Pep Guardiola warned Manchester City's players what to expect from Southampton after the Premier League strugglers were battered 9-0 by Leicester.
The champions were already heavy favourites against Ralph Hasenhuttl's side and their mauling last week was the worst possible way to prepare for two games against the Blues.
However, Saints showed resilience in both games. They scored a consolation in the 3-1 cup defeat and threatened to cause a major shock at the Etihad on Saturday, opening the scoring when James Ward-Prowse pounced on an Ederson error and then holding out until the 70th minute when Sergio Aguero drew the hosts level.
Speaking after the second victory of the week, Guardiola explained how he had spoken to his players before the double header to remind them of how Southampton would react and exactly what was needed to be competitive against them.
"Young players have pride," the manager said. "They are human beings and they suffer.
"When that happens they don't want to live that again. I understand completely why the Southampton manager tried to play in that way. I knew it before the Carabao Cup when I talked to the players, our big big problem for the next two games would be to live against one team that have suffered and they are not going to accept under any circumstances to live again what happened against Leicester.
"That means win the duels, be aggressive, defend the corners, wait for the right moment for a set-piece, a corner or a counter-attack to arrive...We knew it.
"Unfortunately with the goal we conceded it was more difficult but even in the first half we had incredibly good momentum and in the second half we had 30-35 minutes where we were so intense - that's why we did it."
