Manchester City seems to have paid for the victories achieved this season and added another one against Southampton in a match where Erling Haaland showed two faces, but it was decisive (1-0).
There are those who prefer to die with their ideas and this is the case of Russell Martin. The ‘saints’ surprised Pep Guardiola with their bold approach to challenging for possession and in the first 4 minutes they managed to wrest it from him, although it was something completely anecdotal. Partly because City took the lead afterwards and, of course, thanks to Haaland. Matheus Nunes, as a winger again, was the star with an unbalanced start and with his first play from the left he hit it in the area, found the Norwegian ‘cyborg’, who clearly showed the strength to finish when he falls and scores first (5′).
From there, the game regained its composure and it was City who took full control, bottling a Southampton who were doing a survival exercise. And with note, because they closed the interior lanes and the Premier champion had no choice but to enter from the outside. Nunes made a warning with a good personal play, but Savinho had more presence, the one who tested the majority, even if Ramsdale did not have too much work in the first half. He successfully catches a volleyball from Kovacic that he sees at the last moment, but little else.
Southampton ended their clearest chance of scraping something against City. Rúben Dias’ poor clearance from the zone left Archer almost running alone against Ederson and, pressed by Gvardiol, he hooked it over the crossbar with his left. A big scare for the Manchester people, who did not lose heart after going through the locker room. Yes, they lacked the goal and, strangely, personified in Haaland.
Savinho is still the best and can help in some situations. The first to waste a great Brazilian game was Foden, but nothing to do with two gifts that the Norwegian did not know how to put inside, failing less than a meter from the line. First with his left foot, directly out, and then finishing back with his head. It’s like not pulling out your hair.
Fortunately for Guardiola, Southampton have no arguments to be a real contender for points. His merit is in occasionally playing up the field for City in the final minutes, even without disturbing Ederson. Furthermore, Haaland had the last one in one-on-one to convert, but Ramsdale won. Success at the minimum for Guardiola, and there are now four in this Premier League, the last three in a row.
match lineup
31
82
24
8
25
3
26
27
9
20
47
30
2
3
5
35
6
33
4
19
18
10
Etihad Stadium
Aaron Ramsdale30
Kyle Walker-Peters2
Ryan Manning3
Jack Stephens5
Jan Bednarek35
Taylor Harwood-Bellis6
Tyler Dibling33
Flynn Downes4
Cameron Archer19
Mateus Fernandes18
Adam Lallana10
Replacements
Alex McCarthy1
James Bree14
Yukinari Sugawara16
Joe Aribo7
Kamaldeen Sulemana20
Lesley Ugochukwu26
Adam Armstrong9
Maxwell Cornet22
Paul Onuachu32
coach
Pep Guardiola
Russell Martin
Source: La Verdad
I am Shawn Partain, a journalist and content creator working for the Today Times Live. I specialize in sports journalism, writing articles that cover major sporting events and news stories. With a passion for storytelling and an eye for detail, I strive to be accurate and insightful in my work.
