Liverpool crashed to their first loss of the English Premier League season as Everton and Hull City came out winners in a goal-filled Saturday.
The league leaders, with three wins and a draw prior to the game against Southampton, could not find a way past the excellent Artur Boruc as Dejan Lovren's header proved to be enough for all three points.
Everton came from behind to top West Ham 3-2 at Upton Park, while Hull won by the same score at St. James' Park much to Newcastle's disappointment.
At Anfield, Liverpool were expected to keep their unbeaten run going and increase their lead at the top before the other big boys went about their business later on.
The match had a pretty good tempo - very Premier Leaguish - right from the off and the confidence that was oozing from the Liverpool side was pretty evident.
However, having said that there were not too many clear cut chances in the first 15-20 minutes even if both sides showed good attacking intent.
Liverpool were unlucky not to have gone ahead just past the 20-minute mark though, when skipper Steven Gerrard struck a pure freekick which seemed destined for the back of the net only for a "Supermanesque" Artur Boruc to fly high and parry the ball away.
The Reds also had a decent penalty shout turned down with Dejan Lovren catching Daniel Sturridge just inside the box. Victor Moses then tested Boruc, but the home side just could not find a way through as both sides went into the break at 0-0.
It took just eight minutes after the break for the first goal to come, and it was Southampton that got themselves on the scoresheet.
Lovren, who escaped giving away a penalty in the first half, fought off the challenge of Daniel Agger to head home from a corner with Gerrard unable to clear the ball away on the line.
Southampton nearly went 2-0 ahead immediately after when Pablo Osvaldo forced a good save from Simon Mignolet.
At the other end, Gerrard was again frustrated by another good save from the Pole Boruc, with Daniel Agger also having to be taken off with an injury - Jose Enrique coming in his place with Mamadou Sakho slotting back into his preferred centre-back position.
Liverpool huffed and puffed in desperate search for that elusive goal, but it just would not come as the Saints held on for a big win.
At St. James' Park, the fans were treated to an end-to-end game with Newcastle and Hull City providing the watching public with plenty of goals.
On-loan QPR forward Loic Remy continued his good form by opening the scoring for Newcastle in the 10th minute only for Robbie Brady to equalize on 26 minutes.
Remy was the goalscorer yet again for the Magpies, netting his second just before halftime, but Hull refused to go away with Karim Elmohamady equalizing three minutes into the second half.
And the newly-promoted side's comeback was complete when Sone Aluko scored the winner on 76 minutes with a splendid volley.
Not one to be left out, West Ham and Everton also put up a goal-fest with the score identical to the one at St. James' Park and strangely again in favour of the away side.
Ravel Morrison's opener for West Ham was cancelled out by Leighton Baines only for Mark Noble to restore the home side's lead from the penalty spot on 76 minutes.
However, two goals in two minutes turned things around in Everton's favour with Baines completing his brace before Romelu Lukaku scored on his debut five minutes from time.
At the Hawthorns, West Brom finally found their scoring touch, completing a 3-0 win over Sunderland courtesy goals from former Black Cat Stephane Sessegnon, Liam Ridgewell and Morgan Amalfitano.
In the early game, Libor Kozak proved to be the matchwinner as his goal on 30 minutes was enough to hand Aston Villa a 1-0 win over Norwich City.
Results: Norwich 0-1 Aston Villa; Liverpool 0-1 Southampton; Newcastle 2-3 Hull; West Brom 3-0 Sunderland; West Ham 2-3 Everton.
