Manchester City went back to the top of the Premier League ahead of the Sunday showdown between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates following Erling Haaland’s early effort against struggling Southampton.
Man City took a two points advantage after 1-0 victory over Southampton at the Etihad on Saturday to extend City’s unbeaten Premier League record to 32 games.
Given City’s lengthy injury list, manager Pep Guardiola was delighted with a victory that means his side can see how Arsenal go on against Liverpool from a position of authority, and to have suffered no more problems.
The league winner are now only six weeks away from going a full 12 months since their last defeat, by Aston Villa on 6 December.
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Russell Martin’s men still only have a single point to their name almost a quarter of the way through the campaign.
The visitors can take solace from the knowledge that the only previous time they failed to win any of their first nine games, in 1998-99, they stayed up, but
However, Martin needs to hope Southampton’s owners show him some patience as he looks to change the club’s fortunes following their return to the top flight.
Haaland shrugged off Jan Bednarek to turn Matheus Nunes’ fifth-minute cross beyond Saints keeper Aaron Ramsdale for his 11th league goal of the season.
The visitors seemed set for a heavy defeat, but a wasteful Haaland and a combination of dogged defending and some poor finishing from City, ensured a few home nerves before the final whistle.
Haaland, though, will wonder how on earth he only came away with a single goal, which takes his tally to 14 in all competitions this season.
A ripped shirt was the legacy of his physical battle with Bednarek but two head-in-hands moments were the end product of his failure to score more than once.
The Norwegian was only a yard out at the start of the second period when he pounced on Savinho’s far-post cross, but somehow put the ball wide.
Haaland, like everyone else in the stadium, was left in stunned disbelief at that failure.
Haaland also could not believe it when former City youngster Taylor Harwood-Bellis turned his header off the line.
Haaland got his third opportunity, also at the far post, all wrong, when he only succeeded in turning what should have been a routine header back across goal for Southampton to clear.
His final opportunity came in stoppage time when he was sent running at the Southampton goal. This time Ramsdale made the block.
Aside from Haaland’s efforts, Phil Foden, on only his second Premier League start of the season, flashed a shot narrowly wide at the start of the second period.
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