Erling Braut Haaland broke the 30-goal barrier in the Premier League as Manchester City moved to within five points of Arsenal courtesy of a 4-1 win over basement side Southampton at St Mary’s – their eighth victory on the bounce in all competitions.
The Norwegian marksman scored twice alongside
efforts from Jack Grealish and Julian Alvarez in a classy performance from Pep
Guardiola’s side, while Sekou Mara struck a consolation for a Saints outfit who
had nothing to show for their fleeting threats in the first half.
Despite the 18-place and 41-point chasm
separating the two sides in the Premier League table, Southampton were not
afraid to ask a few questions of the Man City backline early doors, even though
the champions dominated possession as expected.
With 15 minutes gone, a short corner from Man
City failed to reach Kevin De Bruyne thanks to an alert Kamaldeen Sulemana, who
intercepted the set-piece and raced away down the other end, but Nathan Ake and
Ederson did enough to put the former Rennes man off as a heavy touch saw the
chance go begging.
Carlos Alcaraz headed wide in the 20th minute
as the St Mary’s faithful just started to believe that little bit more, and the
home crowd could afford themselves a chuckle in the 41st minute as Haaland
headed wide from close range, but the travelling fans at the opposite end of
the field thought that the Norwegian’s effort had gone in.
However, smiles on Saints fans’ faces were
soon wiped out just before the break, as Haaland made no mistake with a second
header from De Bruyne’s 100th Premier League assist to break the deadlock.
De Bruyne joined Ryan Giggs (162), Cesc
Fabregas (111), Wayne Rooney (103) and Frank Lampard (102) as just the fifth
player to set up a century of Premier League goals – doing so in a record 237
games – as Guardiola’s men entered the break with a slender lead despite
Southampton’s praiseworthy efforts.
The Saints’ uphill battle would become even
steeper in the 58th minute, as De Bruyne released Grealish down the left during
a quick break, and the in-form Englishman’s low effort was kept out by Gavin
Bazunu before he pounced on the rebound to double the champions’ advantage.
From goalscorer to provider in the blink of
an eye, Grealish stood and watched the mastery of Haaland after chipping a ball
to the 22-year-old at the back post in the 68th minute, as he completed his
brace with a sublime acrobatic kick to bring up 30 Premier League goals.
Any hopes of a miraculous Southampton
comeback had ostensibly been wiped out, but the Saints offered their fans a
minor slice of hope in the 72nd minute, as Moussa Djenepo weaved his way in and
out of challenges before laying off fellow substitute Mara to side-foot home
into the corner.
However, it took just two minutes for the
Citizens to restore their three-goal cushion, as Kyle Walker-Peters scythed
down De Bruyne in the area, and Alvarez did the rest from 12 yards – crashing
his penalty down the middle of the goal.
Man City now prepare to tackle Bayern Munich
in Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final first leg, by which point Arsenal
could have restored their eight-point lead in the Premier League with victory
over Liverpool on Sunday afternoon.
Meanwhile, Southampton remain in 20th place
with 23 points – four adrift of safety with eight games left to play – and
Selles’s men are back in action at St Mary’s against Crystal Palace next
Saturday.
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