Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says Erling Haaland is helping Kevin De Bruyne to be at his best as the pair sweep Southampton to the top of the Premier League. Available.
Haaland scored his 20th goal for City against Saints, while De Bruyne’s pass to set up Phil Foden means his stats are just as impressive, with nine assists in his first nine league games.
De Bruyne has already bettered last season’s tally of eight league assists, and is on course to break Thierry Henry’s record of 20 in a single campaign.
“Obviously for a player like Kevin and especially Kevin, it’s a threat, this guy [Holland] who likes to run back with that pace helps him a lot,” Guardiola said.
“Kevin created three or four chances again [against Southampton], but he can play better. Today Kevin was not the best we know, because he could put his teammate in front of the keeper most of the time. is – but even with a player like Erling. Julian [Alvarez] or Phil, moving back, it’s very important for him.”
Twenty goals is usually the benchmark for a successful season for any striker, but Holland has taken just 13 games to reach that mark in all competitions, with struggling Saints the latest to find out. Or how hard it is to keep up with his teammates. be quite
City attacked relentlessly from the start and Holland was inches away from giving them an early lead when – to the astonishment of virtually the entire stadium – he hit the inside of the post after a quick drive.
Instead it was Joao Cancelo who put the home side ahead, running onto Phil Foden’s pass and cutting out James Ward-Prowse before finding the bottom corner of the net.
Foden, who like Holland scored a hat-trick here against Manchester United last weekend, got on the scoresheet soon after when De Bruyne found him in the box.
He put City in complete control at the break and wrapped up the points early in the second half when Riyad Mahrez headed home a Rodrigo cross.
The only thing missing for the home fans was another goal from Holland and, after three consecutive home league hat-tricks, it once appeared that it might not be his day.
Holland were unable to get on the end of De Bruyne’s cross under pressure from Mohamed Salisso, and were then superbly denied by Gavin Bazono who dived to his feet as he charged at goal.
As the chances kept coming, you knew Holland would take one – and so he met Cancelo’s cutback with a typically accurate low finish to make it 4-0 after 65 minutes.
Southampton, who managed just one touch in the City area and two total shots – both from distance, and both off target – were drawn home and away by Guardiola’s side last season. This time they never looked like avoiding a fourth straight defeat.
City Keep Scoring Goals, And Keep Winning
City were bottom on August 20 and may not stay there for long – Arsenal will return to the summit if they beat Liverpool on Sunday.
Regardless of their current position in the table, though, it’s clear that the defending champions are in the form that will trouble all of their title rivals.
City are the last unbeaten team in England’s top four divisions, but it is the way they are dispatching opponents that is just as bad.
City’s stroll against the Saints means they have now scored 33 goals in nine league games, 13 more than next-best Arsenal.
Holland’s presence clearly helps – he now has 15 Premier League goals for the season, matching De Bruyne’s tally when he finished as the competition’s top scorer in 2021-22 – but this His teammates also keep scoring.
Saints Put Up a Fight For Their Manager
Southampton’s performance was far more important to their manager’s cause than the final result.
Reports this week suggest that Rolf Hessenhuttel is on the verge of the sack after four years at St Mary’s, but the side has not played in the way that has left him.
True, the damage limit was always their main objective, but that has not spared others from worse drubbings at the Etihad Stadium this season.
Hasenhuttl must have feared the most when City were flying out of the blocks but were well defended by his side, and continued to do so despite losing the game for long periods.
