MATCH ANALYSIS: Burnley 1 Southampton 0

When Dusan Tadic stepped up on the hour mark with the score at 0-0, he had history on his side.

Southampton had scored their last 29 penalties in the Premier League, a run going back to April 1997 when Jim Magilton missed from 12 yards.

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Tadic had scored his last 13 from the spot in the league, dating back to the Serbian’s days in the Dutch Eredivisie with FC Twente and Groningen.

But Heaton guessed correctly, diving low to his left, and he pulled off a fantastic save at full stretch.

The Saints are yet to drop a point when going ahead in the Premier League, so to say Heaton’s save kept Burnley in the game would be a fair reflection of events.

Up until the spot kick the game had drifted along without ever threatening to break into life.

With hail stones sporadically clattering into the Turf Moor stands, nobody seemed to have the will to take the game by the scruff of the neck.

The likeliest match winner had appeared to be Danny Ings until that point. Born near Southampton and rejected by their academy when he was 10, he looked like he had a point he wanted to prove on his 100th league appearance for Burnley.

He might not have added to his tally of Premier League goals but he was a constant menace to Ronald Koeman’s side.

His first 50 league appearances for Burnley yielded eight goals, but his second have produced 23 and he came close to adding to that with a couple of efforts from distance on Saturday.

He was involved in the goal, but he knew little about his assist, with Nathaniel Clyne’s clearance clattering into him and heading straight to Ashley Barnes.

The win moved Burnley out of the bottom three and made it three wins from their last six games.

After taking four points from their first 10 games they have taken 11 from those six. They now have 15 points from 16 games, tantalisingly close to the point a game standard that is usually good enough to survive.

In 2009/10 Burnley had 18 points from their first 16 games, but they added just 12 more from their next 22 outings. This Clarets vintage is showing signs of getting better, not worse.

This was a first victory over a side in the top half of the table, and also a first win in nine attempts in the Premier League in December.

With Tottenham, Liverpool and Manchester City to come before 2015 arrives they might struggle to add a second success, but they can now approach those games with a degree of confidence, and also with the pressure off, after making it four defeats in a row for Southampton.

It was a positive start from Sean Dyche’s side on Saturday. In the opening minute Ings couldn’t climb high enough when unmarked in the box, and on three minutes he fired a shot from 25 yards just inches wide of the post.

On 25 minutes Fraser Forster was forced into a smart save low down. An excellent cross from Kieran Trippier, whose delivery was the best it has been all season, came off Clyne at the back post under pressure from Barnes, but the England goalkeeper was down quickly to keep it out.

In a first half of little action or entertainment it was Ings who was the liveliest player on the pitch. Eight minutes before the break he collected the ball inside his own half, glided past a defender and unleashed a shot from 20 yards, which was blocked at close range.

The visitors had the first sight of goal in the second half following some intricate passing on the edge of the area which led to Sadio Mane curling over from 15 yards.

The first big moment arrived on the hour mark. It was a clear penalty, with George Boyd tripping Ryan Bertrand a yard inside the box, but Heaton came to the rescue, diving low to his left to superbly turn Tadic’s effort wide of the post.

The missed penalty seemed to spur the visitors into life, with their best spell of the game following, but Graziano Pelle slashed their best chance wide of the near post after Tadic’s miscued effort had fallen to him just outside the six yard box.

Ings again came to life at the other end though, a low left-footed shot saved well by Forster.

Turf Moor finally came alive just over 15 minutes from the end. Southampton seeemed in no danger with a defensive throw-in on the 18-yard line, but Clyne’s clearance from the ball back to him struck Ings and fell to Barnes.

He ran inside the box and his shot took the slightest deflection off the heel of Toby Alderweireld which sent the ball beyond Forster at his near post.

Southampton tried to respond to that blow, and they almost levelled five minutes from time when Clyne’s 25-yard shot wobbled in the air and clipped the outside of the post.

In truth they mustered little as they tried to get back in the game, but their best chance came deep into stoppage time when Victor Wanyama sent a free header from eight yards out over the bar when he really should have hit the target.