Manchester City locked horns with Southampton at the St. Mary’s Stadium earlier this afternoon hoping to return to winning ways in the Premier League. Pep Guardiola’s players made a solid start to the game and got themselves ahead in the 16th minute courtesy of Raheem Sterling’s goal. Man City defended their lead well and went into the half-time break one goal to the good.
Both sides fought tooth and nail in the second 45 minutes but couldn’t find the back of the net. The contest finished with a 1-0 scoreline after the full-time whistle as the Mancunian giants came away with maximum points from the south coast of England.
Let’s take a look at how each Man City player performed during the contest versus the Saints.
GK: Ederson – 7/10
The Brazilian keeper made some important saves at the back and earned a well-deserved clean sheet on the road.
RB: Kyle Walker – 7.5/10
The English full-back did not give away too much defensively and made some driving runs down the right flank.
CB: John Stones – 7.5/10
Stones was a rock at the back and defended well during the 90 minutes to get over the line with his clean sheet intact.
CB: Ruben Dias – 8/10
The Portuguese centre-back made multiple clearances throughout the match and did enough to keep Southampton’s Danny Ings quiet today.
LB: Joao Cancelo – 7/10
Cancelo stood strong in defence and created one good chance for his teammates during the game.
CM: Rodri – 7/10
Rodri was not afraid to get stuck in with a few tackles and kept the ball moving quite well in midfield. However, he failed to create anything of note going forward.
CM: Ilkay Gundogan – 7/10
The German midfielder was a threat in the final third but will be disappointed for not finding the back of the Southampton net.
RW: Bernardo Silva – 8/10
The Portuguese international worked hard to engineer some meaningful chances for others around him. He also completed quite a few dribbles during the game.
CAM: Kevin De Bruyne – 8/10
The Belgian midfielder picked up another assist for setting up Sterling’s goal in the first half. He also created some inviting goal-scoring opportunities throughout the 90 minutes.
LW: Raheem Sterling – 8/10
The ex-Liverpool winger used his pace well to stretch the Saints backline and got his name on the scoresheet in the 16th minute which was enough to ensure all three points for his team.
ST: Ferran Torres – 6/10
Torres had a quiet game and was mostly outnumbered by the Saints defenders. He was subbed in the second half.
Substitutes:
CAM: Riyad Mahrez – 6/10
The Algerian international was more of a threat than Torres after coming off the bench late in the game.
