Cool Kevin de Bruyne restores Manchester City calm

Manchester City 3 Southampton 1: WHAT a difference a week makes. Seven days on from a humbling home defeat by Liverpool — and with a Champions League loss in between — Manchester City returned to winning ways with a win that took them back to the top of the Premier League. Normal service resumed?

City weren’t perfect as they made harder work than they should have of beating a Southampton side which hadn’t lost away from home in the league since the final day of last season, when they were also beaten at the Etihad.

A seventh successive away game without defeat would have equalled a club top-flight record but despite a promising fightback built around Shane Long’s first league goal since August, the Saints left themselves too much to do following a wretched start in which they conceded twice in the opening 20 minutes.