Manchester City’s run has been halted for the time being. The 1-1 draw at Southampton also means Liverpool could possibly reignite the championship race.
The champions’ familiar ball dominance had still looked more like a rut when Southampton played around City’s pressing early on and took the lead through a fine outside-the-box shot from right-back Walker-Peters (7th). A lead that was well deserved by the break.
The Saints had to invest a lot but made life difficult for their visitors. City hardly created any chances and were lucky that Broja was offside for the supposed 2-0 (23rd). Guardiola’s men only became stronger towards the end of the first half when Sterling missed two great chances (35th, 38th).
Saturday night’s game remained extremely refreshing after the change of ends as Southampton saw their chance and could have made it 2-0 through Bednarek (46th, 54th) and Broja (53rd, 54th) as City equalised through Rodri (48th, 59th).
The Saints also have aluminium luck
Sometimes even a Guardiola team needs a resting ball: Laporte broke free dynamically after De Bruyne’s free-kick cross and headed unstoppably into the short corner – 1:1 (65.).
The equaliser then noticeably flipped the switch. The home side had to thank the post twice (De Bruyne, 70.; Gabriel Jesus, 72.) to avoid falling behind. And even though Southampton no longer had a sniff of victory, Ralph Hasenhüttl’s team managed to hold on for the 1-1 draw.
Now it’s up to Liverpool
The loss of a point at the Saints means City are now twelve points ahead of their closest rivals Liverpool after matchday 23, although they have played two games less. Theoretically, the Reds are only six points behind in an ideal situation.
