Gavin Bazunu can't stop Haaland and Co as City go top
BRAVE: Southampton goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu saves at the feet of Manchester City's Erling Haaland. Picture: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.
Erling Haaland hit 20 goals for the season in just his 12th Manchester City appearance as Pep Guardiola's side sauntered back to the top of the Premier League.
Such is the Norwegian's form that scoring "only" one goal felt like something of a sub-par showing.
But while Southampton succeeded in silencing him for the first 64 minutes, there were goals for team-mates Joao Cancelo, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez and a fourth consecutive league defeat which has piled the pressure on manager Ralph Hasenhuttl.
Haaland's goal, when it did arrive, came courtesy of a Cancelo cross, following a superb flowing passing move with De Bruyne.
The Portuguese defender’s cross picked out Haaland, who had slipped two markers and finished clinically with a left-foot strike from 12 yards - making his goal-scoring average for the season to one goal every 47.7 minutes.
It looked like being a long afternoon for the struggling visitors when Haaland burst clear, with only Gavin Bazunu to beat, after 13 minutes.
The entire crowd expected to see the net bulge and the striker celebrating his 20th goal of the season but, for once, Haaland was fractionally off target.
The ball struck the foot of the left-hand post and rolled across the six-yard box before going behind.
If Hasenhuttl thought his luck was changing, however, he was to be sorely disappointed as it took City just seven more minutes to open the scoring.
Foden burst forward, only to be hacked down by Kyle Walker-Peters in the centre circle, although referee Andrew Madley was well-placed to play a perfect advantage.
Cancelo received the ball from Foden's pass and sprinted half the length of the field, twisting skilfully past an embarrassed James Ward-Prowse before beating Bazunu with a blistering left-foot finish.
The chances continued to flow and the three points looked decided when City doubled their lead just after the half hour, through Foden.
The England star, scorer of a hat-trick in last weekend's Manchester derby, beat Bazunu with a delightful chip after being played through by a perfect Kevin De Bruyne pass.
It was the Belgian's ninth assist of the season, an astonishing start to the campaign which has now taken him above Dennis Bergkamp into fifth place on the Premier League's all-time assist charts, with 95.
If Southampton had aspirations to turn the fortunes around and launch the most unlikely of second half comebacks, it took only four minutes of the second half for that hope to be extinguished.
It was another well-worked effort and, possibly, an example of how s defence's obsession with Haaland can create opportunities for his City team mates.
Rodri delivered a teasing, far-post delivery which found an unmarked Mahrez whose powerful and technically-perfect shot bounced down and into the Saints goal.
Thereafter, the main object of the afternoon, at least for City and their fans, was to see if Haaland could maintain his prodigious goal-scoring form.
The striker shot well wide from a difficult chance after 51 minutes and was, again, surprisingly wasteful soon after when he slid in and missed connecting with a De Bruyne pass from all of six yards.
Just after the hour, De Bruyne, once more, played the striker clear but, as he attempted to round Bazunu, the Irish keeper made a fine save at Haaland's feet.
: Ederson 6; Akanji 7, Dias 7, Ake 7, Cancelo 9 (Gomez 70, 6); De Bruyne 8 (Alvarez 70, 6), Rodri 6, Silva 6 (Lewis 77, 6); Foden 7 (Grealish 57, 6), Haaland 7, Mahrez 7 (Palmer 70, 6). Substitutes (not used) Gundogan, Laporte, Ortega, Wilson-Esbrand.
Bazunu 8; Walker-Peters 7 (Larios 78, 5), Salisu 6, Bella-Kotchap 6, Perraud 5; S Armstrong 5 (Djenepo 65, 5), Ward-Prowse 5, Diallo 5, Aribo 6 (Mara 78, 5); A Armstrong 5 (Elyounoussi 65, 5), Adams 5. Substitutes (not used) McCarthy, Maitland-Niles, Lyanco, Caleta-Car, Walcott.
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