- Erling Haaland put Man City ahead after five minutes
- The visitors defended doggedly and hit the crossbar
- City move ahead of Liverpool to take top spot
Erling Haaland's fifth-minute volley earned Manchester City a hard-fought 1-0 win at home to Southampton on Saturday afternoon.
An oddly subdued contest was played almost entirely in Southampton's half - although the confident visitors had plenty of the ball. There wasn't much for the Etihad to shout about as both sides took it in turns to stroke the ball around without much purpose.
A late flurry from the visitors sent a belated ripple of nerves throughout the tepid crowd, but City held on to move ahead of Liverpool at the Premier League summit before the Reds play Arsenal on Sunday.
How the game unfolded
The match wasn't even five minutes old by the time Haaland fired City in front. Southampton's experienced centre-back Jan Bednarek was so fearful of the burly number nine that he wasn't even looking at the ball, focussed instead on wrestling his opponent in the middle of the box. Haaland kept his eyes fixed on Matheus Nunes' cross, flinging his left foot forward while Bednarek hauled him backwards.
Haaland lost the stitching in his torn shirt sleeve, but emerged from the scuffle with a goal to end his three-game drought.
Russell Martin told his Southampton players ahead of the match to "express yourselves" and "play with courage" against the fearsome champions. The Saints admirably tried to fulfil their manager's daunting brief, bravely constructing intricate passing schemes inside their own penalty area.
The newly promoted outfit managed to bypass City's press on multiple occasions, but they needed too many players for the choreographed buildup, leaving Cameron Archer to plough a lonesome furrow at the sharp end of the pitch. The nippy striker almost singlehandedly stunned City, evading the hosts' offside trap to run half the length of the pitch and blast the ball against Ederson's crossbar on the cusp of half-time.
The rattling of the woodwork - and perhaps a few sharp words from Pep Guardiola - lit a fire under City during the interval. Phil Foden fired off a shot within 30 seconds of kick-off (which Southampton had taken), Haaland had two headers scrambled off the line and slotted one effort from point-blank range wide. It took the Etihad several seconds to compute his miss.
Haaland didn't add to his tally, despite racking up eight efforts on the day, but one goal proved enough for City to extend their unbeaten sequence to 32 Premier League games.
Man City player ratings (4-1-4-1)
GK: Ederson - 5/10 - Given few moments of threat to keep himself warm.
RB: Rico Lewis - 5/10 - Tip-toeing into midfield at every given opportunity, Lewis offered more possession protection than penetration.
CB: Manuel Akanji - 6/10 - Did very little wrong - although that is not entirely impressive given how little he had to do at all.
CB: Ruben Dias - 7/10 - Relished the rare occasions when Southampton escaped the edge of their own penalty area.
LB: Josko Gvardiol - 6/10 - Dovetailed well with Nunes and Bernado on City's most productive flank.
CM: Mateo Kovacic - 7/10 - City's only vaguely defensively minded midfielder excelled at the ugly side of the game on Saturday.
CM: Bernardo Silva - 7/10 - Buzzing around in his inimitable style, plugging every gap as soon as it emerged anywhere across the width and breadth of the pitch.
AM: Phil Foden - 6/10 - After a largely anonymous first half, Foden grew into the game.
RW: Savinho - 5/10 - Enjoyed more success when looking for a teammate rather than taking his opponent on.
ST: Erling Haaland - 8/10 - Is there any way to stop him? Bednarek couldn't even foul him properly.
LW: Matheus Nunes - 8/10 - Stationed in an unusually wide position, Nunes enjoyed this newfound sense of freedom, repeatedly taking on and beating his man.
Substitutes
SUB: Ilkay Gundogan (87' for Nunes) - N/A
SUB: John Stones (90' for Lewis) - N/A
Subs not used: Stefan Ortega (GK), Scott Carson (GK), Nathan Ake, James McAtee, Nico O'Reilly
Manager
Pep Guardiola - 8/10 - The major tactical ploy which Guardiola deployed was to start Nunes, a central midfielder by trade, out wide on the left wing - from where he created the game's opening goal.
Southampton player ratings (5-4-1)
GK: Aaron Ramsdale - 4/10 - Haaland was practically horizontal when he made contact with City's opener yet Ramsdale was the one left on his backside picking the ball out of the net.
RWB: Kyle Walker-Peters - 5/10 - Had very little joy up against Nunes on the flanks. More impressive when tasked with wandering infield on the ball.
CB: Taylor Harwood-Bellis - 4/10 - Given plenty to do as Nunes, Bernardo and Haaland routinely sprinted into his well-trodden section of the penalty area.
CB: Jan Bednarek - 2/10 - Wasted no time in getting touch-tight to Haaland, which only put him in position to lose almost every single physical duel.
CB: Jack Stephens - 5/10 - Despite forever looking flustered, Stephens managed to mainly keep his cool while on the ball.
LWB: Ryan Manning - 5/10 - The Southampton player most eager to support Archer, but rarely got on the ball in the final third.
RM: Tyler Dibbling - 4/10 - Only able to offer flashes of his abundant potential before getting hooked at half-time.
CM: Flynn Downes - 6/10 - Calm in possession and eager to win the ball back.
CM: Adam Lallana - 4/10 - Wriggled around midfield without offering much impact.
LM: Mateus Fernandes - 4/10 - Shunted to the fringes for much of the match.
ST: Cameron Archer - 6/10 - Scarcely afforded any whisper of support and did well to get as close to goal as he did.
Substitutes
SUB: Adam Armstrong (46' for Dibbling) - 6/10 - Brought plenty of zip to Southampton's frontline.
SUB: Joe Aribo (60' for Lallana) - 5/10
SUB: James Bree (77' for Manning) - N/A
SUB: Kamaldeen Sulemana (87' for Downes) - N/A
SUB: Paul Onuachu (87' for Archer) - N/A
Subs not used: Alex McCarthy (GK), Yukinari Sugawara, Lesley Ugochukwu, Maxwel Cornet
Manager
Russell Martin - 6/10 - The manager's much-cherished principles of play, namely that dogmatic insistence on playing out from the back, had some success against City - but almost exclusively inside Southampton's own half.
