Southampton vs Man City – Premier League: Live Score, Team News and Updates

Southampton did much more than survive here. They prospered, they might even have won this game and were again a credit to the tactical plan of Ralph Hassenhuttl, who greeted the final whistle as if victory was assured, as well he could. Points against Manchester City are hard to win.

And yet, with 70 minutes on the clock and their legs practically exhausted, Southampton were in pure survival mode.

They survived two late and lengthy VAR reviews, one for a possible penalty for Mohammed Salisu’s foul on Kevin De Bruyne being deemed outside the box and another for a possible red card for a Stuart Armstrong foul on Aymeric Laporte.

They blocked Jack Grealish’s shot, survived Kevin De Bruyne’s shot that went over the post. When Salissu brought out his long barrels in the 89th minute and stole from De Bruyne, just as it looked like half the pitch was opening up for City, they survived again. The pinball fight in the penalty area in stoppage time, when the ball threatened to fall at any second to a City player, they also survived.

And how they deserved it. Southampton threw everything in this game. They managed to cause a significant amount of chaos for the city with just 26 percent possession. And they didn’t just survive.

Could they also have opened a silver lining for Liverpool, six points behind now IF they win their games in hand? And they go to the Etihad in April, so they are potentially three points behind the race.

We all know how the fan mind works, the heady optimism that gets you through a long winter, unlikely scenarios, but still, the last time City lost a point in the Premier League it was British Summer Time.

There was the vision of James Ward-Prowse and Oriol Romeu, totally disciplined, both charming passers-by, dominating midfield when they had possession and frustrating City when they didn’t. There was Nathan Redmond doing turn tracking to make the 4-4-2 work.

At one point late in the second half, he was found on the edge of the Southampton box, blocking a shot as Kevin De Bruyne sized up what appeared to be the creation of an exquisite equalizer.

There was also cunning and cunning at Southampton. Like when Jan Bednarek planted his heels on Jack Grealish’s ankle. He received a yellow card but it was the third time he had tried something like this.

Romeu brought the man about town to his feet, suggesting that this was an elaborate play, it wasn’t, and a shoving match ensued.

Everything was designed to mislead City. Like the elbow Che Adams threw at Aymeric Laporte, not hard enough or dangerous enough to merit a card, but enough to interrupt.

And then there was the goal. Romeu was excellent in midfield in that first half and his eighth-minute cross to Kyle Walker Peters was sublime. That was also a constant tactical move that Southampton kept using and kept catching City.

Walker-Peters then combined with Redmond, but what really set the moment was the way Walker-Peters took the ball back, controlling with his left and then hitting with the outside of his right through a forest of players, to give enough. swerve to beat Ederson and wrap inside the post.

It didn’t stop there. Southampton repeatedly broke through the city’s defence. Armando Broja thought he had the second when Romeu nailed a pass down the City lines again, but he was offside.

Then, he thought he had a penalty, he didn’t, a few minutes later when he jumped over Ederson. Again, he was offside, but City were playing a dangerous game.

And when City were at their best, Fraser Forster stood his ground. Foden did superbly down the left to roll a ball to an unmarked Raheem Sterling. When the time and space to shoot from eight meters, he flunked it, apparently intimidated by the sight of a huge Forster in goal.

And Southampton returned to the level of performance at the start of the second half. A corner from Ward-Prowse in the 49th minute meant that Ederson had to react intelligently to an excellent header from Bednarek.

They broke City’s lines in the 52nd minute, Broja slipping back behind the central defenders. This time Laporte managed to recover to block his shot and strength and corner. However, from the Ward-Prowse corner, the ball broke again for Broja, two yards away. His header bounced off the post, Ederson flapping his wings desperately to put him on probably saving the day.

Rodri approached City in the hour of shooting and shortly after Sterling retired, entering Gabriel Jesús. Even then, Guardiola persisted with Grealish in the centre-forward role, a false nine if we ever saw one, but not in a good way. Jesus went to the right.

Whatever, it worked. Perhaps not directly, but City equalized in the 65th minute. Guardiola had cited Ward-Prowse as the best free-kick taker in the world before the match. De Bruyne seemed offended and felt the need to prove otherwise, so perfect was his shot from the right.

He floated the ball over Southampton defenders and into Laporte’s line of sight. Running towards the ball, he headed firmly for 1-1.

Second-placed Liverpool are now 12 points behind City with two games remaining. Southampton moved up to 12th place by extending their unbeaten Premier League home run to eight games.

sports mail Ben Miller had live Premier League coverage of Southampton vs Manchester City.