Report: Spirited Saints fall to early goal

The prolific Norwegian was too strong for Jan Bednarek as he held off the defender to score from his first chance of the game.

Saints recovered admirably from the early setback, playing their way into the game before Cameron Archer struck the crossbar in the final minute of the first half from the visitors’ best chance of the game.

Early goal aside, Haaland was otherwise kept quiet until a flurry of second-half opportunities came and went, including a goal-line clearance from Taylor Harwood-Bellis and a brave late save from Aaron Ramsdale either side of an uncharacteristic close-range miss.

Russell Martin made two changes to his starting line-up, as captain Jack Stephens returned from a five-match ban to make his first appearance since his red card against Manchester United in mid-September.

Elsewhere Adam Lallana was preferred to Joe Aribo to give Saints greater control in midfield against the team who keep the ball better than any other in the Premier League.

Aribo was joined on the bench by Yukinari Sugawara, who hobbled out of the defeat to Leicester, as Kyle Walker-Peters and Ryan Manning flanked a five-man defence.

City were 5-0 winners in the Champions League on Wednesday night, and picked up where they left off with a dominant start.

Man City Academy graduate Taylor Harwood-Bellis made his first return to the club he served for 16 years

Rúben Dias had already tested Ramsdale’s handling from long range before Haaland pounced five minutes in.

Working the ball down the left-hand side, Bernardo Silva fed Matheus Nunes, whose cross from the byline approached Haaland at an awkward angle, but the goalscoring supremo was able to hold off Bednarek and reach the ball with his studs, sending it down into the ground and up into the net past Ramsdale from six yards.

The keeper then saved comfortably from a deflected Savinho shot, while Nunes whistled one past the post either side of Saints’ first attack.

After Tyler Dibling was fouled on the halfway line, the 18-year-old was keen to get on with things, taking the free-kick quickly for Lallana before receiving the return pass inside the City box as Saints burst forward, but across came Manuel Akanji to snuff out the danger.

By the half-hour mark, Saints were looking at home at the Etihad. Lallana wriggled out of challenges and helped the visitors gain some control, also blocking a shot from Mateo Kovačić when called upon to do some defending.

Just as the first half looked like drifting to a close without any further alarms, Martin’s men were frustrated when an alleged foul on Flynn Downes was ignored and City broke through Phil Foden and Haaland, whose shot was crucially blocked by Bednarek.

Saints were already angered by that decision before Downes was penalised for a perfectly-timed slide tackle, sparking bookings for dissent for Downes and his manager.

Ramsdale then had to make a save to keep out Kovačić, but the most presentable chance since Haaland’s early opener ultimately fell to Archer in the one added minute at the end of the half.

Good work from Downes started the move, before Stephens prodded the ball through for the striker, whose impressive pace took him clear of the City backline.

With only Ederson to beat, Archer was forced on to his weaker left side but still connected sweetly enough as he lifted his shot over the advancing keeper, only to see the ball crash against the crossbar and back into play, as Saints came agonisingly close to a timely equaliser.

Cameron Archer beats Ederson but sees his shot rattle the City crossbar

The interval prompted Saints’ first substitution, as Martin introduced Adam Armstrong to play on the right-hand side in place of Dibling.

His side were met by a City side intent on putting the game to bed, as Savinho’s driving run set up Foden to fire inches wide from the edge of the box, before Bednarek and Harwood-Bellis both made vital clearances to keep Saints in the contest.

When Armstrong was booked seconds after coming on, Foden’s deep free-kick was headed back across goal by Joško Gvardiol, forcing Bednarek into emergency action, before Haaland met the resulting corner with a header cleared off the line by the well-positioned Harwood-Bellis.

Haaland had another headed chance from an identical position held by Ramsdale and missed a sitter at the back post from Savinho’s inswinging cross when City looked certain to double their lead.

By that time Saints might have levelled when Armstrong set off down the right, ducked inside and hit a left-footed shot that Ederson needed two attempts to smother.

Having weathered the initial second-half storm, Martin introduced Aribo for the recently booked Lallana, who departed to generous applause from the 3,000-strong army of travelling fans.

Saints were hanging in there, as the second goal continued to elude City, and specifically Haaland, who just could not crane his neck to direct the ball on target from another sumptuous Savinho cross, leaving Pep Guardiola with his head in his hands on the touchline.

With 74 minutes on the clock there was still only one goal in it, as Archer attacked down the left and waited for support from Aribo, before Mateus Fernandes set up Armstrong to fire just over.

The Saints fans responded, still believing their team could salvage a result from this toughest of tests.

An innocuous injury to Ramsdale caused a delay that saw the clock tick down towards the 80-minute mark, as tension rose inside the Etihad Stadium with every Saints attack after the keeper was fit to carry on.

Martin introduced Paul Onuachu and Kamaldeen Sulemana for the closing stages, including six minutes of stoppage time, but Saints could not carve out one last chance to rescue something.

Southampton: Ramsdale, Walker-Peters, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Stephens (c), Manning (Bree 77), Downes (Kamaldeen 87), Lallana (Aribo 60), Fernandes, Dibling (Armstrong 45), Archer (Onuachu 87).

Unused substitutes: McCarthy, Sugawara, Ugochukwu, Cornet.

Booked: Downes, Armstrong, Lallana.

Manchester City: Ederson, Lewis (Stones 90+7), Akanji, Dias (c), Gvardiol, Kovačić, Savinho, Foden, Bernardo, Nunes (Gündoğan 86), Haaland.

Unused substitutes: Ortega, Carson, Aké, O’Reilly, McAtee.

Goals: Haaland (5’).

Booked: Kovačić.

Referee: Tony Harrington.