Erling Haaland scored twice either side of halftime to give Manchester City a 4-1 victory over Southampton at St Mary’s at the weekend.
On 45 minutes, the Norwegian striker broke the deadlock with a header, and Jack Grealish doubled the lead shortly after the restart.
Haaland’s Premier League-leading 30th goal was a beautiful bicycle-kick finish, with only Sekou Mara able to claw one back for the visitors.
That was quickly reversed when Kevin De Bruyne was fouled, allowing Haaland’s substitute Julian Alvarez to share the glory as he converted the penalty.
One of Haaland’s 28 goals coming into the weekend’s game came in the reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium in October against a Saints team managed by Ralph Hasenhuttl at the time.
Ruben Selles’ men looked to get something going early on a sunny south coast evening when Carlos Alcaraz took possession at the right of the area but found himself without a viable option at the far post as he sent the ball across the face of goal.
Within the first five minutes, Ilkay Gundogan found Grealish, who forced a good save from Saints shot-stopper Gavin Bazunu with a drive from 15 yards out.
The visitors were in danger when an alert Kamaldeen Sulemana intercepted De Bruyne’s short corner inside his own half and broke free with Nathan Ake hot on his tail.
The 21-year-old charged into City’s half but miscontrolled at the end of his run, allowing keeper Ederson to smother the ball.
Despite having over 70% possession, the hosts did well to largely shut down Haaland, who had only four touches as the game approached the 40-minute mark.
By halftime, he had doubled his tally, missing a header before making one count as he connected with De Bruyne’s cross from the left and nodded his 29th goal of the season – six more than Southampton had scored collectively – past Bazunu.
After the restart, City had an early chance to double their lead when Grealish cut back to Gundogan, who drove into the area but fired just wide of the right post.
But it wasn’t long before Grealish, who had been impressive throughout the first period, threatened once more, this time with a sharp strike at Bazunu, who made the initial low stop but couldn’t hold on to the rebound.
That proved costly as the England international pounced and fired home before turning provider 10 minutes later when he patiently wove into the area before crossing to Haaland, who finished spectacularly.
Saints ensured that the visitors would not go home with a clean sheet when substitute Moussa Djenepo evaded two opponents and fed Mara, who fired a low strike past Ederson.
When Kyle Walker-Peters brought down De Bruyne, the referee pointed to the spot, and Alvarez, who had replaced Haaland in the 75th minute, fired home to seal the victory, it took City just three minutes to restore their three-goal lead.
