A Marian Pahars thunderbolt and a nightmare own-goal by Jody Craddock hauled Southampton further away from the foot of the Barclaycard Premiership at a freezing St Mary's Stadium today.

The Saints, who thrashed Leicester 4-0 last Saturday, deservedly beat unadventurous Sunderland 2-0 thanks to Pahars' moment of magic and Craddock's awful blooper.

The first half was a dull affair - with an early missed chance by James Beattie and Anders Svensson's wild shot over the crossbar the only notable events before Craddock's early Christmas turkey.

The goal came in the 42nd minute, as the result of a curling cross from Chris Marsden on the left wing.

Craddock, 26, who used to play down the road from Southampton for Wessex League outfit Christchurch, tried to scoop the cross away from danger, but only succeeded in toe-poking the ball against the bar and into his own net.

Mercifully, the second period was much more entertaining, with the highlight of improved attacking play from both sides being Pahars' blistering strike for Southampton's second goal after 66 minutes.

Sunderland's £4.5million man Claudio Reyna made his debut and impressed with his workrate and attacking instinct, while Southampton's £1.75million signing Brett Ormerod came off the bench late on to take his bow in a Saints shirt.

Earlier, Beattie had wastefully spurned a great opening after just three minutes.

Southampton centre-back Paul Williams launched a hopeful punt upfield and Beattie was allowed to escape the visitors' backline and race clear.

However, as he pulled the trigger, the ball bounced up and he could only manage to knee it straight to Sunderland goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen.

With both sides relying on long balls forward and the Black Cats deploying just Kevin Phillips up front, the first 15 minutes was mainly a constant exchange of possession containing little quality play.

Sorensen's poor punch after 11 minutes created a moment of excitement, but Svensson, who scored a brace in the demolition of Leicester last week, blazed high and wide from a good 20 yards.

As the match settled down, Reyna was on the end of Sunderland's first incisive move, but shot into the side-netting from a promising position inside the penalty area.

And two minutes later, Paul Jones saved well from an accurate Reyna strike from a similar situation.

Yet after a spell of promise, the match went rapidly downhill as the interval approached - and you could have forgiven the 29,459 fans for wishing they had opted to go Christmas shopping instead.

But at least the majority of them were handed an early dose of festive cheer from Craddock's howler which will no doubt have warmed them up ahead of the half-time break.

Sunderland did have a great chance to get back on level terms less than five minutes after the re-start, but for once the normally reliable Phillips was off target.

Kevin Kilbane whipped in a cross from the left and the England striker got up unmarked at the far post, but could not control his header and the ball sailed harmlessly over Jones' bar.

Bernt Haas unleashed a ferocious goalbound volley six minutes later, but his powerful shot hit Jason Dodd and deflected behind for a corner.

Pahars then put the game beyond Peter Reid's men when he struck Saints' second goal in the 66th minute.

Svensson lumped the ball 50 yards upfield to the Latvian striker, who raced clear of the Sunderland backline and crashed an unstoppable drive past Sorensen and into the roof of the net from 12 yards.

Southampton thought they had got a third when Pahars appeared to have netted with a firm header from Beattie's centre which Sorensen clawed out from under his crossbar.

The ball, which looked to have already gone in, rebounded to Svensson, who headed over an open goal.

Pahars was already celebrating - but referee David Pugh, acting on the advice of his assistant, ruled the ball had not crossed the line.

Of course, it made little difference at the final whistle as Gordon Strachan was still able to celebrate his side's continued revival.

Teams:

Southampton: Jones, Dodd, Bridge, Lundekvam, Williams, Telfer, Oakley, Svensson, Marsden, Beattie, Pahars (Ormerod 84).

Subs Not Used: Bevan, Delap, El Khalej, Davies.

Booked: Marsden.

Goals: Craddock 43 og, Pahars 67.

Sunderland: Sorensen, Haas, Gray, Craddock, Williams, McAteer, McCann, Thirlwell (Laslandes 66), Reyna, Kilbane (Quinn 81), Phillips.

Subs Not Used: Macho, McCartney, Schwarz.

Booked: Craddock, McCann.

Att: 29,459

Ref: D Pugh (Bebington).