The previous three performances against Bournemouth, Arsenal and Leicester City had the same pattern of making defensive mistakes after conceding the opening goal. While Southampton managed to find the back of the net in these three games, the defence couldn't manage to avoid a defeat, which led the Saints to remain at the nineteenth place in the league table.
After that, the upcoming match was against Manchester City and the defending Premier League Champions were expected to register a huge home win over Russell Martin's side after coming on the back of a huge 5-0 win in the UEFA Champions League. Southampton were expected to make some lineup changes following the injuries to Yukinari Sugawara and Will Smallbone as well as the return of centre-back Jack Stephens.
Saints give their best defensive performance but Haaland guides City to 1-0 home win
Martin made a huge surprising decision as he started Stephens in this massive away match despite the fact that the 30-year-old hasn't played for the first-team since last month. Moreover, Kyle Walker-Peters started at right-back as expected and Adam Lallana replaced Joe Aribo in the starting lineup.
Manchester City started the game on a high note and advanced inside the final third multiple times in the first few minutes of the match. Their consistent goalscoring efforts were rewarded quickly as Premier League Golden Boot winner Erling Haaland managed to find the back of the net despite Bednarek's best attempts to make a huge clearance to deny Manchester City from taking the lead.
Southampton have conceded early goals previously against Bournemouth as well, and the Southampton fans expected Russell Martin's side to again concede a lot of goals in the match. However, the Saints maintained their defensive solidity in this match and didn't allow Pep Guardiola's side to take several goalscoring attempts from inside the box.
In terms of their attack, Southampton struggled to advance inside the final third, but were very close to scoring an equalising goal in the first half itself. Jack Stephens gave a clever quick pass to Cameron Archer near the Manchester City half, who continued his brilliant run towards the box but his attempt came off the goal-post.
In the second half, Pep Guardiola's side created a lot of chances to double their lead, however, the defence made a number of huge clearances and tackles to keep Manchester City from scoring more goals. While Southampton faced another Premier League defeat this season, this performance was their best defensive display in the ongoing league campaign.
Now, the upcoming matches against Wolves and Everton in the Premier League and the Carabao Cup match against Stoke City are must-win games for the Saints, and it remains to be seen whether Russell Martin's side can secure the three points in each of these matches.