Pep Guardiola would have been relieved after hearing the final whistle blow as Manchester City narrowly beat Southampton 1-0 on Saturday.
Erling Haaland’s sole strike was the difference between both sides at the Etihad Stadium.
Bernardo Silva was full of praise for Haaland, who was guilty of fluffing his lines far too often against Southampton.
However, Manchester City perhaps succeeded in applying the pressure on Arsenal and Liverpool, who subsequently dropped points in a 2-2 draw on Sunday.
Pep Guardiola would be happy to see that his City side are at the top of the Premier League nine games into the season despite injuries to key players like Rodri, Kevin De Bruyne, Oscar Bobb, Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish.
With how well Arsenal and Liverpool have played this campaign, City are continuing to demonstrate to both clubs how consistent they must be if they intend to dethrone them.
Pep Guardiola says Man City “don’t like” running as much as they did vs Southampton
But it’s fair to say that Southampton gave the Sky Blues a tough test at the Etihad Stadium.
Russell Martin’s side were brave in possession and often kept the ball for long spells during the game.
So much so that Pep Guardiola claimed that his Manchester City players were forced into chasing Southampton a lot — running far too much for their own liking.
Guardiola said via HaytersTV: “If it was more possession, it was because they’re good. Erling [Haaland] didn’t run or Matheus [Nunes]? Or Savio or Phil [Foden] or Bernie [Bernardo Silva] or Kova [Mateo Kovacic]? We ran incredibly today.”
“We don’t like that. But it’s not because we were bad, it’s because they were good. And when that happens, it’s just to accept it and learn.”
“When I say learn, when I watch the game, look at that movement, look at what happened in this and that, what did we do, this and that and maybe in the future, we can use it.”
Pep Guardiola claimed “he will learn a lot” from Russell Martin after watching his Saints side go toe-to-toe with the Premier League champions.
Alan Shearer analysed Manchester City’s win against Southampton by claiming they have made “harder work” of games than expected recently.
Guardiola will be hoping Man City players dominate more against Tottenham
It has become somewhat of a given for Manchester City to dominate possession.
Even when City play against elite sides, they tend to have a lion’s share of the ball.
But against their latest visitors at the Etihad Stadium, they had to share the ball a lot more. Here are the statistics from the game.
| STAT | MAN CITY | SOUTHAMPTON |
| POSSESSION | 57% | 43% |
| PASSES | 616 | 479 |
| PASS ACCURACY | 92% | 90% |
| SHOTS ON TARGET | 8 | 2 |
| SHOTS | 22 | 5 |
| CORNERS | 12 | 1 |
| OFFSIDES | 1 | 2 |
City play Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup next, a team that play a possession-based style of football as well.
Pep Guardiola will be hoping his Manchester City side dominate proceedings a lot more against Spurs.
Otherwise, a lack of control through keeping the ball could give Ange Postecoglou’s side to assert themselves while his players could also pick up knocks due to running more than they are used to.
