Southampton 1-4 Manchester City: Erling Haaland returns with two goals, Jack Grealish on target in easy win

Erling Haaland hit a brace to chalk up his 30th Premier League goal of the season as Manchester City cut the gap to Arsenal at the summit to five points with a 4-1 victory that deepens rock-bottom Southampton’s relegation fears.

Saints frustrated Pep Guardiola’s reigning champions for long spells in a tight first half, but were undone on the stroke of the interval when Haaland nodded home Kevin De Bruyne’s cross for the Belgian to become the fastest man to notch up 100 Premier League assists.

The visitors moved up a gear following the break and Jack Grealish continued his fine form of late by firing in a rebound on 58 minutes after Gavin Bazunu had saved his initial effort.

Haaland then grabbed his second of the evening with an acrobatic overhead kick before Saints substitute Sekou Mara reduced the arrears.

Julian Alvarez then came off the bench to put the seal on victory with a composed penalty 15 minutes from time.

The result means Man City cut Arsenal’s lead at the top to five points having played the same number of games, with The Gunners facing a tough trip to Liverpool on Sunday afternoon. Southampton remain rooted to the foot of the table, four points adrift of 17th-placed Everton with eight matches to play.

City will now turn their attention to the heavyweight Champions League quarter-final first leg showdown with Bayern Munich on Tuesday night.

Southampton must try to bounce back at home to Crystal Palace next Saturday.

Talking point – All eyes on Anfield

City would have been desperate to avoid a monumental slip-up given that Arsenal face one of their toughest fixtures of the run-in on paper on Sunday afternoon.

Liverpool have had a dreadful season by their own recent halcyon standards, but they remain a huge challenge in front of the Anfield crowd and Guardiola will be relieved his team stepped up in the second half and got the job done on a ground where they suffered a shock EFL Cup exit as recently as January. The Spaniard will now be hoping for a favour from his old Merseyside foes that would mean City would be five points behind Mikel Arteta’s Gunners with a game in hand heading into the final furlong of the title race.

Assuming there are no further surprise results in the next couple of fixtures, that would set up the clash between City and Arsenal at the Etihad on April 26 as a potential title-decider. A City win there would put their crown back in their own hands. It’s all ‘Ifs’ at this juncture and City have the small matter of Bayern Munich in the Champions League next, but they are in the groove at just the right time with eight straight victories in all competitions setting them up nicely for the business end of the campaign.

Player of the match – Kevin de Bruyne (Manchester City)

The Belgian stood out throughout, but was particularly important in a tricky first period for the visitors when it was his piece of genius that carved out the opener and saw him become the quickest man to a century of Premier League assists. He achieved the feat in just 237 matches and is only the fifth player to hit that mark. He will surely now have eyes on Ryan Giggs’ record of 162 assists.

Player Ratings

Match Highlights

16’ – SOUTHAMPTON CHANCE! De Bruyne loses out trying to return the ball from a half-cleared corner and Sulemana races away. He’s got some way to go but manages to hold off Ake before a heavy touch allows Ederson to advance off his line and palm the ball to safety.

41’ – MAN CITY CHANCE! Haaland rises above his marker at the far post but somehow heads wide of the near post after De Bruyne’s cross from the left deflected invitingly for the City striker.

45’ – GOAL! – Southampton 0-1 Man City. Haaland pounces to head home De Bruyne’s sumptuous cross from the left. It took a while to break the deadlock but in the end it is oh so simple.

52’ – MAN CITY CHANCE! Gundogan exchanges passes with Grealish before arcing a lovely effort inches past the far post from the left side of the box.

58’ – GOAL! – Southampton 0-2 Man City. Grealish is sent clear on the counter attack by KDB. He fires his first shot straight at Bazunu but is on hand to flick the rebound home with the outside of his foot.

68’ – GOAL! – Southampton 0-3 Man City. Haaland acrobatically snares his 30th PL goal of the season from Grealish’s floated cross from the left.

72’ – GOAL! – Southampton 1-3 Man City. Mara makes an impact from the bench with a low strike after a dazzling run and pass from Djenepo.

75’ – GOAL! – Southampton 1-4 Man City. Alvarez steps up and fires a clinical spot kick down the middle. The penalty was awarded after Walker-Peters brought down De Bruyne.

Key Stats

De Bruyne has assisted seven Premier League goals for Erling Haaland this season, the most one Man City player has assisted another in a single campaign.

De Bruyne became the fifth player to assist 100 goals in the Premier League: 162 – Giggs, 111 – Fàbregas, 103 – Rooney, 102 – Lampard, 100 – De Bruyne