Perhaps Manchester City prove little by swatting aside lesser sides on their own turf, but they remain very good at it. After a chastening week that included defeats to Liverpool and Juventus, they produced a characteristic rejoinder. Emphatic in attack, if brittle in defence, a team with a solitary goal in their previous three outings struck three times. “It was a very important reaction,” said their manager, Manuel Pellegrini.
Southampton arrived at the Etihad Stadium boasting an unbeaten away record. They battled valiantly to preserve it departed defeated.
If a 13th win in 15 home league games rendered this the same old City, a first league victory in November was nonetheless fashioned by newcomers. Summer signings starred. Raheem Sterling emerged from a personal slump to make the opener. Kevin de Bruyne had endured the longest barren run of his time at the Etihad Stadium, his previous four games yielding neither a goal nor an assist, but the he broke the deadlock and created Aleksandar Kolarov’s clincher.
Fabian Delph’s City career had lasted four months and encompassed two hamstring injuries before his maiden competitive start. It produced a goal.
The blight on City’s day came with the sight of their top scorer hobbling off. Sergio Agüero has not completed a game since September. He was never due to finish this, but the manner of his exit was worrying, if not for his manager. “He was not going to play more than 65 minutes,” said Pellegrini. “He had a pain in his heel but it was nothing important.”
City must hope their often vague manager is right. It looked as though Agüero, who returned only a week ago from a month on the sidelines, had landed awkwardly on his ankle. He will be assessed on Sunday.
If City seem disproportionately dependent on Agüero, they could at least savour the return of substitute David Silva, following a nine-game absence, and further proof they can source goals from other departments of the pitch. A winger, a midfielder and a full-back scored.
Sterling almost supplied the breakthrough in the first minute and, when it did come, the manner of it was instructive.
City had been unsettled by Liverpool’s relentless pressing seven days earlier. They borrowed a trick from their tormentors’ handbook. It proved equally effective. Bacary Sagna had had his pocket picked by Philippe Coutinho when Liverpool struck first last weekend. This time the visiting right-back, Maya Yoshida, was robbed by Sterling. He accelerated clear and centred. De Bruyne was afforded a tap-in.
Delph drilled in the second, aided by a sizeable deflection off Virgil van Dijk, but Southampton could not, and did not, pronounce themselves unfortunate.
Seconds earlier, Steven Davis had escaped a red card. Fernandinho had met De Bruyne’s corner with a powerful header. Lurking on the line, the Northern Ireland captain seemed to use his left arm to turn the ball past the post. The referee, Roger East, awarded a corner. His haplessness proved a recurring theme.
“There were strange decisions,” the Southampton manager, Ronald Koeman, said. “I had a talk with Pellegrini and we were both surprised about the referee.” Not that odd decision-making was confined to the official. Koeman omitted his first-choice right-back, Cédric Soares, for the blundering Yoshida.
“If you lose the ball to players like Sterling, you know they will punish you,” the Dutchman said. “Maybe we were lucky to be only 2-0 [down] after 20 minutes because we lost every ball.”
Southampton’s carelessness was compounded as they neglected to select a trump card. Dusan Tadic was introduced at the break and looked a catalyst for a comeback. Sadio Mané, who was then shifted to the right flank, crossed for Shane Long to deliver a bullet header. Tadic sashayed his way through as the City defence parted obligingly. An equaliser beckoned.
“We had the best chance to score the 2-2,” said Koeman, but his side were twice denied. Willy Cabellero clawed Tadic’s shot away. Fernandinho seemed to handle Long’s follow-up effort. Consistent if nothing else, East again refused to award a penalty.
City threatened to squander their lead. “I was concerned, of course,” Pellegrini said. Kolarov allayed his fears, drilling in City’s third goal after De Bruyne, as if using a sand wedge, chipped the ball to the far post. “That killed the game,” Koeman accepted.
