A Taylor Harwood-Bellis header gave Southampton a 1-0 victory at QPR to make it 15 matches without defeat – the Saints’ longest unbeaten run since 1950.
The visitors ended the match with 10 men following the 89th-minute sending-off of Shea Charles, but they held on.
Southampton’s fine run has included 10 wins and Russell Martin’s side, fourth in the Sky Bet Championship, remain very much in the race for automatic promotion.
Rangers, meanwhile, have suffered back-to-back defeats and remain third from bottom, having previously won three matches in a row under recently-appointed boss Marti Cifuentes.
The R’s have improved since the Spaniard took over and were on the front foot for much of the first half, with the outstanding Ilias Chair their main threat.
Chair almost embarrassed goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu with an audacious attempt from near the halfway line which drifted just over.
The Rangers forward also dispossessed Will Smallbone to set up Elijah Dixon-Bonner, who shot over, and then set up Andre Dozzell, whose shot was deflected over by Flynn Downes.
Chair worried Southampton again when he tricked his way past James Bree before seeing his low strike saved by Bazunu.
Bree was given a torrid time by Chair and was not helped by sustaining what looked like a hamstring injury early on.
He was replaced just after the half-hour mark by former QPR man Ryan Manning, who made an immediate impact, posing a threat on the left-hand side and delivering a free-kick from the opposite flank which led to the goal three minutes before half-time.
Manning swung the ball in and Harwood-Bellis got away from right-back Reggie Cannon to head Adam Armstrong’s flick-on past keeper Asmir Begovic.
It knocked the stuffing out of Rangers, who tried hard to conjure an equaliser in the second half but struggled to create openings.
Chair remained a handful but fellow playmaker Chris Willock failed to make an impact, sending one effort well over before going off after suffering an injury – a potential concern for Cifuentes ahead of some crucial matches over the festive period.
The Saints were always dangerous on the counter-attack and Begovic prevented a second goal by producing a fine save to deny Stuart Armstrong.
Charles, on as a second-half substitute, was dismissed for a second yellow card following a foul on Albert Adomah.
Al-Nassr 3-1 Al-Khaleej: Ronaldo nets twice and passes up penalty in cup semi-final
Cristiano Ronaldo returned to the scoresheet with two goals as Al-Nassr beat Al-Khaleej 3-1 to reach the final of the King Cup of Champions on Wednesday.
Ronaldo scored either side of half-time as Al-Nassr teed up a final clash with Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, who beat Al-Ittihad 2-1 in the other semi-final on Tuesday.
The former Real Madrid and Manchester United star took advantage of an error from opposing goalkeeper Ibrahim Sehic to open the scoring 17 minutes in, then tapped home at the second attempt to make it a double shortly before the hour mark.
That goal could have made it a hat-trick for the Portugal star, but he passed up the chance to take a first-half penalty after Ivo Rodrigues handled in the area, Sadio Mane instead stepping up to blast his kick into the top corner.
Fawaz Al Terais was on target late on for Al-Khaleej, but that proved a mere consolation in a one-sided affair which saw Al-Nassr rack up 21 shots and 3.78 expected goals (xG), with their opponents managing just nine shots totalling 1.37 xG.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo's mini drought over
Ronaldo was frustrated against Al-Khaleej in the Saudi Pro League on Saturday, but he was back on song against the same opponents on Wednesday to end his mini drought of two games.
While Ronaldo's 43 touches were the fewest of any outfielder to start for Al-Nassr, he managed seven shots, five shots from inside the area and four dribbles – all game-high figures.
Coventry City 1-2 Ipswich Town: Burgess puts Tractor Boys on brink of promotion
Ipswich Town took a huge step to Premier League promotion after Cameron Burgess snatched a second-half winner in Tuesday's 2-1 victory over Coventry City.
Kieran McKenna's side require just one point from their final Championship game against League One-bound Huddersfield Town to go up, after a decisive victory at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
Kieffer Moore blasted in an eighth-minute opener for the visitors after Wes Burns' crafty cutback pass, easing the pressure on Ipswich and dampening the top-two hopes of third-placed Leeds United.
Haji Wright levelled in the second half, only for Burgess to squeeze a winning goal past Bradley Collins five minutes later, putting Ipswich on the brink of top-flight football for the first time since their relegation in 2002.
A draw against Huddersfield, who are 23rd and three points adrift of safety, would secure promotion at Portman Road, marking just the fourth instance of back-to-back promotions in the Premier League era.
Having managed to climb out of League One, McKenna's entertaining side would join Watford, rivals Norwich City and Southampton as the only sides to achieve the feat.
Data Debrief: Ipswich end winless run at perfect time
Prior to this game, only five teams had won fewer points in the Championship than Ipswich's six since the beginning of April (W1 D3 L1).
Yet McKenna's men refused to let their top-flight push derail as the Tractor Boys ended a four-game winless run to move within touching distance of history.
Al Ittihad 1-2 Al Hilal: Holders into King's Cup final
Al Hilal overcame Sergej Milinkovic-Savic's red card as Saud Abdulhamid's late goal sealed a 2-1 victory over Al Ittihad in the King's Cup semi-finals.
Without Karim Benzema, Al Ittihad ultimately lacked the firepower to make their numerical advantage count in Tuesday's clash.
Former Lazio midfielder, who joined Al Hilal as part of their spending spree last year, received a straight red card in the 42nd minute.
Al Ittihad's Abderrazzaq Hamed-Allah cancelled out Micheal's opener, but Abdulhamid popped up with the winner in the 81st minute.
Al Hilal are 10-time King's Cup winners, having won their 10th title last season.
The Saudi Pro League leaders, who are still without the injured Neymar, will now face either Al Khaleej or Cristiano Ronaldo's Al Nassr in the final at the end of May.
Data Debrief: Malcom in the middle
Al Hilal might be missing their star Brazilian Neymar, but his compatriot Malcom is delivering when it comes to playmaking.
The former Zenit attacker set up both of Al Hilal's goals, creating three chances in total and registering a pass accuracy of 92.6 per cent, better than any of his team-mates.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
