamanian had touched on a header from fellow defender Ruairi McConville.

Norwich continued to press for an equaliser, with Peretz producing another good stop to keep out Anthony Musaba's low shot at his near post but the Saints held on for a win they just about deserved.

The managers

Norwich head coach Philippe Clement:

"I certainly thought we deserved at least a point, the guys gave everything out there, working hard all the way through.

"We were defensively solid, in midfield also, and we had some good chances.

"The only thing that disappointed me was the last 20 minutes. We made five substitutes in the second half and some of the players who came on were not at the level we would like them to be.

"I know some of them are coming back from long-term injuries but we brought them on to try and make a difference to the game and it was not good enough.

"They need to work hard to get back to the right level and I will be speaking to them individually about that."

Southampton head coach Tonda Eckert:

"To be fair there have been some good performances away from home when we just needed to finish better.

"Tonight we have put in another good performance and on this occasion we have got our reward. I am very happy for the boys because they worked very hard out there.

"Norwich are one of the best sides in the league at breaking you down and getting the ball behind you and it took us a while to grow into the game.

"But as it progressed I thought we got more control. I made more substitutions than I would have liked (fullbacks Ryan Manning and Zach Abbott were swapped at half-time after picking up yellow cards) but that was something I had to do because I didn't want us to go down to 10 in the second half. In the end all the players involved did a good job tonight and I was very pleased with the result."

What the result means and next fixtures...

• Championship fixtures

Play Super 6!

Play Super 6 for a chance to win £250k! Enter for free.