African Superstar Inspires Man City To Five-Star Win
11 March, 2021
Premier League
Result: Manchester City 5-2 Southampton
Date: 10 March 2010
Venue: Etihad
Manchester City restored their 14-point lead at the top of the Premier League with a 5-2 thrashing of Southampton on Wednesday evening.
Following defeat in the Manchester derby, Pep Guardiola made five changes as Kyle Walker, Aymeric Laporte, Fernandinho, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden were recalled to the starting line-up.
The Citizens drew first blood in the 15th minute when Kevin de Bruyne bundled the ball home from close range after Foden saw his initial strike saved by McCarthy.
10 minutes later, Southampton were awarded a penalty as Laporte brought down Jannik Vestergaard in the box, which allowed James Ward-Prowse to equalise from 12 yards out.
Ward-Prowse looked to place the visitors ahead after 32 minutes, this time around with an effort from distance but Ederson produced an excellent save to keep out the midfielder's effort.
However, City restored their lead 5 minutes the break as Che Adams' poor pass found Riyad Mahrez who surged towards the box before finding the bottom corner with a excellent curling effort from the edge of the box.
Mahrez was instrumental in the third goal with time added on, as the Algerian weaved just how into the box before seeing his shot saved by McCarthy, but Ilkay Gundogan was on hand to score on the rebound.
The Algerian carried that momentum in to the second half as he completed his brace on 55 minutes with a neat turn and finish that gave McCarthy no chance at the near post.
The Saints pulled a second goal back two minutes later as Adams made up for his earlier error with a neat finish past Ederson from close range.
However, City restored their three-goal advantage a minute later through De Bruyne, who completed his brace with a composed finish in to the bottom corner.
Both sides still went searching for more goals as the half continued, but 5-2 was the way the encounter finished as City move 14 points free from second-place Manchester United.
Source: www.soccerladuma.co.za
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