Man City's Title Charge Stays Afloat with a 4-1 Victory over Southampton: A Review of Player Ratings

Manchester City continued their pursuit of Arsenal at the top of the table with a commanding 4-1 victory over Southampton on Saturday evening.

Erling Haaland's crucial header late in the first half lifted City's spirits and the Norwegian added another to his tally after the interval alongside goals from Jack Grealish and Julian Alvarez.

The match began with Southampton making a fast start, with Carlos Alcaraz delivering an excellent cross just a few minutes in that unfortunately evaded everyone in the penalty area. City's first glimpse of goal came from Grealish, whose shot was pushed aside by Gavin Bazunu after an impressive build-up on the counter.

Despite conceding over 80% possession within the first 15 minutes, Southampton could have taken the lead when Kamaldeen Sulemana found himself one-on-one with Ederson after running almost two-thirds of the pitch. However, a poor touch allowed the City goalkeeper to claim possession. Sulemana also struck wide late in the first half, and was immediately punished for his team's missed opportunities as Haaland scored with a well-placed header from a Kevin De Bruyne cross.

Ilkay Gundogan attempted to increase City's lead five minutes into the second half but his effort flew wide of the goal. However, Grealish managed to break through Southampton's defence and scored a second goal for City, with Haaland following up soon after with a scissor kick for his 30th goal of the campaign.

Southampton managed an instant response with a goal from Sekou Mara, but City quickly won a penalty from which Alvarez secured the victory with a third goal.

Player Ratings

GK: Gavin Bazunu - 5/10 - Made a few key saves, but could have done better with the second goal.

RB: Ainsley Maitland-Niles - 5/10 - Found it difficult to handle Grealish and did his best but ultimately lost the battle.

CB: Jan Bednarek - 5/10 - Was shaky whenever the ball came towards him.

CB: Armel Bella-Kotchap - 5/10 - Was largely solid but switched off once in the first half, which cost his team a goal.

LB: Kyle Walker-Peters - 5/10 - Battled well against Riyad Mahrez but conceded a penalty.

CM: James Ward-Prowse - 6/10 - Played an important role in midfield but could not prevent the goals.

CM: Romeo Lavia - 7/10 - Impressed in Southampton's midfield and City's buy-back clause is looking very attractive indeed.

CM: Mohamed Elyounoussi - 6/10 - Tasked with containing De Bruyne, Elyounoussi put in a lot of effort but ultimately came up short.

RW: Theo Walcott - 5/10 - Struggled to get involved in the game as Southampton had very little possession.

ST: Carlos Alcaraz - 6/10 - Pressured the opposition from the front with the occasional moment of quality, but had to work hard with so little possession.

LW: Kamaldeen Sulemana - 5/10 - Should have scored but was unable to finish.

Substitutes:

Stuart Armstrong (60' for Elyounoussi) - 5/10

Moussa Djenepo (69' for Alcaraz) - 7/10

Sekou Mara (69' for Sulemana) - 7/10

Ibrahima Diallo (80' for Lavia) - N/A

Romain Perraud (80' for Walcott) - N/A

Coach: Ruben Selles - 6/10 - Southampton played impressively in the first half, causing problems on the counter, but the gulf in quality between the two teams ultimately took its toll.

GK: Ederson - 6/10 - Was hardly involved due to wasteful finishing from Southampton.

CB: Manuel Akanji - 5/10 - Struggled with Sulemana's speed.

CB: Ruben Dias - 7/10 - Dealt with several uncomfortable moments well.

CB: Nathan Ake - 7/10 - Continued his impressive form this season.

DM: John Stones - 6/10 - Did well to defend and keep tabs on Southampton's forwards.

DM: Rodri - 6/10 - Didn't provide much in attack but didn't make any major errors either.

RM: Riyad Mahrez - 5/10 - Had a quiet game and was hardly involved.

CM: Kevin De Bruyne - 9/10 - A good battle with Elyounoussi. De Bruyne used his intelligence to get away and create the opener, securing his 100th Premier League assist at record pace, and played a huge role in the second and third strikes as well.

CM: Ilkay Gundogan - 7/10 - An intelligent performance from Gundogan as he linked all the pieces together and kept City pushing forward. Should have had a goal of his own.

LM: Jack Grealish - 8/10 - Another dangerous showing which yielded a scrappy, albeit deserved, goal and an impressive assist.

ST: Erling Haaland - 8/10 - Barely involved but once again popped up at the right moments to make the telling impact. A delightful second goal.

Bernardo Silva (56' for Mahrez) - 7/10

Kyle Walker (56' for Stones) - 6/10

Julian Alvarez (69' for Haaland) - 7/10

Sergio Gomez (80' for Ake) - N/A

Kalvin Phillips (80' for Rodri) - N/A

Pep Guardiola - 6/10 - Another classy performance from Guardiola. Struggled to get the right tune out of his team early on but eventually willed his way through.

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