Southampton: Saints Strike Early, Hang on for Draw vs Man City

Nathan Redmond scored in his second straight Premier League match as Southampton ground out a hard-fought 1-1 draw at the Etihad today.

Redmond’s goal came on a tactical mistake from the highly-favoured Manchester City in the 27th minute, when a misplayed backpass left the Southampton forward an opening. Redmond pounced on the opportunity, rounding keeper Claudio Bravo and slotting it home to put the Saints up 1-0.

It was a stunning turn of events for Pep Guardiola’s team, which was heavily favoured despite not recording a win in four previous matches. City bossed possession early and throughout the match, but seemed lacking in urgency and cohesion going forward, much to the chagrin of the 55,000 faithful at the Etihad. A corner provided some heart-in-throat moments as it briefly appeared that City had quickly equalised; Sergio Aguero was judged offside, however, and the goal nullified.

As the half ended 1-0, the Citizens went off to a chorus of boos from the crowd.

The second half started with Guardiola determined to preserve his stainless record against Claude Puel, whom he last met in 2009 whilst managing Barcelona. A half-time substitution of Kelechi Iheanacho for Kevin de Bruyne was ordered, and took a mere ten minutes to achieve the desired effect. A break by Leroy Sane and Iheanacho beat Fraser Forster and put the Citizens level at 1-1.

The game would end on that scoreline despite some furious box-to-box action as the half-hour mark approached; by the final five minutes of regular play, momentum had swung back the way of Manchester City as Southampton looked desperately to hang onto their hard-fought point.

It would take every ounce of defensive skill, and a yellow-card to Fraser Forster for gamesmanship, but the Saints hung on to extend their Premier League undefeated streak to five.

Today’s match saw the first Premier League start of Sam McQueen, who continues to fill in for the injured Matt Targett, as well as the League debut of record-signing Sofiane Boufal, who came on in relief of Dusan Tadic in the 70th minute.

Speaking in postgame remarks, team captain Jose Fonte expressed disappointment at not taking home all three points, but said that that disappointment reflected just how far the club had come.

“Obviously it’s the first time in a few years that we have managed to get something from this game here,” Fonte told club media. “We’re a little bit disappointed…I think we can do better.”

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“For three or four years we’ve felt like this,” the Southampton captain added, stating that he felt the Saints are “a top club in England now” that must be expected to compete with the Premier League’s traditional titans.

With today’s draw, Southampton retain their position in the table at 8th, sitting on 13 points, a mere three off fifth-placed Chelsea whom they play next week at St. Mary’s. The Blues play fellow heavyweights Manchester United this afternoon.