Manchester City found winning ways once again at St Mary’s as they cruised past Southampton to cut the gap at the top to seven points.
It wasn’t all easy for Pep Guardiola’s side though and there were periods in the first half which troubled his side and could have easily changed the dynamic of the game. As Hojbjerg cancelled out David Silva’s opener, two late goals in the first half put an end to any hopes of a comeback for the Saints. Just 90 seconds after Southampton had a penalty claim brushed away the ball was in the back of their net courtesy of an own goal before Aguero headed past McCarthy to increase City’s lead to two.
Outstanding composure
One of Manchester City’s outstanding qualities is their ability and confidence on the ball all across the pitch. The best example came from the City goal in Ederson whose one-touch passing around the back was at times ludicrous. The Saints players looked absolutely knackered by the end of the game on Sunday due to their high press and with only 24% possession, there was alot of running around chasing shadows at St Mary’s.
City’s tantalising play saw the two Silva’s link up in stereotypical Manchester City fashion for the first goal, gliding through the defence ending up being rounded off by David. The goal came in the 10th minute, which was fantastic for City fans, however Southampton fans could only assume they were in for a long day.
City issues
After their recent defeats to Crystal Palace and Leicester, teams no longer fear a battering from Manchester City the way they used to at the start of the season. Southampton came out fighting, wanting some form of beneficiary from this game. Pierre Emilie Hojbjerg managed to bring the game back to 1-1 just 10 minutes before halftime, capitalising on a defensive error and wriggling his way through the defence before unleashing an unstoppable shot into the roof of the net.
This goal gave Southampton a glimpse of hope while also unsettling City. Charlie Austin was also presented with a golden opportunity in which he probably should have done better and the Saints will have felt aggrieved they were not given a penalty kick after Zinchenko bundled down James Ward-Prowse. City were lucky they were not hurt during Southampton’s good spell and they certainly looked vulnerable at times on the South Coast. These are worrying times for City as confidence seems to be flourishing at periods throughout the game, but as soon as they are placed under pressure for a slightly extended period of time, they look very shaky.
The difference
One of the differences between the top and bottom teams is the sheer depth in squads. All managers are aware of the hectic fixture list over Christmas and how they approach it is purely up to them, however for some teams it is a lot easier than others. Between the two teams on Sunday 11 changes were made within the starting line-up, and with Manchester City bolstering players such as Mahrez, Aguero, Kompany and Zinchenko, who don’t normally start, it’s going to be a difficult afternoon whichever way you look at it.
Hasenhuttl approached this game as an opportunity for youngsters to gain some experience against a very good side, debuting 18-year-old Kane Ramsay and later bringing on young Jan Valery, who both held themselves well despite the calibre of the opposition. With the Saints’ youngest starting XI in five years, it was difficult to see Southampton leaving this game with anything.
Saints “luck”
Southampton have not been the luckiest of sides this season, with refereeing decisions not going their way to horrible deflected goals and Sunday was no different. After feeling like they should have had a penalty at one end of the pitch they received a double whammy as Raheem Stirling, who was excellent on the South Coast, bombed down the line and whipped in a signature low cross. The ball then took a huge deflection off of Ward-Prowse and then Ramsay, to take it past Alex McCarthy in the Saints net.
McCarthy managed to get fingertips to it however, the second deflection took the ball away from the keeper, who saved the Saints on multiple occasions and stopped the scoreline from being as embarrassing as the previous (6-1). The own goal was on the brink of half-time and it seemed that the Southampton players were resigned to head into to the changing rooms 2-1 down. Manchester City had other idea’s though as Sergio Aguero rose like a salmon to convert Zinchenko’s cross, scoring his 50th goal under Guardiola. This made the scoreline 1-3 which City maintained until the end of the game.
Refereeing disaster
It has to be said that the referee made some absolutely terrible decisions on Sunday for both sides. The first came when Ward-Prowse was bundled down in the box after excellently bringing a lofted ball down. Zinchenko was beaten and there was a clear opportunity to score and nothing was given. If a penalty was given and scored, it would have changed the whole dynamic of the match as City may not have gone and scored two before half time.
There was a second penalty shout but for Manchester City this time. This came about in the second half as Valery chopped Sterling from behind, not even close to the ball. Manchester City were 3-1 up at this point so even though the decision may have been wrong, it made no major difference to the result. Inconsistency was also evident within the refereeing display. Hojbjerg got sent off, rightfully, for a challenge on Fernandinho in the 85th minute which was the correct call. However, Vincent Kompany should have also been sent off for a very similar challenge on Shane Long and only received a yellow card. Both challenges could have seriously injured the opposition player and neither challenge was anywhere near the ball, so Kompany got away with one there. However, City deservedly won the game and will continue to fight to remain champions of England.
