Manchester City bounced back after dropping points at Palace with an emphatic victory against Southampton
It was an away game for the Cityzens, but that didn’t stop them from causing heavy damage on the Saints!
It was Man City 4, Southampton 1 but the half ended at 1-1, only for the boys in blue to exude their class in the second 45.
With this victory, Manchester City is in the semis where they will meet their rivals, Liverpool!
With the Champions League in its deep end, plus the title-deciding Premier League clash of City-Liverpool and now the FA cup, April could be the month to define the fate of both these teams!
In a span of 11 days from the 6th of April to the 16th of April Man City is set to face Atletico, Liverpool, Atletico, and Liverpool again.
Champions League, Premier League, and the FA Cup, all of it is on the line and Liverpool is the recurring enemy on the horizon!
But before that exciting period unfolds, let’s rewind a little bit and understand how Man City overcame the Saints and qualified for the semis!
Story of the match
The result doesn’t quite tell the full story of the match, though, as City once again struggled against the Saints who pressed high and had plenty of chances that they just didn’t take, but over the course of 90 min, City was certainly the better side!
City seized the lead in the first half thanks to a Raheem Sterling score in the 12th minute, but an unlucky own goal by defender Aymeric Laporte in the first-half stoppage time allowed Southampton equalize.
However, the Cityzens came roaring back in the second half with a goal thanks to a well-taken penalty by their star player Kevin De Bruyne, then a spectacular volley from 21-year-old Phil Foden extended the away team’s advantage in the 75th minute.
Riyad Mahrez added a fourth three minutes later to guarantee City beat Southampton out of the FA Cup, sending the English Champions to the semi-finals of England’s oldest football championship.
It’s going to be Man City vs Liverpool at Wembley and we can’t wait!
Post-match comments
“In the first 20 minutes and the last half hour, we did well. In between, we made too many stupid mistakes. They played well, but we got much better in the second half. The third and fourth were beautiful goals. We want to win every competition we enter; we’re very happy to be in another semi-final and hopefully, we’ll win this one.” – said Kevin De Bruyne.
Pep Guardiola said,
“It’s so difficult: Southampton is one of the most well-organized teams we have played this season. They play with incredible intensity and the goal was a consequence of that. We forgot to play in the last 20 minutes of the first half. The second half was much better – more personality.”
