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Raheem Sterling’s goal gave the locals a 1-0 win over Southampton,
December 19, 2020, 6:54 PM
Southampton and Manchester City met in the central game of the day in the Premier League. Immediately after the kickoff, Josep Guardiola’s men took control of the ball. But they quickly gave it to their opponent, moving into the game as second number. “The Saints” had a lot of ball possession in someone else’s midfield, but it didn’t bring any benefit. In time, the guests took the ball back to themselves and carried out attack after attack. Some of them ended up shooting on goal, but they posed no real threat to McCarthy. And in the 16th minute, the “townspeople” still managed to open an account. De Bruyne passed a shot to Sterling, and Raheem sent the ball into the net – 0: 1. Taking the lead, the Mancunians didn’t stop there and kept attacking.
After a while, Ralf Hasenhüttl’s charges took the initiative again and created an opportunity to score. Ings had a chance to score after Ederson hit the ball in front of him after Walcott hit, but Danny flew the ball past. After that, the owners with almost the entire team moved to someone else’s half of the field, pressing Ederson’s possessions. Southampton won quite a few set standards, followed by several shots on goal, but they weren’t dangerous.
The “saints” failed to pressure the guests, after which they calmed down the game. For several minutes, the teams took turns in possession of the ball, but did not move towards each other’s goal. Then Hasenhüttl’s protections went back on the offensive. In one of the episodes, Adams had a chance to shut down Walcott’s serve, but Che missed the ball. Until the end of the first half of the match, the hosts finally tried to score, but did not create a single dangerous moment. As for the guests, they carried out attacks from time to time, but it did not report any benefit. The teams took a break with a minimal advantage of the “neighbors”.
The debut of the second part of the match was dictated by the guests, who immediately took the advantage of the game. They carried out several great attacks, one of which was supposed to end with a goal, but they failed to implement. Silva was forced to score after a pass to De Bruyne, but he couldn’t hit the ball properly, rolling it into McCarthy’s hands. Subsequently, Guardiola’s sentries controlled the ball for a time, after which they gave the initiative to the rival. In one of the episodes, Walcott made a jewel transfer to Redmond free, but managed not to hit the ball, missing the opportunity to score.
Over time, the Hasenhüttl barriers occupied half of someone else’s field, but they acted there less significantly than in the first half. They practically did not leave half the field of others, owning the ball a lot, but this did not bring dividends. There were virtually no shots on Ederson’s goal, but they also posed no threat to the goalkeeper. In one of the episodes, Adams had a chance to send the ball into the net, but the angle was too sharp, so he only hit the net from the outside. A few minutes later, guests were able to unexpectedly score after Gundogan’s long-distance shot, but McCarthy managed.
After that, the “saints” returned to someone else’s half of the field, but they still had problems with a lack of ideas in the last third of the field. Until the end of the match, they didn’t create a single dangerous moment without having played enough to score a goal. At the end of the match, the “townspeople” took the ball for themselves, practically without giving it to their opponent. In injury time, Marez could have scored twice, but in both cases the Algerian missed the goal, disappointing Guardiola. In the remaining minutes, the Mankunians calmly brought the fight to its logical conclusion, eventually celebrating a minimal victory. This result allowed them, at least temporarily, to climb to fifth place.
In round 15, Southampton will face Fulham and Manchester City will put Newcastle’s strength to the test.
Southampton – Manchester city 0: 1
Objective: Sterling, 16
Southampton: McCarthy – Walker-Peters, Bednarek, Westergor, Bertrand – Walcott, Ward-Praus, Romeu, Genepo (Redmond, 59) – Ingz (Tella, 41), Adams (N’Lundulu, 82)
Manchester City: Ederson – Walker, Stones, Díaz, Cancello – Gundogan, Rodri – Silva, De Bruyne, Sterling – Torres (Marez, 72)
Warnings: Romeu, Ward-Prouse – De Bruyne, Anderson
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