Manchester City kept the heat on title rivals Liverpool this afternoon as they beat mid-table Southampton 4-1 at The Etihad.
But there was bad news for England and the watching Roy Hodgson as Southampton striker Jay Rodriguez was carried off with a worrying looking knee injury. That came after Yaya Toure put City ahead after just 3 minutes with a penalty, though Ricky Lambert equalised with a penalty of his own.
Then goals from Samir Nasri and Edin Dzeko in first half stoppage time, and a late strike from Stevan Jovetic, made if 14 wins from 15 at home for City this season, and put them within a point of leaders Liverpool with a game hand, and The Reds to play West Ham away tomorrow.
City showed that they have the quality to ‘win ugly’, and also had their fair share of lucky decisions as David Silva appears blatently offside in the build up to the 2nd goal.
City manager Manuel Pellelgrini spoke to BBC Sport after the game,
“I haven’t seen it (City’s second goal) yet but it is the referee who decides. I don’t think the difference between the two sides was just one goal.
“Southampton played very well in the first half with lots of possession. We didn’t play well in first half but we scored three goals and had two clear chances to score.
“I don’t remember Joe Hart making an important save. They had possession but no real chances to score.
“Now we have an important game against Liverpool. We shall see what happens, there is a lot of time to prepare. I don’t think that game will decide the Premier League.”
City will now be looking forward to a huge game against Liverpool next week at Anfield, as they hope to leapfrog them in the title hunt.
By Ben Kelly
Follow me on Twitter for more articles! @benkelly_10
https://twitter.com/benkelly_10
