City go top of the league, at least for a couple of hours, and they probably deserved it: their performance in the first 20 minutes was excellent. They pushed Saints back, got high and wide, and De Bruyne, Sterling and Kolarov were hugely influential. Saints started abysmally, but then decided to play, scored a good goal, and were a bit unlucky with a non-handball call at 2-2: Fernandinho handled in the area but it wasn’t seen by Roger East.
Slightly nervy in the second half from City, but they scored a good third goal, and held on. Plus David Silva is back, and that should make everyone feel better. Thanks for reading – goodbye.
FULL-TIME: Man City 3-1 Southampton
That’s it!
90 min + 1: Three minutes of stoppage time. Saints don’t look like scoring.
90 min: Tadic’s ball in, but Saints are offside. They’re slightly unlucky to be down by two goals here, Southampton: this second-half performance has been good.
89 min: Oh, what a chance for Bony! Fantastic play between De Bruyne and Toure, and De Bruyne’s low cross is perfect for Bony, but he squirts it over from 12 yards! Actually, the flag was up for offside, although Bony didn’t know.
87 min: Ooh, Saints are upset, and rightly: Mane was away there, but Roger East called it back after Demichelis had fouled Long. It was a foul, but he should have played the advantage.
84 min: Yeah, Mane ought to have passed just then: Long and Tadic were screaming for it, and they were completely free. That was the wrong decision from the Senegalese.
82 min: It’s really open now, and Saints suddenly have a four-on-two situation! Mane uses Tadic by not using him, and shoots for goal, but Caballero is down to push it behind. Good effort, but they might have made more of that.
Updated
80 min: Touré’s shot is into the wall. A waste.
79 min: So now Saints have two strikers on the field. They may as well commit men forward now. But here come City, and Kolarov finds Touré, who is fouled by Davis 25 yards out.
77 min: Nice link-up between Wanyama, Long and Mane, but the flag is up for offside. Change for Saints: Ward-Prowse off, Juanmi on.
76 min: Saints aren’t out of this, but that third goal has taken the wind out of their sails somewhat. City had monopolised possession since Kolarov’s strike.
75 min: Sterling off, David Silva on, and the stadium erupts. It’s his first league appearance since 3 October.
74 min: David Silva is going to come on. That goal has settled the City stomach.
73 min: That goal was slightly against the run of play, to be honest, but City did well to exploit the space on the break.
Change for City: Fernando on for Delph.
70 min: Kolarov gets the goal, but it was all thanks to De Bruyne. He streaked clear, found Sterling on the left, and Kolarov made a great overlap to create space inside. Sterling found Bony, who flicked it to De Bruyne, and De Bruyne clipped a lovely ball out wide to Kolarov, in space after the Saints defence had been dragged inside, and the Serb smashed one low past Stekelenburg from a difficult angle. Great shot, but lovely work from the Belgian to start it all.
Updated
GOAL! Man City 3-1 Southampton (Kolarov 70)
But that’s a fine goal on the counter-attack!
68 min: You can hear the groans in the stadium. City look vulnerable!
67 min: Tadic lets fly and Caballero is down well to save! Saints fancy this. Just looking back at that Fernandinho handball: he definitely got away with one there. I mean, Davis did too, in the first half, so I guess it evens out, but that should have been a penalty.
65 min: Saints could be level here: that was a great chance for Tadic. He was clean through! City haven’t defended well today. Bring back Michel Vonk.
64 min: Aguero is clutching his ankle. He’s going to come off, and Bony will be introduced. Aguero doesn’t look happy.
63 min: Oh, what a chance for Saints! Tadic, on as a half-time sub for Romeu, danced through the defence as City stood and watched, and he was one on one v Caballero, but he tried to dink it over the keeper, and Caballero stood up and saved! Then Long had a blast from the rebound, and Fernandinho looked guilty as it seemed to strike his hand! No call from the ref, but that looked like a handball.
62 min: Touré with a shot from distance: he tried to curl it past Stekelenburg, but just couldn’t find the power. Better, this, from City.
61 min: Great play from Otamendi, who won it in midfield and found a lovely straight pass to release Sterling, all alone against Caulker, but the Saints man keeps his eye on it and takes it off Sterling’s toe.
59 min: Kolarov smashes it in, but Saints do well to head clear.
58 min: Do City miss Vincent Kompany? That’s 13 goals now they’ve conceded in the six games he’s been missing. No clean sheets, either.
Mane fouls Kolarov by the touchline. Chance to fire that ball into the box.
57 min: Ooh, Demichelis dived in on Long as Saints broke, and the centre-back was nowhere near the ball. Crude and coarse, and it’s a yellow card.
54 min: City look nervy, and Touré is not given the free kick he wants. Pellegrini looks slightly alarmed on the touchline.
Ward-Prowse is cautioned, deservedly, for a late tackle on Sterling. The first yellow of the game.
53 min: Fernandinho with a wild lunge on Mane – serving up memories of hatchet job his on James Rodriguez in last year’s World Cup quarter-final. Free kick to Saints, and Davis curls it in, but that’s handball, and City can clear.
I just wonder whether Caballero could have come for that cross. He started to, and the stayed on his line, and couldn’t react in time once Long had won the header.
50 min: City gave away a soft free kick, and Saints took it short as Sterling dozed. Mane accepted the pass, crossed beautifully under no pressure, and Long rose high to nod past Caballero. Great cross from Mane, but a lack of focus from City. Game on!
GOAL! Man City 2-1 Southampton (Long 49)
Saints are back in it!
49 min: David Silva is warming up in an orange bib, and gets a warm round of applause from the City fans.
Danny Higginbotham on commentary is effusive in his praise of Silva: “He’s magnificent. Absolutely outstanding. He’s unbelievable. One of the greatest players to have graced the Premier League. No question.”
47 min: Sterling outmuscled Yoshida, raced down the left, and found Delph, who had made a good run into the area, but Delph’s touch just let him down, and Saints win it back.
Second half begins
46 min: Hey Jude has finished playing on the public address system, and we’re back. Shouldn’t City be playing something a bit more Mancunian? Oasis? The Smiths? Frank Sidebottom?
Just watching the first City goal again, Yoshida made a bad error in being tackled, but Jose Fonte’s part in it wasn’t much better: he just allowed Sterling to run and run, opting, for some reason, not to go across to tackle. Very disappointing.
HALF-TIME: Man City 2-0 Southampton
City on top. See you shortly.
45 min + 2: Sagna took a whack fro Van Dijk, and he has a bloody head. And Van Dijk is bleeding, too, around his left eye. He’s being wrapped in a bandage, but that looks pretty nasty.
45 min + 1: Two added minutes. It’s really raining hard in Manchester.
45 min: Saints cough it up in midfield, and Yaya Touré trundles clear in meaty fashion, defenders bouncing off him as he careens into the box, but his touch lets him down and it’s through to Stekelenburg. He had options, but his control was uncharacteristically sloppy.
43 min: This is encouraging from Southampton after a wretched start. They’re still in this … just.
41 min: Long escapes through the inside-right channel, and shoots for goal from Davis’s neat pass, but it was a tough angle, and Caballero was in position to beat it away.
40 min: Demichelis is grumbling about something to Shane Long: cue much wild gesticulating. Saints with the corner, but again City do well to head clear. Saints have definitely steadied themselves, but they’re on the edge: another goal for City and it’s game over.
39 min: Corner for Southampton. Ward-Prowse with the cross, but Delph heads it clear. Saints have seen more of the ball in these past 10 minutes, and City’s full-backs have been less influential.
37 min: Change for Southampton: Jose Fonte couldn’t continue, and Steven Caulker is on.
35 min: De Bruyne, who is deceptively quick, beats Bertrand on the right flank, slightly scuffs his cross, Aguero dummies, and Sterling shoots, but Sterling’s shooting isn’t his forte, and it’s over the bar. That was a good opportunity.
34 min: Fonte has hobbled down the tunnel for treatment on a deep cut on his knee, as though someone had sliced their studs across it. No substitution, though, and Wanyama has slotted in at centre-back for the time being.
33 min: City fans wanted a penalty there as Fonte tangled with Aguero, but no whistle. City looking to exploit the space on the counter-attack. Now Long is down: he took a whack from the indelicate Otamendi, who seems to be channelling Daniel Passarella this afternoon.
30 min: Ward-Prowse with it … it’s wide.
29 min: This is a significant improvement from Southampton, and now Mane is fouled on the edge of the box in a shooting position. That’s a crude bodycheck from Otamendi, but no card. Roger East has been lenient so far.
27 min: Ward-Prowse with a great ball in, Caballero flapped, but then did really well to save the follow-up from Fonte, was it? Good save, but he might have done better with the initial punch.
26 min: This is better from Saints, but that opening 20 minutes or so was terrible. They just didn’t start! Bertrand does really well to take on Sagna and win the free-kick in a dangerous area on the left side.
24 min: It’s all happening here. This has been an excellent match so far.
23 min: What a stunning effort from Virgil van Dijk, and it’s off the crossbar! Saints so unlucky there: van Dijk had advanced in open play, accepted a pass on the edge of the box, showed some lovely skill and hit a hammer of a shot that rattled off the bar. Caballero was nowhere near that. So unlucky for Saints.
22 min: What a sequence, and City are just steamrollering Saints here. Fernandinho won the header from the initial corner, and Davis definitely handled as it went towards goal. Everyone appealed, the ref said no, but Saints weren’t paying attention as De Bruyne took the second corner – he rolled it out for Delph on the edge of the box, who shot, and it deflected off Van Dijk past Stekelenburg. Too easy; two-nil.
GOAL! Man City 2-0 Southampton (Delph 20)
No matter, it’s two!
Updated
20 min: More great work from City, and Aguero and De Bruyne link up, but Fonte does just enough to push Aguero wide and hustle it out for a corner. Oh, wow, that’s handball, surely? Davis! Big appeals from the City players, but not given!
19 min: Ooh, Kolarov fizzes a delicious ball across the six-yard box, in that characteristic style of his: low, first-time, and everyone missed it! Kolarov has been heavily involved so far. Mane hasn’t tracked any of his forward runs, and City have a two-versus-one on that left side.
17 min: The corner comes to nothing, but City win it back quickly and look to attack again. These two City full-backs are so high! Sagna is playing as an outside-right.
16 min: Kolarov with it … against the wall and behind for a corner. Kolarov holds his head: that was a really good position.
15 min: This is not a good start by Southampton, and that’s a crazy lunge from Romeu on De Bruyne, right on the edge of the box. Free kick, and this is a worry for Saints.
13 min: And a chance for Aguero! Bad giveaway from Romeu, I think it was in midfield, and Delph slides it through for Kun, but Stekelenburg is quickly off his line to block! Corner, and a chance, but maybe the ball from Delph was just slightly overhit.
11 min: Actually, maybe that came off Bertrand last. One for the dubious goals panel. Sterling goes clear again, and looks for Kolarov on the overlap, but Wanyama does enough to get back and block.
10 min: City had started brilliantly, but that was bad defending from Yoshida: he was dispossessed by Sterling in the right-back slot as he tried to pick a pass, Sterling just raced clear on the left, Fonte couldn’t get near him, and Sterling just rolled it across for de Bruyne, who couldn’t miss from three yards. City lead, and deservedly so.
GOAL! Man City 1-0 Southampton (De Bruyne 9)
It had been coming!
7 min: A bit of a breather for Saints. Two solid chances created for the hosts already,
Lorraine Berry has a weather update:
@timmyhilleh It's freezing, dark, and dreary in Manchester. In other words, a perfect day for a football match.
— Lorraine Berry (@BerryFLW) November 28, 2015
4 min: Wanyama, who is built like a barn, was late on the striker, and that could have been a yellow. Roger East was generous there. Good position from the free kick, and Kolarov goes for goal … saved by Stekelenburg! And again on the follow-up! That was an excellent reaction grab on the second attempt: he didn’t do enough on the first effort, but managed to hold on as three City attackers pounced. City have started really positively.
3 min: Fernandinho has a pop from distance, but it’s blocked. Now Kolarov, with that top button done up, as is his wont, surges forward on the left. Both full-backs are really looking to attack. Now that’s a foul on Aguero, and he’s down.
2 min: Sagna is very high on that right flank. Saints are extremely deep.
And we're off
1 min: City in sky blue, Saints in striped shirts and black shorts. And that’s a chance for Sterling! The forward exchanged passes with Touré, went in behind Yoshida, and hit a left-foot shot that Stekelenburg had to save! Mild panic followed, but Saints hammer it clear. Good start by City.
It’s raining in Manchester. Quelle surprise.
Ten minutes till kickoff. Four Argentinians in the starting lineup for City.
Saints are unbeaten in their six Premier League away matches, and they’ve conceded just four goals. But I fancy City today: I think they’ll win by two goals.
Richard Wright!
1071 - Richard Wright has made the bench for Man City in the league for the first time since December 2012 v Reading, 1071 days ago. Warm.
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) November 28, 2015
City can go top of the league with a win here, even if it’s just for a couple of hours. Leicester play Man Utd in the late game, and Arsenal play Norwich on Sunday.
Updated
Just watching a clip of Remi Garde talking to the media: what a contrast from Tim Sherwood. Garde, who is 49 but looks 10 years younger, is calm, intelligent, thoughtful, speaks excellent English, and has a pedigree. I think it’s an excellent appointment, but Villa are in the mire: they Watford at Villa Park after a dreadful performance at Everton last weekend, and they need a win.
Great news for Man City that David Silva is back, albeit on the bench. He’s just so classy, isn’t he? I think City really miss him when he doesn’t play. From the Canary Islands, of course, Silva, just like that exceptional playmaker before him, Juan Carlos Valeron. Valeron, incidentally, is still playing in La Liga aged 40, for Las Palmas. What a player he was! The hub of that Deportivo team at the start of the noughties.
Many, many other matches are going on today too. Follow them here!
So, changes for City: Willy Caballero replaces the injured Joe Hart in goal, and Otamendi and Delph come in for Mangala and Jesus Navas. Fernandinho starts, as does Sergio Aguero, and David Silva, fit again after a nagging ankle injury, is on the bench.
Four changes for Southampton: Yoshida, Ward-Prowse, Romeu and Mané start. Shane Long is the main man in attack, and Dusan Tadic begins on the bench.
Your teams
Man City: Caballero, Sagna, Otamendi, Demichelis, Kolarov, Delph, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Toure, Sterling, Aguero. Subs: Fernando, Bony, Jesus Navas, Silva, Clichy, Wright, Iheanacho.
Southampton: Stekelenburg, Yoshida, Fonte, van Dijk, Bertrand, Wanyama, Romeu, Steven Davis, Ward-Prowse, Mane, Long. Subs: Kelvin Davis, Clasie, Tadic, Martina, Juanmi, Ramirez, Caulker.
Referee: Roger East (Wiltshire)
Hello and welcome
Are Man City the best team in the land? All things considered, the answer is probably yes: they have skill in spades, money in abundance, a squad as deep as the house music in a Kreuzberg nightclub, and the Premier League’s outstanding performer in David Silva. And yet there’s always the enchantment of surprise with Pellegrini’s side: they’re a team that can hit the heights one minute, play with rare skill and panache and score buckets of goals, and do something dopey the next, like lose 4-1 at home to Liverpool. Classy but capricious: probably what makes them so good to watch.
They take on Southampton at the Etihad today, and they need a win after a couple of iffy recent results. Saints are no mugs, though and fancy some European football next term, although is there any point in finishing seventh if you’re going to lose to FC Midtjylland in qualifying? Graziano Pellé is suspended for the visitors, but Dusan Tadic and Sadio Mané possess class, and Saints have already won at Stamford Bridge this season. They can do something today.
Kick off, as always, is 3pm GMT, 10pm EST. This should be good.
Tim will be here shortly. Meawhile, here’s Manuel Pellegrini on David Silva:
“David is a very important player, the same as Kun [Sergio Agüero],” Pellegrini said. “David has a different way of playing. But as I said one of the merits of the squad was to play so many games without so many players. I hope both of them can recover their great performance [of earlier this season].
“Of course it was not a good week for us. We lost against Liverpool, and against Juventus maybe we improve a little bit but it was not a result we wanted. But we were already qualified for the next stage and that is important. A lot of people were disappointed not to be at the top of the group but the group is one game more. Juve have to play well against Sevilla.
