Man City winning run over as spirited Southampton claim draw, but both sides rue wasted chances

Southampton brought Manchester City’s 12-match Premier League winning run to an end, holding out for a 1-1 draw with the champions at St Mary’s.

Pep Guardiola’s side came into the match after continuing a stellar and perfect run with victory over Chelsea last weekend.

However, they were sluggish going forward for large parts on the south coast. What’s more, Southampton had much the better first half and took the lead after only seven minutes through Kyle Walker-Peters.

The momentum shifted in the second half after Aymeric Laporte made it 1-1 from a free-kick. From there, City turned the screw but could not find a winner.

The result extended City’s lead at the top of the Premier League to 12 points, but Liverpool and Chelsea can cut the gap on Sunday with victories in their matches.

A lively start saw Jack Grealish and Raheem Sterling get straight into the game for City on either wing.

But it was Southampton who stunned the champions with the opening goal. Nathan Redmond got in on the right and squared for Walker-Peters, who fired a tricky shot expertly into the bottom left corner.

The Saints had the ball in the net for a second after 20 minutes, but Armando Broja was offside.

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The striker, on loan from Chelsea, latched onto Stuart Armstrong’s through ball, held off Ruben Dias and slid the ball past Ederson.

Over 20 minutes in and City had still not mustered any shots, let alone efforts on goal. Indeed, most of the action came up the other end as Broja was in again.

Ederson came out to tackle the forward and a penalty could have been likely had the offside flag not gone up again.

Sterling started the first half brightly for Man City and ended it as their most dangerous player. After he cut inside and curled an effort over the bar, he was denied by a stunning Fraser Forster save after Phil Foden‘s pass.

Southampton came fast out of the blocks after the break and Ederson had to tip away Jan Bednarek’s header from a corner.

From there, though, the momentum of the game shifted. Southampton had further chances to break away but Laporte stood strong.

And up the other end, the centre-back got City back level from a free-kick. He found himself unmarked in the box and he powered a header past Forster.

Man City turn the screw, but Southampton spoils shared

And after the equaliser, City dominated as they looked to find a winner.

Substitute Gabriel Jesus, who came on for Sterling, made an instant impact down the right.

De Bruyne, who got the assist for Laporte’s header, then hit the post with a curling effort from the edge of the area.

The Belgium international then thought he had won a penalty, but a lengthy VAR review found no conclusive evidence to overturn referee Simon Hooper’s original decision.

And Southampton also came out unscathed following a VAR review into a potential red card.

De Bruyne had another chance late on, but Southampton – led impressively by Mohamed Salisu at the back – became the first Premier League team to take points off City since October.