A large section of the Southampton fans considered the comeback defeat against Leicester City as a huge missed-chance to take the first league win. On top of that, a defeat against defending Premier League Champions Manchester City looked highly likely, before two important fixtures against Wolves and Everton.
Thus, Russell Martin's side needed to avoid conceding a lot of goals in order to keep a decent goal-difference. The Saints managed to did that, but looked visibly disappointed not to take a draw from this match as Erling Haaland's early first half goal gave Pep Guardiola's side a 1-0 home win.
Still, Southampton had a lot of positives to take from this resilient defensive display. Hence, on that note, here are the three standout Southampton players from another 1-0 away defeat.
3 Standout Southampton players from a resilient performance in the 1-0 defeat
Taylor Harwood-Bellis
Facing Manchester City in the Premier League was a huge game for former City academy graduate Taylor Harwood-Bellis, who was tasked with defending against Premier League Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland. The 22-year-old has gone strength to strength at Southampton over the previous few months, and has been the defensive leader for the Saints in the ongoing Premier League campaign.
Although Haaland managed to find the back of the net within the first five minutes, Harwood-Bellis made four incredible blocks to deny his former side from doubling their lead. The England U21 captain made nine clearances in this match that included a heroic goal-line clearance on Erling Haaland's header from the corner in the second half.
Harwood-Bellis led the foundation for Southampton in order to try to find an equaliser to level the game, but Pep Guardiola's side didn't let the visitors to create much goalscoring opportunities throughout the match.