Manchester City’s win over Southampton on Saturday, an emphatic 4-1, allowed the team in blue to get within touching distance of the league leaders Arsenal in the Premier League. Currently, they are just five points behind the leaders- which can only be exacerbated by the stalemate between Liverpool and Arsenal on Sunday. The shooting star of the Manchester City team, Erling Haaland, went on to score his 43rd goal of the season- with a header in the 45th minute before Jack Grealish went on to double the lead in the 58th minute- as he slotted in a rebound after the Southampton fumbled the initial shot.
Erling Haaland Scores Brace as Man City Trounce Southampton
Jack Grealish then went on to assist Erling Haaland, as he netted his 30th Premier League goal in his debut season for Manchester City. The Norwegian machine powered a volley through the Southampton defense- which proved to be too much for them. On the other side of the coin, Sekou Mara scored his first goal for Southampton- a deft side-footed finish after Moussa Djenepo managed to evade the defenders in the 72nd minute. Haaland was substituted in the 69th minute, and his replacement, the Argentine Julian Alvarez, managed to get his name on the scoresheet after Kevin de Bruyne was fouled by Kyle Walker-Peters, and Alvarez scored the ensuing penalty.
Erling Haaland’s first goal was courtesy of a fine assist from the midfield maestro, Kevin De Bruyne. As it turns out, he became the fifth player in the Premier League to reach 100 assists- and he also did so in the fewest games. While de Bruyne’s performance over the last few years for Manchester City has already set him as one of the finest in the team’s history, his mastery is needed to unlock the potential of the behemoth known as Erling Haaland.