Southampton 1-1 Manchester City : 5 Talking Points as the Saints take the game to City in a thrilling draw at St. Mary’s | Premier League 2021-22

It was nothing less than a league double as Southampton managed a hard-earned draw against Premier League leaders Manchester City. A maiden Premier League goal from full-back Kyle Walker-Peters was canceled out by Aymeric Laporte from the other end. The Spaniard’s header made sure City extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to 13 matches.

unbeaten at St Mary’s

Read about another gutsy #SaintsFC display, as #ManCity‘s 12-match winning run came to an end:

8️⃣ unbeaten at St Mary’s ????Read about another gutsy #SaintsFC display, as #ManCity‘s 12-match winning run came to an end:

The Saints dominated the first few minutes of play, backed by their brilliant home form this season. They successfully escaped City’s high-press multiple times to put their forwards in great position to cause danger to the high-profile visitors.

One such counter-attacking scenario ended with full-back Kyle Walker-Peters making an underlapping run. He thrashed the ball past goalkeeper Ederson to claim his first PL goal in the first half.

Manchester City never looked like giving up as they survived a few scares from the hosts to eventually find their equalizer in the latter 45 minutes. Kevin de Bruyne’s cross was met deep by Aymeric Laporte amidst offside shouts by the Southampton players. But the goal stood and gave City something to cheer upon on the trip back to Manchester.

In what was a thrilling affair of end-to-end Premier League action, let’s get straight into the top five talking points from the game.

#1 Saints manifest how to play against Manchester City

In what was a heroic display at St. Mary’s, Southampton put up a really confident passage of play to score an important point against Manchester City. It was commendable how Ralph Hassenhutl’s side were able to find progressive passes through the middle despite the usual City press. Southampton’s effective attack made life difficult for the visitors’ centre-backs.

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Manchester City’s high full-backs in the form of Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker made it even more favorable for the Saints. Their successful elimination of the press in the middle of the park led to huge space to run into, especially in the wider areas of the pitch. The hosts’ personnel were able to intelligently note this con in City’s game-play and exploited it very well in the first half, leading to the goal.

Southampton, who have been really good at home this season, really handed out a masterclass on how to play against Manchester City.

#2 Raheem Sterling’s lack of sharpness in the final third almost derails the Citizens

Raheem Sterling, one of the most improved players in Pep Guardiola’s reign had a first-half performance to forget. The winger was unable to get past Romain Perraud as he lost six of his 10 duels contested in the opening 45 minutes. He made only two dribbles, none of them being very impactful. But the Englishman’s two further mistakes clearly led to Manchester City dropping a point on the night.

Southampton’s opening goal through Kyle Walker-Peters was initiated with Sterling making a loose pass into right half-space. This was picked up by Stuart Armstrong and sent long enough for Che Adams to chase. An easy interception from Manchester City’s wasteful winger shifted the momentum as well as possession towards the home side and the rest was history.

Sterling had a brilliant opportunity to make amends just at the 40th minute mark. Phil Foden’s quick feet were enough to leave Mohammed Salisu for dead. Foden’s cut back put the ex-Liverpool forward in an easy spot to convert the effort into a goal. But a disappointing and straightforward finish was easily blocked by Fraser Forster, with the attack dying with no meaningful contribution.

Sterling could have done much better in both situations, which were one of the biggest highlights of the game.

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