DEFINITELY Not a performance to win
MANCHESTER CITY’S fans answered Pep Guardiola’s call to arms. It was his team that didn’t turn up. After Guardiola’s ill-conceived invitation for the City faithful to fill the Etihad, there were close to 53,000 present.
The Catalan was sheepish after his champions’ performance suggested the head of the supporters’ club had a point when he told 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 AVAR check to confirm the assistant referee’s belief that the City striker was offside.
Guardiola said: “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 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 Saints, who will be wondering why they didn’t fly back to the south coast with three points.
Southampton suffered their ownvar agony on the hour, when referee Jon Moss awarded a penalty for Kyle Walker’s challenge on Adam
Armstrong only to change his mind after being summoned to the pitchside monitor.
Saints boss Ralph Hasenhuttl said: “We had the feeling it was not a clear wrong decision so the ref should not have overruled 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 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.we had some very good moments and we should have killed them.”
For most of the first half Southampton camped in City’s half but saw defender Jack Stephens limp off before half-time.
City didn’t improve after the break, wayward passes giving the visitors encouragement. Guardiola had seen enough before the hour and summoned Kevin De Bruyne from the bench but Saints’ grip on the game only slipped briefly.