They were wasting time from 9 minutes!
From Back Page one. Last season he destroyed us here. But they didn’t want to play, they were time-wasting from the ninth minute. I just wanted them to play. ‘Their striker was marking our defensive midfielder so it was 10 men behind the ball all the time. That’s very difficult to face. They came to defend and waste time.’ Guardiola could not contain his delight when Sterling curled in the winner with virtually the last kick of the game to break Saints’ hearts after Oriol Romeu had cancelled out the opener, which had been credited to Kevin De Bruyne. The City boss was spoken to by Tierney after he ran on the pitch punching the air and celebrating with his players — including Benjamin Mendy who is recuperating from a ruptured cruciate ligament. ‘I said (to the ref) I apologise because I couldn’t control it,’ he added. ‘I was so happy. I ran behind Raz but wasn’t quick enough. He told me, “You can’t do that”, and I said “I know!”. Mendy is crazy. A six-month injury and running. Disaster! I think all the supporters have had some special moments and in the last second we enjoyed the situation. You have to celebrate it.’ Guardiola paid tribute to Sterling, who followed up his late winners for City against Feyenoord last week and Huddersfield on Sunday with another sensational strike to claim his 13th goal in 19 games this season. ‘He’s full of confidence,’ said the City boss. ‘I said many times, he’s young but he’s making steps. Before he was shy and didn’t believe, now he can do it. His team-mates give him confidence. It was a fantastic goal.’ Southampton boss Pellegrino was puzzled that the referee decided to add on six minutes, admitting: ‘It’s frustrating for us but we have to digest this pain.’