Manchester City moved top of the Premier League table with a 1-0 win over Southampton on Saturday afternoon.
Premier League
Result: Manchester City 1-0 Southampton
Date: 26 October 2024
Venue: Etihad Stadium
Pep Guardiola made four changes from the UEFA Champions League action midweek, with goalkeeper Ederson, Josko Gvardiola, Ruben Dias and Mateo Kovavic returning to the starting the line-up.
City only needed five minutes to get the breakthrough as Matheus Nunes clipped the ball into the box for Haaland, who shrugged off one challenge before firing past Aaron Ramsdale.
It was one-way traffic in the first half as the Saints had no response for City's dominance of the possession, while they barely offered any thing on the counter.
The home side did push for more goals in the latter stages of the first half, Ramsdale produced a good save to keep out Kovavic's effort while Archer rattled the crossbar at the end other end just before the interval.
City continued to dominate in the second half but they should have been two goals up five minutes but Haaland somehow failed to hit the target from point-blank range at the far post.
With City struggling to get the second goal, the Saints began to feel as if they could snatch something as Archer looked lively on the counter but Ederson as yet to be tested.
That proved to be the trend for the rest of the second half as neither side were able to find the back of the net as, the Citizens claimed three points and moved to the top of the table.