away
Manchester City
Lining up in a 361 formation with Akanji, Ake and Ruben Dias at the back, the midfield consisted of Stones, Rodri and Mahrez, led by DeBruyne, Gündogan, Grealish and Haaland up front. Southampton, on the other hand, played a 433 formation with Bella-Kotchap, Bednarek and Walker-peters at the back, Elyounoussi, Ward-Prowse and Lavia in midfield and Walcott, Alcaraz and Sulemana up front.
At the beginning of the game.
Manchester City
Then they launched an aggressive attack, Grealish used the left breakthrough to create a threat, several consecutive passes, Southampton although the pressure in front of the field, but recovered quickly, and in the box intensive defense, counterattacks are also quite effective.
Southampton's forward pressing makes
Manchester City
Out of the back of the net the ball became cautious and the first half consumed a lot of time as a result. Nonetheless.
Manchester City football club
The team was never able to break through the opponent's defense. It wasn't until just before the end of the first half that DeBruyne had a chance on the left and crossed before the opposition players could reach it, Haaland was in the middle of the pitch to head the ball in ahead of Bella-Kotchap.
Manchester City
Taking a 1-0 lead.
In the second half, Southampton tried to fight back, but the
Manchester City
The midfield defense remained solid. Southampton pushed forward in midfield, but were soon
Manchester City
Seizing the opportunity, on 57 minutes DeBruyne took the ball in the middle and laid it straight to the left, where Grealish accelerated forward and fired a shot ahead of Maitland-Niles, which was blocked by the keeper but added to the score.
Manchester City
Taking a 2-0 lead.
Manchester City
Utilizing the left side movement of Grealish and DeBruyne to create pressure and space, the game got better and better. 67 minutes in, DeBruyne played a pass straight to the left from the halfway line, Grealish took the ball and adjusted inside the box before picking out a cross, before the Southampton defense was able to get back in position, Haaland was on the right hand side of the nine-yard box and inverted the ball into the far corner of the net.
Manchester City
Up 3-0.
Southampton pulled one back on 72 minutes when substitute Djenepo burst down the left, grounded a ball into the box and substitute Mara fired home from 13 yards.
However, on 74 minutes DeBruyne burst into the Southampton box and was fouled by Walker-Peters for a 12-yarder, and substitute Alvarez scored the penalty to make it 4-1.
Thereafter.
Manchester City
Steadily controlling possession, Southampton stopped tackling hard and eventually
Manchester City football club
A 1-4 win on the road.
In this game.
Manchester City
Utilizing Grealish and DeBruyne's left shifts to create multiple chances on the Southampton side of the field, with the midfield allowing DeBruyne the freedom to move to both sides of the field, Gündogan controlling in the middle of the field, and the backfield allowing Stones to move forward to help out at the back, with Ake supporting on the ball at the right time, a tactic which has been very effective of late, and which may have worked just as well in the UEFA Champions League match against Bayern. The game will probably also work against Bayern in the Champions League.
