MAN CITY 2, SOUTHAMPTON 1
You had to have sympathy for Southampton whose heroic effort ended in glorious failure at Manchester City who recorded their 200th Premier League win at the Etihad.
Ahead for almost an hour through a James Ward-Prowse goal, Saints lost to late strikes from Sergio Aguero and Kyle Walker whose 86th minute effort was the matchwinner.
Saints put in a stoic defensive display which so nearly earned them reward which they deserved as they asked City more questions than most opponents do.
In the end it proved in vain for Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side which has certainly recovered from the 9-0 home defeat by Leicester City eight days earlier.
City remain second and six points behind Liverpool who were also involved in a dramatic game at Aston Villa where they won 2-1 having been 1-0 down with three minutes left.
Embed from Getty ImagesCity manager Pep Guardiola praised his side’s patience explaining it was not going to be easy playing Saints twice in quick succession after their disastrous display against Leicester.
He said: “Players have pride as human beings and did not want to suffer like that again.
“They were not going to accept anything like Leicester and they were aggressive.”
Guardiola added City were unfortunate with the goal they conceded.
“After that we played with a good momentum and were so aggressive. It was not easy but we did it,” he said.
Hasenhuttl praised his side’s spirit for the way they have responded to the Leicester and asked questions of the side.
“When Pep does not have solutions, you have to feel you have done a job well done. I am sad about the result but football is not always fair,” he said.
There was a familiarity as City and Saints met for the second time in four days at the Etihad.
It was a City side with a different look as Walker, Angelino, Bernardo Silva and Aguero were the only four players to retain their places from the 3-1 Carabao Cup victory.
Saints only made three changes from midweek as they recalled Jannik Vestergaard, Danny Ings and Nathan Redmond.
There was an emotional act of remembrance, including a bugler playing the Last Post, before kick off as this was the last match before Remembrance Sunday.
Saints made the perfect start taking a 13th minute lead.
Goalkeeper Edersen failed to hold a straightforward shot from Stuart Armstrong and Ward-Prowse lifted the loose ball over the Brazilian stopper from inside the six-yard box.
City were struggling against Saints’ five-man defence with the wing backs cutting out the supply of crosses from wide positions. And when they got through, the visitors defended resolutely with some important blocks.
And despite enjoying 75 per cent possession, City didn’t register a shot on target in the opening half.
Guardiola had Gabriel Jesus stripped and ready to come on in first half stoppage time and the Brazilian was on from the restart replacing David Silva.
Jesus’ arrival failed to spark an upturn in City’s fortunes and, despite 40 crosses by the hour mark, they still had failed to register a goal attempt on target.
Aguero headed over from seven yards when relatively unmarked as he met Bernardo Silva’s cross, a miss that underlined City’s misfiring performance.
City finally registered a shot on target in the 70th as they equalised through Aguero’s 13th goal of the season.
Walker cut the ball back low from the right and the Argentine found the net with a shot from eight yards through the legs of keeper Alex McCarthy.
City suddenly sensed they could win the game as Bernardo Silva forced a super save from McCarthy while Kevin De Bruyne shot narrowly wide after Saints’ keeper inexplicably picked up a back pass.
It was like the Alamo as Aguero and Gundogan both had shots deflected narrowly wide for corners.
City made a second switch with six minutes left when Bernardo Silva made way for Phil Foden.
The winning goal came an unlikely source, right-back Walker.
Angelino, on his first Premier League start, crossed from the left and McCarthy could only palm out the ball to Walker who volleyed home from eight yards.
Saints, forced to become more adventurous in pursuit of an equaliser, left themselves open at the back.
Sterling and Jesus, the latter brilliantly denied by McCarthy, had chances to seal victory in stoppage time.