Pre match entertainment went well in the Joshua Tree,watched Utd get beat at home and shared a Guinness or two in a warm friendly pub packed equally with saints and city fans mingling and chatting with one another,a marked improvement on the horrible atmosphere that surrounded football in the 70s to the 90s. City's team was more or less as expected,with Milner and Negredo replacing Navas and Dzeko from the midweek starting line up from the victory at WBA,while saints line up resembled a carcrash of a side with an horrificly injury hit squad,Wanyama the latest to get ruled out during the week Of late Pellegrini has tried to change the poor away form by taking a more proactive tactic by taking the game to the opposition before they've settled and with such a makeshift opposition line up it was clearly the way to go not allowing the saints to settle. City were bright and vibrant,taking an early foothold in the game when Aguero swept home an inviting Kolorov cross to put City into a deserved early lead. Instead of wilting and withdrawing back towards their own goal line,surprisingly this Southampton squad are made of sterner stuff and driven on in particular by the excellent Cork,Southampton grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck and began to dominate proceedings. City were reduced to playing on the break and Aguero had a great chance to put City further ahead but uncharacteristically scuffed his shot. From then on the subdued visiting support behind the goal were willing the interruption of the half time whistle and a chance to regroup and rethink before Southampton drew level,but it wasn't to be as Osvaldo cut inside from the left wing,beating token tackles by a number of defenders before curling a beauty beyond the reaches of Pantilimon to give the Saints a deserved equaliser. Half time conversation was centred around how Pellegrini would attempt to stem the tide from our swamped midfield and whether we actually had the players to do anything about it on the bench. No changes at the break and no obvious change in tactics was worrying as Southampton simply took complete control of the game as we were out battled and out thought all over the pitch,eventually the completely overshadowed Yaya toure and Milner were replaced with Garcia & Navas to bring some drive and impetus to our side but to no avail as City continued to be engulfed by the young energetic saints midfield and but for the profligacy of Osvaldo would have run out comfortable winners. There were many excellent performances in the Southampton side,not least by Shaw who must be getting plenty of admirers with such a dearth of decent full backs around and Lovren who looks a really classy centre back but I really thought Cork,as he was last year,was the difference between the sides Refereeing left a lot to be desired as Mr Taylor decided 50/50s were to be given to the "big" team which is beginning to be the norm these days,I certainly remember when the opposite was true and we were on the receiving end of poor officiating Not many highlights from a City perspective,good to see Kompany back and genuinely delighted to come away with a point from a game we really deserved nothing from But the lingering memory on the long journey home is of a team outfought and outthought on the pitch and a subdued support comprehensively outsung Should have stayed in the Joshua Tree... Regards PPLF
If you've just got home to Stockport and written this, you've done well. That's the most unbiased report I've read this evening. Tbf, you may even have given us a little too much credit. Suffice to say, Man City have little to worry about in the overall scheme of things, and I think you'll go close this season. Get that Home confidence in your Away games and look out everybody.
Always good to hear from the opponents. Pleased you had a pleasant trip even if the result was not the greatest for you. My view of city was that they failed to kill the game off and i'm not sure if that was tactical or player attitude. We're so used to seeing you steam roller sides at home and once Aguero scored many of us feared the worst for Saints. However as great and as positive I felt we responded after the goal, we were aided by a side which visibly dropped deeper and dropped tempo. The momentum switched and was never regained as although a few half chances were created I can't recall a sustained spell of pressure or possession.
Probably the only drawback for Southampton would be that for all the domination they didn't work Pantilimon very much
Granted, though Chambers had an excellent chance to equalise, Rodriguez touch let him down 1-on-1 and Dani missed a couple of opportunities, one of them pretty glaring with Pant lying on the floor. We had some pretty good chances, just as ever we weren't especially clinical. Which I guess is kind of agreeing with your point!
Cheers PPLF, it's so refreshing to read an article from a fan of a "big club" who praises us rather than focusing purely on the performance of their own team. You will have better days, and plenty of them and are still one of 3 teams who I think can win the league. There was a real Dunkirk spirit about our team and fans today as we went into the game as massive underdogs, so in a way we had nothing to lose. Anyway, good luck for the rest of the season (except when we play you), I don't want a Cockney club to win the title.
Nice part of the world. Whenever I'm riding my bike to Cornwall I always feel I'm properly underway as I go past Wimborne. And every time I promise myself I'll pop into the town and visit the model village that I haven't seen since I was a child.
Has been a recurring problem at times; lots of good moves that fizzle out owing to middling deliveries or moments where the passer and recipient had different intentions. Have to say, though, that your defense had a big hand in that today...there were several really good balls that were deflected away from harm at the last moment by City players, something that might've come in handy at the other end before that cross reached Aguero.
