Man City 1-0 Southampton: Haaland scores from insane position to seal 3 pts

REACHING for the stars one minute, plonked on his backside the next – and ball in the back of the net on both occasions.

Match Report

Welcome to the goals-are-us world of Erling Haaland. One where, however they’re teed up, the Striking Viking will knock ‘em in.

On Wednesday with that incredible stretching kung fu seven-foot-in-the-air finish backheel volley as City cruised past Sparta Prague.

And this time when he was all but sitting on the Etihad turf when he stuck out his boot to turn Matheus Nunes’ cross in for the fourth-minute winner which proved the difference.

More a drip than the avalanche everyone expected, yet still enough to see off Saints and send the champions back to the table. With reputation intact for the beaten, as well.

And you wouldn’t have expected that after only three-and-a-bit minutes, when mission improbable became mission nigh on bloody impossible, either.

That’s how long it took City to get their opener and put them in the rarified position of scoring first. After winning 13 points from behind already this term, not one they’re used to.

Never a hint of that here, mind - and in a own way, chalk it down as another Guardiola masterstroke, as yet another manager paid the price for trying to follow the Spaniard’s lead of playing from the back.

All well and good when you’ve got the vast array of talent at your disposal like the City manager. Not so easy for most of the others, though.

The ones who would be best served playing to their strengths and clearing their lines, rather than attempting to stroke it around like backline Galacticos.

The chin strokers will, of course, be outraged at the suggestion. And Southampton chief Russell Martin continues to stick to his guns and demand his side take that approach.

All very commendable, for sure. Yet also the root cause of that early opener…and so nearly at least three others beyond it, too.

More of those shortly. First that cock-up in handing over possession as Saints tiki-taka’d across the backline…before Aaron Ramsdale hurriedly hacked into touch under pressure.

From the throw-in Matheus Nunes crossed from the left and Haaland shrugged off Jan Bednarek’s neither-one-thing-nor-the-other attempt at defending to score from six yards.

Bednarek had a half-hearted grab, a similar shove and even weaker effort to tackle. Haaland merely stuck out a foot, virtually on his backside by the time he did, and that was that.

Pretty much that was that as a contest, too, you felt. Especially with City all but camped in the opposition half and the Saints – for all their pretty patterns – posing little threat.

And oh-so-close to coughing up more goals through their determination to play their way out of trouble at the back. Each time they merely played their way into it.

It was Tyler Dibling losing out to Savinho, and then breathing a sigh of relief when the Brazilian dithered instead of picking out Haaland on the left of the box.

Then Flynn Downes twice gave it away deep in his own territory, and finally keeper Ramsdale was thanking Taylor Harwood Bellis after only finding Bernardo Silva.

Still, only a matter of time before the dam burst, thought everyone. Only a matter of time before City cut loose and the goal difference goes into overdrive.

Then again, maybe not. For bang on half-time they so nearly got the slap-in-the-chops alarm call of what can happen if you don’t make the most of all that possession, all those chances.

The Jack Stephens pass which sent Cameron Archer scooting clear on halfway was more of a stretched-leg prod, yet that was exactly the reason City were caught on the back foot.

It meant Archer ran unopposed, save for the never-catching-him Manuel Akanji, only to blast his effort against the crossbar. The one – and only – that got away.

A gaffe which was inches away from looking even more costly 22 seconds after the break, when Phil Foden fizzed a low shot wide after a red arrows-style attack.

But then, wonder of wonders, the unthinkable happened. Haaland somehow stuck one wide from barely a yard out when Savinho dinked the cutest of balls to the far post.

Savinho to Haaland was something a running theme throughout the afternoon, in fact, because twice more he picked him out in the box.

On both occasions Taylor Harwood-Bellis was the Saints’ saviour, turning one header away and grabbing Haaland’s arm long enough to deny him an angle to finish the second time.

Jack Stephens got in on the act by nodding an earlier Haaland header – this one from Foden’s corner – off the line, and STILL the lead remained that solitary goal.

It would have been cancelled out altogether, too, had Southampton made the most of a three-on-two raid. And they really, really should have done.

Instead Adam Armstrong blazed over and it petered out into nothing. A fitting epitaph for this game, in fact…

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

3' Ruben Dias' shot too straight

5' Erling Haaland opens the scoring for Manchester City!! Man City 1-0 Southampton

12' NUNES sends a long range effort towards goal but it's inches wide!!

24' KOVACIC sends in a powerful shot ,the saints defender puts his body on the line

33' Match Event for Man City vs Southampton

36' BIG chance for city as ramsdale's pass is intercepted

42' Highlight from Man City vs Southampton

43' KOVACIC shoots again but RAMSDALE with a terrific save to keep it out!

45' OFF THE BAR! Cameron Archer for Southampton

46' Foden's shot wide out

49' Erling Haaland and ManCity are denied their second, before a follow-up attempt

52' Haaland squanders an opportunity from close range after a low ball into the box

60' Nunes' shot stopped by defender

64' Savinho clipping it to Haaland, who sees another header cleared off the line

75' BIG CHANCE for southampton but armstrong's shot is well off target!!

78' Highlight from Man City vs Southampton

84' DOWNES is down after a challenge from SAVINHO!!

86' Ilkay Gundogan is coming on for ManCity

88' Yellow Card! Kovacic booked

95' HAALAND denied again

Line-ups

Man City XI: Kovacic, Ederson, Ruben Dias, Bernardo, Akanji, Haaland, Foden, Matheus Nunes, Josko Gvardiol, Rico Lewis, Savinho

Subs: Carson, Gundogan, Stefan Ortega, Ake, Stones, James McAtee, Nico O'Reilly

Southampton XI: Lallana, Stephens, Bednarek, Ryan Manning, Walker-Peters, Ramsdale, Flynn Downes, Harwood-Bellis, Cameron Archer, Tyler Dibling, Mateus Fernandes

Subs: McCarthy, Cornet, Paul Onuachu, Adam Armstrong, James Bree, Joe Aribo, Yukinari Sugawara, L. Ugochukwu, Kamaldeen Sulemana