MATCH REPORT AND PLAYER RATINGS: SOUTHAMPTON 1-4 MANCHESTER CITY

Manchester City were comfortable as they overcame a blunt Southampton side, in a match that saw Erling Haaland return from injury in spectacular style.

After missing a good headed chance just a few minutes before, the 22 year old Norwegian powered a header past former City goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu on the stroke of halftime, after a fantastic clipped cross from Kevin de Bruyne.

City doubled the lead through in form left winger Jack Grealish, who followed in on his low left footed drive to tap it into the empty net, after a precise initial through ball from De Bruyne.

Haaland scored his 44th goal of the season in a spectacular style, with a stunning scissor kick from close range, after Grealish lofted the ball to the back post to get his 12th goal involvement since the resumption of the Premier League after the World Cup.

Southampton pulled a goal back through Sekou Mara, who slotted home after fine work from fellow substitute Moussa Djenepo, who left 4 City players in his wake as he weaved into the penalty area.

City, however, restored their 3 goal league just minutes later as Julian Alvarez slammed a penalty kick straight down the middle, after Kyle Walker-Peters brought De Bruyne down in the box.

Southampton were limited to just a few chances, most of which came from pacey forward Kamaldeen Sulemana. The biggest chance came at 0-0, where he found himself with the vast majority of the pitch to run into after City conceded possession on the edge of Southampton's box, with just Nathan Ake and goalkeeper Ederson back. Between them, however, they were able to thwart any potential danger.

City were most certainly not at their free flowing best, particularly in the first half. However, they created enough to win the game, and provided enough quality in the necessary moments in order to score goals, and to once again convince fans that they're right back to in form at the most important time of the season.

Guardiola took a slight risk (and completely showed me up with my predicted line-up) by going with a full strength team from the off. The likes of Aymeric Laporte, Julian Alvarez and Kyle Walker all started the game on the bench, as Guardiola prioritised making sure the Blues were in a comfortable position before making any changes.

We did see Walker, Alvarez, Kalvin Phillips and Sergio Gomez come on for Stones, Haaland, Rodri and Nathan Ake respectively, so it would be true to say that Guardiola has at least one eye on the Champions League fixture against Bayern Munich on Tuesday.

Here are the player ratings for City's comfortable victory on the south coast:

Ederson - 6.5/10 - Had very little to do once again in the City goal. His distribution was fine, as is usually the case, and can't be held in any way responsible for the goal. He did well to come out in the 1 vs 1 chance for Sulemana whilst the score was still 0-0.

Stones - 6.5/10 - Southampton's narrow defensive shape, combined with the Saints' reluctance to allow City's central midfielders the opportunity to receive the ball, meant that Stones had a much quieter game than against Liverpool. He was secure in possession and defended well, but was subbed off towards the hour mark in a change of system for the Blues.

Akanji - 7/10 - Was solid defensively for the most part. He was composed in possession, and rarely, if ever, looked like giving it away. Perhaps City need to sign a new right sided central defender in the transfer window, as John Stones gets more game time at right back and Dias plays more on the left side to suit the system, which leaves Akanji as the only real option at this moment in time.

Dias - 7/10 - Made a fantastic tackle at one point when chasing back towards his own goal, one that you absolutely knew he was going to get spot on. Other than that, Dias's performance was solid, if not remarkable, as he had very little defending to do.

Ake - 7/10 - Another good shift at left back from the 28 year old Dutchman. He held his ground very well when defending the 1 vs 1 chance, and it says something about him that there is no other City player I'd have rather had in that position than him.

Rodri - 6.5/10 - Broke the lines with a pass on numerous occasions, and, as usual, won plenty of second balls to help retain possession. He didn't have the full individual dominance over midfield that he usually would have, and was subbed off for a well earnt break towards the end of the match.

De Bruyne - 8.5/10 - Was instrumental to City' attacking threat, providing an assist, winning a penalty and laying the ball off to Grealish for his goal, which unfortunately won't go down as his assist, due to the initial save from the goalkeeper. Marked down slightly due to losing the ball in a dangerous position for the 1 vs 1.

Gundogan - 7.5/10 - City's captain looked tidy in possession, as always, and came inches away from a goal himself. He seems to have made the left sided 8 position his own, which is an accomplishment in this talented City side.

Mahrez - 6/10 - Didn't provide much going forward in the game, and was often isolated on the wing. His best contribution of the game was his involvement in the early move that provided Jack Grealish with a shooting opportunity.

Haaland - 8.5/10 - Simply a magnificent goal scorer. In terms of overall play, this game wasn't as impressive as his best, such as the 7-0 against Leipzig, the 3-1 away win over Arsenal and the 6-3 home victory over Manchester United, but he was in the right position to score both his goals, and his scissor kick was a contender for goal of the season!

Grealish - 8.5/10 - This man is the definition of why you should never doubt a Pep Guardiola signing. Grealish has been solid throughout his entire City career, but since the World Cup, we have seen him provided many more goals and assists, and ultimately, receive his flowers from City and opposition fans alike.

Substitutes:

Walker - 6/10 - After Guardiola gave a reason for his recent lack of involvement in his press conference before the match, Walker came on and played in an interesting role, out on the wide right hand side with Bernardo Silva playing more narrowly, and Gundogan dropping deeper. Walker was tidy in possession, but is marked down for arguably not doing enough to stop Djenepo for Southampton's goal.

Bernardo - 6.5/10 - Provided bounds of energy and running off the right hand side. He should arguably have scored however, when De Bruyne cut the ball back to him towards the penalty spot, only for the Portuguese to drive his shot straight at a Southampton defender.

Alvarez - 6.5/10 - As always, the World Cup winning striker did plenty of the dirty work, and never gave up when relentlessly pressing opponents, and scored an excellent penalty to boot.

Phillips - 6/10 - Didn't have much time on the pitch. However, when he was playing, he sprayed a few excellent passes out to Bernardo, looked tidy enough in possession when short passing, and he was able to give Rodri a few important moments of rest.

Gomez - 6/10 - Same as Phillips, although it was promising to see him slot into the left side of a aback 3 in possession. It was also important to risk Ake no further, with such an important game on Tuesday.