Report: Determined Saints hold City at St Mary's

Underneath clear blue skies in SO14 the first half was dominated by the team in blue, who, despite their territory and possession, failed to register a shot on target against a defensively disciplined Saints side.

An equally dogged second 45 saw the visitors remain frustrated, as Saints held on to claim an impressive point that was particularly poignant, finally surpassing Derby County’s record-low Premier League points total of 11, set back in the 2007/08 season.

After naming an unchanged starting eleven in the last two outings, interim manager Simon Rusk made three changes following last weekend’s disappointing defeat at Leicester.

Making their first starts since February, James Bree and Welington came in as wing-backs for Kyle Walker-Peters, who missed out through illness, and Ryan Manning, who dropped to the bench.

Welington made a first start since February. (Photo: Matt Watson)

Further forward, Ross Stewart was replaced by Tyler Dibling leaving Kamaladeen Sulemana as the primary attacking outlet, as the hosts looked to frustrate City with numbers behind the ball.

As the sun beat down on St Mary’s, it was the visitors who turned up the heat in the early exchanges, as Pep Guardiola’s side immediately established a monopoly on possession.

In trademark fashion the sky blue shirts patiently shifted the ball from side-to-side looking for a chink in Saints’ armour, but a compact wall of red in front of them saw the game drift to the half-an-hour mark in unremarkable fashion.

With open play producing nothing for the Cityzens, the trusted boot of Kevin De Bruyne came closest to breaking the deadlock from a free-kick in the 32nd minute.

Perched just outside of the box, the Belgian’s curling effort had Aaron Ramsdale scrambling across his goal, only to ripple the top of the net on its way agonisingly over the bar.

As the break approached the hosts almost sucker punched City on a rare foray forward, led by Mateus Fernandes, only for James Bree’s low cross to be cut out by Manuel Akanji, drawing a chess-like opening 45 minutes to a close.

Both sides made one change at the halfway stage for differing reasons. Joe Aribo replaced the booked Lesley Ugochukwu as a precaution, whilst Guardiola looked to inject some pace into his side’s attack with Jeremy Doku taking James McAtee’s place.

Lesley Ugochukwu was replaced by Joe Aribo at half time. (Photo: Matt Watson)

The pattern of the game remained the same, however, with City now looking to break down an increasingly resolute Saints side in front of their travelling fans.

Buoyed by their side’s determined display, a rendition ‘Oh When the Saints’ bellowed around St Mary’s, briefly silenced when Bernardo Silva’s shot looked destined for the far corner.

However, Jack Stephens read the impending danger to hook the ball over his own bar to retain parity.

Now into the final 25 minutes, Rusk’s side looked to pounce at the other end with City increasingly committing numbers forward.

Fernandes’s shot from the edge of the box was well blocked by Rúben Días, with Cameron Archer also now on in place of Dibling for added attacking threat.

Joe Aribo made his first appearance under Simon Rusk. (Photo: Matt Watson)

The visitors responded with two substitutions of their own in the 76th minute, introducing Savinho and Nico O’Reilly for Phil Foden and Rico Lewis.

Their impact could’ve been instant, with the pair seemingly perfectly placed at the back post for Erling Haaland’s pass, only for the ball to somehow evade them both and trickle away from danger.

Now into the final 10 minutes, all heads inside the stadium were turned towards the Chapel End as City camped themselves in Saints' half, going close through the unlikely source of Dias, whose header had to be tipped over by Ramsdale.

When the England international was finally beaten as the game ticked into stoppage time, the crossbar came to the rescue to keep out Omar Marmoush's thundering effort.

St Mary's almost erupted when Archer struck the outside of the post from a tight angle in the dying embers of the game, but a deserved point was confirmed when a final long ball was claimed by a thankful Ramsdale to guide Saints to the important 12-point mark in the Premier League.

Southampton: Ramsdale, Bree, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Stephens (c), Welington (Maning 88'), Downes, Ugochukwu (Aribo 46’), Fernandes (Smallbone 90+3'), Dibling (Archer 65’), Kamaldeen (Stewart 88').

Unused substitutes: McCarthy, Wood, Sugawara,, Onuachu.

Booked: Ugochukwu, Downes.

Man City: Ederson, Lewis (O’Reilly 76’), Dias, Akanji, Gvardiol, Kovačić (Marmoush 84’), De Bruyne (c), McAtee (Doku 46’), Silva, Foden (Savinho 76’), Haaland.

Unused substitutes: Ortega, Nunes, Gündogan, González, Grealish.

Referee: Tim Robinson

Attendance: 30,937