James Ward-Prowse and Che Adams scored the goals in the first half while Lucas Digne was sent off just under 20 minutes from time for Everton.

Everton remain top on goal difference from champions Liverpool while Southampton moved up to fifth, one point behind Leicester, who won 1-0 at Arsenal.

Only three points separate Everton from eighth-placed Wolves, who were held to a 1-1 draw by Newcastle in the day's other match.

At St Mary's Stadium, Danny Ings laid on two assists, the first a nice one-two before Ward-Prowse slammed the ball home and the second for Adams, whose shot deflected off Glyfi Sigurdsson.

Everton full back Digne was sent off for a challenge on Kyle Walker-Peters and Southampton, who narrowly avoided relegation last term, were good value for their win.

"My team did a fantastic job today, from the first moment you could feel that the plan was working and the guys were sticking to it," Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuettl said.

Everton manager Carlo Ancelotti had no issue with the result but said Digne should not have been sent off.

"We didn't play well, Southampton were better than us and they deserved to win," he said.

"The red card was a joke, it was not intentional, for sure it was not violent. Maybe it was a yellow."

Jamie Vardy came off the substitutes' bench to clinch victory for Leicester at The Emirates, scoring the only goal 10 minutes from time.

Alexandre Lacazette had an early header ruled out for Arsenal for offside and the hosts dominated possession.

Leicester had five men booked but Vardy scored his 11th goal in 12 matches against the Gunners to Mikel Arteta's side 10th.

Wolves thought they had taken all three points at Molineux when Raul Jimenez thumped in the opening goal 10 minutes from time.

But Jacob Murphy equalised for Newcastle in the 89th minute to lift his side to 14th, two points behind Wolves in seventh.

"We were patient, we were a threat, we didn't concede many chances and it is a game that we should finish with a victory," Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo said.

"The mistake is that we need to be more clinical. We had many chances but we did not test the goalkeeper too many times. We were the better team."

Australian Associated Press