Man City 4-0 Southampton (Cancelo 20′, Foden 32′, Mahrez 49′, Haaland 65′)
Manchester City moved to the top of the Premier League table with a straightforward win over Southampton at the Etihad.
Pep Guardiola’s side started the day in second place and a point behind Arsenal but will spend at least one night at the summit with the Gunners facing Liverpool at the Emirates on Sunday afternoon.
Joao Cancelo opened the scoring after twisting James Ward-Prowse inside and out before firing a shot into the bottom corner and Phil Foden doubled City’s advantage from the same side with a delectable dink over ex-Citizen Gavin Bazunu.
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Here’s how the players rated:
Man City player ratings
Ederson – Didn’t have a save to make in the first half. Or the second 6
Manuel Akanji – Covered for the injured Kyle Walker at right-back and looked comfortable without offering an awful lot going forward. It will be interesting to see whether the Swiss numbers whizz plays more minutes in that role 6
Man City's Manuel Akanji is a maths genius
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) October 8, 2022pic.twitter.com/9VRkuMSaqb
Ruben Dias – Recalled after being surprisingly dropped for last weekend’s win against Manchester United. Couldn’t have asked for a more comfortable outing upon his return 6
Nathan Ake – In the wars a couple of times after putting his head in where it hurts. Certainly seems to be catching Guardiola’s eye more this season as this was his sixth Premier League appearance of the campaign already. Inches away from scoring a rare goal too 6
Joao Cancelo – Remember when Cancelo assisted Haaland with that outrageous outside-of-the-boot cross? Well, he did it again, only this time Mahrez was unable to finish. Decided to take matters into his own hands and score himself instead with a superb individual effort. Set up Haaland’s goal brilliantly, sliding the ball into his path after playing a slick one-two with De Bruyne 9
Kevin De Bruyne – Constantly probed in front of the Saints defence and slipped Foden in for the second goal and a landmark assist: it was the Belgian’s 94th in the Premier League for City, taking him past David Silva. On another day he could have easily added another couple but it wasn’t to be 8
Rodri – Back on the starting XI after missing the Manchester derby through injury and marked his return with an assist after clipping a perfect ball onto Mahrez’s left peg. Barely had any defensive work to do such was City’s utter dominance 7
Bernardo Silva – Exceptional player though he is, Silva can sometimes fly under the radar a bit given the more obvious brilliance of those around him. No goals or assists but was so assured on the ball, completing 99 per cent of his passes 7
Phil Foden – Provided the assist for Cancelo and received a whack for his troubles after being crunched by Kyle Walker-Peters and then continued his rich vein of scoring form with a wonderful chip over Bazunu. Taken off just before the hour mark after an excellent day’s work 9
Another goal for this man!
— Manchester City (@ManCity) October 8, 2022
2-0
#ManCity pic.twitter.com/cfRTXZTn6s
Riyad Mahrez – Handed only his third Premier League start of the season and almost scored with virtually his first touch before blazing over from Cancelo’s cross when he perhaps should have scored. Made no mistake when presented with a similar chance in the second half, volleying expertly into the bottom corner 7
Erling Haaland – Smashed the inside of the post with his first chance with the type of opportunity you’d back him to convert wearing a blindfold and failed to dribble around Bazunu after being played through. Finally got his goal after a frustrating afternoon with a finish similar to his hat-trick goal in the derby last weekend 7
Subs:
Jack Grealish – 7
Julian Alvarez – 6
Sergio Gomez – 6
Cole Palmer – 6
Rico Lewis – 6
Southampton player ratings
Gavin Bazunu – Signed from City in the summer and forced into his first save after just 70 seconds. Couldn’t do much about City’s goals and made an excellent intervention to prevent Haaland. Made a brilliant finger-tip stop to deny Grealish late on too 7
Kyle Walker-Peters – Booked for a bone-shuddering challenge on Foden in the build-up to City’s first and will be frustrated that three of City’s goals were worked down his side 4
Armel Bella-Kotchap – Recently capped by Germany after impressing on the south coast. Suffered a knock in the first five minutes but able to carry on 5
Mohammed Salisu – One of Southampton’s better performers on the day, not that that’s saying an awful lot 6
Romain Perraud – Lost track of Mahrez for his goal but not targeted as much as Walker-Peters was on the other side 5
Stuart Armstrong – Had the visitors’ first meaningful attempt with a well struck volley that worried Ederson sufficiently to scamper across his goal-line. That effort was good as it got for the visitors 5
James Ward-Prowse – Beaten all ends up by Cancelo for the opening goal and spent the afternoon chasing shadows 4
Ibrahima Diallo – Similarly to Ward-Prowse he struggled to get near any of his counterparts in sky blue. Hasenhuttl should take a share of the blame, though, given his setup 4
Joe Aribo – Unable to make any kind of impact 5
Adam Armstrong – Ran about a lot but like Adams was starved of service 5
Che Adams – Made a brave block from a Haaland drive but barely had a kick otherwise 5
Subs:
Moussa Djenepo – 5
Mohamed Elyonoussi – 5
Juan Larios – 5
Sekou Mara – 5
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