Manchester City Player ratings from their 3-1 win against Southampton

It has been a tough month for Pep Guardiola whose team lost three of their last four Premier League encounters. The Citizens wanted to end the year on a high against a Southampton side who are in a good run of form under the new manager.

Manchester City started the game in a high tempo forcing McCarthy into an early save. However, it took just 10 minutes for the defending champions to open the scoring through David Silva. Guardiola's side began to show their class as Mahrez came close to making it 2-0.

Against the run of the play, Saints equalized after Hojbjerg pounced on a defensive mistake by Zinchenko to bring the home side back into the game. It lasted for a few minutes as City scored a couple more times before the halftime to go into the break with a two-goal lead.

In the second half, Manchester City came close to increase their lead with Aguero hitting the crossbar. The Saints did, however, put some pressure late in the game but could not reduce the deficit as Guardiola's side grabbed crucial three points at the St. Mary's stadium.

Here are the Manchester City player ratings from the game.

Ederson - 7/10

Ederson's distribution and short passing were extraordinary. No matter what the situation was, he always played from the back and even had Mahrez score from one of the moves initiated by him.

Danilo - 6.5/10

The former Real Madrid man tirelessly moved up and down the right flank assisting Riyad Mahrez and Bernardo Silva in the attack. However, he was not convincing defensively.

Kompany - 6.5/10

The Belgian is not always used by Guardiola considering his fitness and age. Vincent stood up tall to deal with the physicality of Austin up front. He was commanding in the air as well.

Laporte - 7.5/10

Aymeric has been impressive throughout this campaign and today was no different. Playing in the left of a three-person defensive backline, Laporte supported Zinchenko well and even made few forward movements of his own to support Sterling up front.

Zinchenko - 5.5/10

Manchester City is in a crisis in the left back position playing their third choice player, Zinchenko against the Saints. He started the game well but looked shaky in the middle. Zinchenko got disposed of the ball which allowed Southampton to get back into the game. A few moments later, he also had a penalty shout ruled out against him. However, the youngster did provide the assist for Aguero's goal and Manchester City's third of the day.

Fernandinho - 8/10

As usual, the Brazilian stopped everything that the Saints created from the middle. His absence was felt against Palace couple of matches back, but today he controlled the game and made sure there was no passage back for the home side.

David Silva - 7.5/10

David opened the scoring for Manchester City within the first ten minutes of the game. He was also denied by McCarthy to get his second of the night. Overall, the Spaniard showed creativity and precision in his passing and interchanging of plays with Bernardo and Sterling.

Bernardo Silva - 7/10

Similar to David, Bernardo looked lively in the first half providing the assist for his side's opening goal of the day. He repeatedly moved inside the box whenever he had the ball allowing Mahrez to exploit the spaces down the flanks which created all sort of problems for the Saints defense.

Mahrez - 6.5/10

The Algerian saw a lot of the ball and probably deserved a goal for all his efforts. At one moment in the first half, his curling shot went inches wide of the post while in the second half. He also missed some good chances.

Sterling - 7.5/10

Started quietly but came alive soon. He was a nuisance for the Southampton defense making darting runs down the left wing and repeatedly drifted inwards to find a pass for his teammates. His deflected shot gave Manchester City the lead for the second time in the first half.

Aguero - 7.5/10

Aguero took some time to get into his groove, but once he did that, it was just brilliant to watch. The Argentine scored Manchester City's third goal of the day and also hit the crossbar in the second half. Guardiola would want him at his 100 percent for the Liverpool game.

Substitutes

Jesus - 6.5/10

Jesus replaced Aguero in the second half to give the Argentine a rest for the big game against Liverpool in the midweek. With the Saints pushing forward for the goal, Jesus spent most of his time defending and could not make any contribution up front.

Sane & Walker - 6/10

Both came very late in the game to see off the remaining minutes. However, it was not enough to make any significant contribution to the match.