PEP , IT’S A BIT
City boss admits that his side were ‘sloppy’
MANCHESTER CITY’S fans noisily answered Pep Guardiola’s call to arms.
It was his team that did not turn up.
After Guardiola’s ill-conceived invitation for the City faithful to fill the Etihad, it was packed to the rafters, apart from a few hundred places reserved for travelling Saints.
But the Catalan was sheepish after his side produced a performance that suggested the supporters’ club chairman had a point in telling Guardiola to stick to coaching.
City’s only effort on target was when Phil Foden’s last-minute header was brilliantly saved by Alex Mccarthy.
Raheem Sterling poked home the rebound to send the fans into a frenzy – only for a VAR check to confirm the assistant referee’s belief that the City striker was offside.
Guardiola admitted: “We weren’t good in the build-up.
“We lost simple balls in our process. We weren’t clever today. It was a bit sloppy.
“We didn’t not win because we didn’t have a centre-forward. It was because the process wasn’t enough to give them chances.
“We had just one shot on target, but there were blocks in the six-yard box.
“But the reason we played like this was because we didn’t produce the process from the back four.”
Defeat would have been cruel on the Saints.
Guardiola was right about one thing – Ralph Hasenhuttl’s side were a stubborn proposition.
In fact, they will be wondering why they did not fly back to the south coast with three points.
Southampton suffered their own VAR agony on the hour.
Referee Jon Moss awarded a penalty for defender Kyle Walker’s challenge on Saints striker Adam Armstrong – only to change his mind after being summoned to the pitch-side monitor.
Hasenhuttl (below) said: “We had the feeling it was not a clear wrong decision, so the ref should not have overruled it.
“But he did and it’s a pity for us because we have to accept it.
“We know if we wanted to win we had to have the perfect day and almost tactically and football-wise it was nearly perfect.
“To not get a penalty from the referee was not perfect.
“When you play like we did in the second half and hear the crowd starting to boo, you know you’re doing something right. The only thing that was missing was the final punch.
“We had some very good moments and we should have killed them. That is the only criticism.”
“We’re not really here” was the first chant that greeted Guardiola and his team.
For most of the first half, it was the home side who did a disappearing act as Southampton camped themselves in City’s half.
A sweeping move, involving Ilkay Gundogan, Sterling and Gabriel Jesus, ended with Bernardo Silva sliding in just too late to convert the Brazilian’s cross. And Jesus’ crashing half-volley was then headed away by Jan Bednarek before Saints saw defender Jack Stephens limp off seven minutes before the break.
But City did not improve after the break, a succession of sloppy passes giving the visitors encouragement that they could land a shock.
Guardiola had seen enough before the hour – and summoned Kevin De Bruyne from the bench.
By the time the Belgian was stripped, his task might have changed, with referee Moss having a change of heart about Walker’s vital challenge on Armstrong once the striker had tricked his way past Ruben Dias.
Foden and Riyad Mahrez also came on from the bench.
But Southampton’s grip of the game just slipped briefly when Foden’s downward header was saved by Mccarthy and Sterling turned the ball home – only for the offside flag to kill the celebrations.
Hasenhuttl added: “I was thinking, ‘That’s not fair, not now’. I was hoping it was offside, but the longer the VAR takes, the more nervous you become, thinking it could be a goal.
“We deserved to get something, I thought.”