Saints were visiting the New York Stadium for the first time and left it after a very controlled performance not only unbeaten at Rotherham's new ground but unbeaten in 23 games or for some 21 League games.
Russell Martin appeared to have learnt a lesson or two in the past few weeks and he put that into action as Saints took all three points in a business like manner, it was not about racking up a big scoreline, but making sure that unlike the last League game at Swansea we didn't lose our shape and composure in the final third of the game.
Most Southampton fans were glad to hear that it was once again an unchanged side and that paid dividends after only 4 minutes when Jan Bednarek headed home to not only give Saints the lead, but put them firmly in control.
From then on there was only going to be one winner, that is unless as mentioned we upset the balance of the team as we did at Swansea.
The only real surprise is that it took another 34 minutes to get a second, Johansson in the home side's goal having to be in top form and the woodwork also saved the Millers when Ryan Fraser smashed a shot against the post.
But neither the post of the keeper could stop the second, a well worked move saw Ryan Fraser back heel the ball to Adam Armstrong who fired home, it could have been three with Will Smallbone seeing Johansson pull off a Worldie.
In the second half Saints controlled the game, the performance was about game management rather than piling forward to rack up the goals, Russell Martin has clearly learned a lesson from the final 30 minutes at Swansea, he kept the game tight and didn't make substitutions for the sake of it, he kept his back four intact and that is the key.
Possession football is all about building from the back, you have to have a back line who are well drilled and organised, if that is disrupted then you start to have a problem, as I have said over the past few weeks, our only worry is that we don't have the back up for the first choice back four that played at Rotherham should there be injuries and suspensions.
The first change wasn't made until the 73rd minute when Joe Rothwell came on for Flynn Downes and Loanee David Brooks making his first appearance in a Saints shirt to replace Ryan Fraser.
With 9 minutes left Sekou Mara came on for Che Adams and then in the final minute Shea Charles on for the excellent Stuart Armstrong.
These were well made and controlled substitutions, unlike at Swansea were we made too many changes too quickly and completely lost shape and discipline.
At Rotherham this was the opposite, we kept our focus, kept our shape and stayed in control.
We could have scored more in the second half and would have had their keeper not been in such fine form, but our aim was to take the three points not to chase goals.
That is the best way of playing, chase goals and you can get caught out, stay disciplined and the goals will come.
The stats told it all, we had 74% possession, we had 10 shots on goal of which 7 were on target, that shows we were creating good chances, whereas although Rotherham had 8 chances of their own, only 2 were on target, the second of which was a standard save for Gavin Bazunu in injury time.
The good news came at the end of the game when news of Ipswich's defeat came though and we moved back up to 2nd place and for the first time we are there on merit, we are two points clear of Ipswich and one above Leeds with a game in hand.
The situation is now firmly in our own hands, yes it was before in that we have to play both Ipswich and Leeds, but now we are the club in the driving seat and we are relentless.
In many respects this was perhaps our best away performance of the season, some will say yes but it was only the bottom of the league team, but it was the style we did it in that was the talk of the travelling Saints fans after, I have used all the phrases before in this review, but focused, disciplined, shape, organisation and well drilled are just some of them.
Russell Martin has turned us from a team with none of these last season and at the start of this one a squad that was changing on a weekly basis in August with departures and arrivals, to what is now over the best 21 games the best team in the division in terms of not only our play, but in points gained.
After 8 games we were the worst defence in the division, now we are the best over that 21 game period and the manager should be congratulated on that.
Yes the cynics will say that a season is 46 games, but the reality is promotion is won in the last games of the season, not the first, it is about who is the in form team in the final third and we have to keep on doing what we do so well.
This was a team performance, but I say that most weeks so it is no surprise, in fact the only surprise of the day was that Kyle Walker-Peters had perhaps his most subdued game, he didn't have a bad one, he was a solid 7/10 in this one, but by the standards he has set, he was a little quieter than usual.
There were a few candidates for man of the match, Adam Armstrong is always in the running, Stuart Armstrong looked strong and of course Ryan Fraser, but I am going to focus on the unsung heroes of the team here as it is their contributions that often get overlooked.
Will Smallbone has had some criticism in certain quarters, but truth is he is the workhorse of the side, he does all the stuff that doesn't get the plaudits, win the ball and play it short and simple, this has been an essential part of the tea.
Gavin Bazunu was little maligned last season, but he is getting better with every game, he didn't have a lot to do in this game, but he is growing with confidence in every game, as I said earlier possession football is about building from the back and that includes the goalkeeper.
Ryan Manning is another who has been a whipping boy, he himself has admitted that he had a difficult start to the season and he found himself dropped for a few games, but since coming back into the side after James Bree's injury he is showing us why Russell Martin bought him, if his last 6 games had been his first 6 then he would be being talked about in glowing terms now, hopefully the cynics will start to notice.
So we march on 23 undefeated and 21 of those in the League and it is that 21 game unbeaten run we have to preserve.