WOULD YOU ADAMS ’N EVE IT?
Che’s first goal in 456 days sinks City slickers
GOOD things come to those who wait and few have had to wait as long as Che Adams.
Adams, a £15m signing from Birmingham last July, had gone 456 days without a goal.
But his first-ever Premier League strike was worth the wait as he chipped Ederson from 35 yards to give Southampton a shock victory as Manchester City slumped to a NINTH league defeat of the season.
Saints keeper Alex Mccarthy and central defender Jack Stephens were both outstanding and City have now lost three consecutive away league games for the first time since 2015, the first time a Pep Guardiola team has ever done so.
After reminding everyone how good they still are by humbling champions Liverpool, City made six changes for this one.
That’s a luxury you can enjoy when you have little left to play for in the league and they looked relaxed and loose at the start here.
Ederson pinged a 50-yard ball to feet with virtually his first touch. David Silva flicked passes around defenders. Raheem Sterling balanced a pass on his foot.
Perhaps they were a bit too relaxed. A mistake by Aymeric Laporte presented Saints with the first chance but both Adams and Nathan Redmond mis-hit shots. Adams made no mistake for his winner, though. Left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko dwelt too long and coughed up possession.
The rest was all Adams, who scooped home an inchperfect lob for his first goal since April 2019. For Birmingham.
City then had penalty appeals waved away when Bernardo Silva took a tumble, Gabriel Jesus poked one over and Danny Ings cleared another off the line.
Mccarthy saved from Sterling, Fernandinho hit the post, and Sterling whistled a shot narrowly wide but Ings could have made it two when he skied a volley from a great position after being picked out nicely by Kyle Walker-peters. Laporte had a shot blocked at the start of the second half and Jesus failed with a header as City attacked in waves.
Mccarthy then robbed David Silva after a brilliant pass from Zinchenko, who was otherwise having a stinker. Guardiola had seen enough, taking off both his wingers and throwing on Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden.
It soon became a case of defence versus attack, though Ederson had to race off his line to deny Adams his second.
De Bruyne rushed a volley and sliced it over but Ederson then had to make a good save from Stuart Armstrong to prevent more embarrassment before catching a curling effort from James Ward-prowse.