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
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
