Southampton 1-1 Manchester City - Statistical Analysis

Manchester City’s stuttering away form continued as Southampton avoided a fourth straight Premier League defeat on Saturday at St Mary’s. In-form Sergio Aguero had the visitors ahead inside the opening ten minutes, but the Saints responded well to equalise on a brilliant solo effort from Pablo Osvaldo and threatened to take all three points with an energetic second-half performance.

Key Stats

The hosts emerged the victor in the possession battle over their more fancied opponents, seeing 53% of the ball as City looked sluggish at times in regaining possession when lost.

En route to territorial domination the Saints completed 83% of their 423 total passes, whilst Pellegrini’s charges attempted just 348 of their own, succeeding at an anaemic rate of only 75%.

As a result the hosts were far more active in front of goal, taking 15 shots to City’s twelve, often creating chances with individual skill as they racked up 18 take ons throughout the 90 minutes.

Neither side were terribly efficient defensively as a combined 26 of 47 tackles were successful, as both relied more on thwarting danger in a no-nonsense style, evidence by an aggregated 71 clearances

Man of the Match

Steven Davis took Man of the Match honours as he turned in a quality shift in support of lone striker Pablo Osvaldo, seeing out the afternoon with a Performance Score of 41.

As shown by his Heat Map, it was the Northern Irishman’s intuitive movement that allowed him to be such a danger to City, as he never provided a reference point in attack for the visitors to check back on as he roamed horizontally at will.

The 28-year-old provided three key passes over the course of the game, tied for most in the match with Aguero, distributing the ball at an overall clip of 85% and adding two take ons in remaining a constant threat for Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

Performance Score

An even opening five minutes gave way to City establishing a massive Performance Score advantage of 82 to -33 when Aguero got on the end of Aleksandr Kolarov’s low cross to turn home the opener on 10 minutes.

Southampton responded well and immediately climbed back into the match, pressing effectively and forcing Pellegrini’s charges back into their own end, with Osvaldo finding a moment of inspiration to net a lovely leveller and send his side into the break with a 119-38 lead.

The Saints looked equally motivated coming back out for the second half and immediately recommenced putting their opponents under pressure, maintaining the ascendancy and causing City to suffer as they were forced to successfully defend against a barrage of attacks.

All told, Pochettino’s men closed out the day with a Performance Score of 143 as the Etihad outfit limped to a figure of 58, emphasising a far superior display from the hosts as the visitors continued their woes on the road.

Key Observations

Southampton certainly didn’t look like a side lacking in confidence, showing no hesitation to take on City’s classy starting XI after their belief could have been sapped by Aguero’s strike so close to the opening whistle.

Full-backs Callum Chambers and Luke Shaw, just a combined 36 years of age, were a prime example of youthful conviction, running the flanks with authority and stretching the Citizens to allow more space for teammates in the middle.

City struggled to find answers to the questions posed by the sprightly Saints, with a dearth of tackles in the centre of the park demonstrating how Pochettino set up his side to drag the opposition out of position and constantly exploit the lanes that were opened as a result.

On the offensive end, City largely victimised themselves as Southampton made only 13 tackles and 12 interceptions, with the Mancunians’ low passing completion rate of 75% coming as a result of a lack of cohesion and the Saints’ pressing, rather than individual interventions.