Johnny On The Spot: #STABILISED. A backbone of experienced Manchester City legends has restored invaluable forward momentum for Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions…Vincent Kompany, David Silva, Fernandinho and Kun Agüero played pivotal roles at Southampton in arresting a mini-series of 3 Premier League defeats in 4 games which were as many as the team had lost in the previous 70.
There was an air of Groundhog Day about the first half as City went ahead again for a fourth consecutive outing to the delight of our superb long distance travelling army, only to concede the initiative in kamikaze fashion once more and galvanise an opposition who were looking to be out for the count against overwhelming superiority. A packed out St Mary’s was rocking but this time the centurions reasserted themselves and settled the contest inside the additional first half minutes.
Shorn of our aura of invincibility over a harrowing Christmas, we’ll more than take this critically important win ahead of welcoming big spending Liverpool’s media darling weirdo cult circus to town next Thursday night. We will need everybody from tribune to touchline right on top of their game. Vincent Kompany: “Every living soul that comes into the stadium on Thursday has to be ready to fight and give it to them.”
One cannot help feel that the enduring profligacy of Riyad Mahrez should be benched in favour of Leroy Sané for that gargantuan clash. With their discipline unravelled by the final whistle, Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side look sure fire relegation candidates and City’s record signing rendered the second half a missed opportunity. Pep will also have to consider how he approaches the game defensively with the left full back role a persistent headache with Salah imminent.
JB’s Man of The Match is Bernardo Silva who used the ball intelligently throughout this south coast stroll. “Bubble Gum” has been directly involved in 10 goals in 19 Premier League appearances this season (5 goals, 5 assists), equalling his total in 2017-18 in 35 games (6 goals, 4 assists). – Bring on the bus whackers!
St Mary's Stadium
FA Premier League
2:15 pm
Attendance: 31,381
Referee: Paul Tierney of Lancashire
Southampton | Manchester City | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Højbjerg (37') | Silva (10'), Ward-Prowse (45' og), Agüero (45'+3) | ||||||
1 Alex McCarthy | 31 Ederson | ||||||
66 Kayne Ramsay | 3 Danilo | ||||||
35 Jan Bednarek | 4 Vincent Kompany | ||||||
5 Jack Stephens | 14 Aymeric Laporte | ||||||
33 Matt Targett | 35 Oleks Zinchenko | ||||||
14 Oriol Romeu | Valery 59' | 20 Bernardo Silva | |||||
11 Mohammed Elyounoussi | 25 Fernandinho | Walker 86' | |||||
18 Mario Lemina | Redmond 45' | 21 David Silva | |||||
23 Pierre Højbjerg | 26 Riyad Mahrez | Sané 84' | |||||
16 James Ward-Prowse | 10 Sergio Agüero | Gabriel Jesus 73' | |||||
10 Charlie Austin | Long 68' | 7 Raheem Sterling | |||||
Substitutes |
|||||||
3 Maya Yoshida | 2 Kyle Walker | ||||||
7 Shane Long | 5 John Stones | ||||||
9 Danny Ings | 19 Leroy Sané | ||||||
17 Stuart Armstrong | 30 Nicolas Otamendi | ||||||
22 Nathan Redmond | 33 Gabriel Jesus | ||||||
28 Angus Gunn | 47 Philip Foden | ||||||
43 Yan Valery | 49 Aro Muric |
Game Statistics |
||
5 | Goal attempts | 14 |
4 | On Target | 6 |
3 | Corners | 8 |
11 | Fouls | 10 |
2 | Yellow Cards | 3 |
1 | Red Cards | 0 |
26 | % | 74 |