1. The champions are increasingly getting their confidence back
Manchester City’s dip in form before the international break clearly affected their confidence. They were fortunate to leave Loftus Road with a point in their 2-2 draw with Queens Park Rangers as they were clearly bereft of confidence.
The two big wins against Bayern Munich and Swansea City just days before this game completely changed the attitude of City’s players. They started this match strongly with a genuine intent to dominate the game and secure a win.
2. Those 16 minutes betrayed the Saints’ season
Prior to this game, only Charlie Austin had breached Southampton’s defence at St Mary’s with his goal of the season contender. Ronald Koeman’s side have been so solid that it appeared that it would take something special to score against them at home.
When Eliaquim Mangala was sent off Southampton ditched the solid defending in pursuit of an equaliser. The Saints needlessly over-committed when they attacked resulting in City easily trebling their goal tally with a man disadvantage.
3. City need to quickly polish up their prized defender
Manchester City spent heavily on Mangala last summer because the French defender has the potential to be one of the best centre-halves in the world with his power, physical presence and athleticism.
His tackling leaves a lot to be desired though as can be rush with his challenges. Mangala may have been covering Yaya Toure’s mistake when he got sent off but he used the wrong foot to challenge Shane Long. That was his second booking after being cautioned for an awkward challenge earlier.
With the qualities of Vincent Kompany and Mangala, City have the potential to have the best centre-back partnership if they work on Mangala’s problems.
4. Toby Alderweireld’s passion in defending revealed one of the keys to Southampton’s success
Taking their shocking performance at the end of this game aside, Southampton’s players have succeeded mainly because of their eagerness to defend. Alderweireld passionately celebrated stopping a goal on the half-hour mark like he had scored one.
While a lot of teams struggle with players who are reluctant to defend, the Saints do not hesitate to tackle and they quickly recover to defensive positions. If they can keep their enthusiasm when defending then they will soon bounce back.
5. Frank Lampard could end up spoiling Chelsea’s domestic season with his key goals
Lampard scored the crucial goal that killed this game. All three of his league goals have been key to City’s title defence thus far, including the equalising goal when City hosted Chelsea. The Blues may live to rue the decision to let Lampard go last summer.
