Erling Haaland was on target as Manchester City breezed past a struggling Southampton on Saturday afternoon in a 4-0 thrashing.
Joao Cancelo opened the scoring after 20 minutes with a drilled effort across goal, before Phil Foden exquisitely lifted the ball over Gavin Bazunu to double Man City’s lead.
Four minutes into the second half, Riyad Mahrez latched on to the end of a delightful Rodri dinked cross at the back post to stretch the host’s advantage to three.
Haaland inevitably had his say after he missed a string of big chances throughout the game, and finished a low-driven Cancelo cross with force to put the game beyond any doubt.
City controlled the remainder of the second half, and Southampton struggled to get out of their own half as the game wound down.
The win means City move to the top of the table whilst Southampton’s fourth straight defeat leaves them a point clear of the danger zone.
TALKING POINT – MAN CITY GO TOP OF THE LEAGUE
A third straight league victory propels the Cityzens to the top of the Premier League table – for tonight at least – overtaking Arsenal in the process who host Liverpool on Sunday. Pep Guardiola’s side continue to dismantle any team that’s set-up in front of them, and have now scored 15 goals in their last three games in all competitions.
City face Liverpool themselves in their next league fixture which should provide a bit more of a challenge, but they’ll go into the game full of confidence. They’re in blistering form, and with a player like Haaland banging in goals for fun, and Cancelo delivering tricky crosses left, right, and centre, they look pretty unstoppable.
PLAYER OF THE MATCH – JOAO CANCELO (MAN CITY)
It’s time someone else claimed this accolade, despite the main man Haaland bagging his 15th Premier League goal of the season in October. He may ot have reached that milestone so quickly if it wasn’t for the delightful second half cross Cancelo put on a plate for him to steer beyond Bazunu.
But Cancelo had been doing this all game long. He’d etched his name on the Player of the Match trophy before half time with his progresisve carries, dangerous deliveries, and the goal he took to hand City the lead.
An overall brilliant performance from the left back.
MATCH RATINGS
MAN CITY: Ederson 6, Cancelo 9, Akanji 7, Dias 6, Ake 6, Rodri 7, De Bruyne 8, Bernardo 7, Mahrez 7, Foden 8, Haaland 7
Subs: Grealish 6, Alvarez 6, Gomez 6, Palmer 6, Lewis 5
SOUTHAMPTON: Gavin Bazunu 6, Kyle Walker-Peters 5, Salisu 5, Bella-Kotchap 7, Perraud 5, Armstrong 5, Ward-Prowse 6, Diallo 6, Aribo 5, Armstrong 5, Adams 5
Subs: Larios 5, Elyounoussi 5, Djenepo 5, Mara 5
MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
13’ – HAALAND OFF THE POST! You don’t see him miss many of those! He misses a one-on-one, clattering an effort off the inside of the post.
20’ – GOAL! MAN CITY 1-0 SOUTHAMPTON (CANCELO) – He makes a darting run down the left flank and is found by Foden, drives into the penalty area, twists and turns to get beyond Ward-Prowse before drilling the ball across Bazunu’s goal. There was no stopping that.
32’ – GOAL! MAN CITY 2-0 SOUTHAMPTON (FODEN) – The left hand side has been left wide open by Southampton this half, and Foden capitalises. He’s put through on goal by De Bruyne – with work still to do – and finishes excellently, flicking the ball over Bazunu.
49’ – GOAL! MAN CITY 3-0 SOUTHAMPTON (MAHREZ) – An absolutely superb finish from Mahrez. Rodri dinks the ball towards the back post to find the winger, who volleys the ball goal bound with the outside of his left boot to make it three.
65’ – GOAL! MAN CITY 4-0 SOUTHAMPTON (HAALAND) – Cancelo finds Haaland in the middle of the box, and he makes no mistake this time as he fires the ball past Bazunu.
