Manchester City briefly moved up to fifth place in the Premier League with an important 1-0 victory at Southampton as Raheem Sterling's first-half goal proved to be the winning one.
Sterling's goal was a classic City move instigated down the right flank by Kevin De Bruyne and finished by the England forward. De Bruyne has now collected 15 assists in the Premier League in 2020.
Saints were bright and bubbly for large parts but lost lots of their impetus in attack when Danny Ings was replaced with a hamstring injury just before the break.
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Again, it was far from the swashbuckling City performance we have come to expect under Pep Guardiola, more of a workmanlike one which was built around defensive unity.
That is now six clean sheets in their last seven games with the axis of John Stones and Ruben Dias continuing to impress as City moved on to the 23-point mark - they later dropped to sixth place after Everton beat Arsenal - eight points behind leaders Liverpool.
How City got the job done...
Ralph Hasenhuttl's Saints are notorious fast starters and they looked to stop Manchester City settling or controlling the ball, with six outfield players at times pressuring the City back four.
The press made Ederson go long on 16 minutes but it was a clever ball that left Southampton exposed at the back. De Bruyne revelled in the space down the right and Sterling was on hand to strike his low cross past Alex McCarthy.
Southampton looked to hit back before half-time with Theo Walcott, who rolled back the years with a dynamic performance on the right, a constant threat which provided Che Adams and Ings with plenty of ammunition to feast on.
The best chance fell to Adams from a Walcott cross but his header from close range deflected off an unaware Stones and spun inches wide of the post.
Their task was made more difficult after Ings, who has seven goals to his name this season, was forced off just before the break.
City came out strongly at the start of the second half and almost doubled their lead when Ferran Torres ran down the right before firing a shot across goal and just wide of the target.
Bernardo Silva had another opportunity after yet more cute De Bruyne play down the line but he lost control and the ball trickled into McCarthy's grasp.
Southampton were unable to carry their momentum from the end of the first half into the second, despite occupying space on the edge of the City box.
De Bruyne fired straight at McCarthy when through on goal and substitute Riyad Mahrez fired over after a great pick out by Bernardo as City failed to rubberstamp the victory.
It could have resulted in a nervy closing period but Guardiola's team saw out the game in professional fashion.
Man of the match: Kevin De Bruyne
Playing a touch further forward than usual with no out-and-out striker selected by Guardiola, De Bruyne was the instigator of every promising attack created by the visitors.
When called upon to produce the perfect final ball, he found it, supplying Sterling with a typically fierce pass that Guardiola will have been relieved to see was actually finished clinically after the waywardness in front of goal in the draw with West Brom.
No player made more key passes than De Bruyne (4), whose drive, energy and clever passing played a big part in keeping Southampton at bay in the closing stages.
Opta stats
- Following their 1-0 victory today, no side have conceded fewer goals (12) or kept more clean sheets (6) than Manchester City in the Premier League this season.
- Guardiola has won six of his seven meetings with Ralph Hasenhüttl in all competitions (L1), with the only exception being Southampton's victory in this exact fixture last season.
- Sterling has been directly involved in 11 goals in 16 Premier League games against Southampton (seven goals and four assists) - only versus West Ham (14) has he had a hand in more goals against an opponent in the competition.
- Since the start of last season, only Mohamed Salah (45) has been directly involved in more Premier League goals than Manchester City's De Bruyne (42 - 15 goals, 27 assists).
What's next?
Fulham are next up for Southampton at Craven Cottage on Boxing Day, a game live on Sky Sports at 3pm. City are back in action on Tuesday in the Carabao Cup when they play Arsenal in the quarter-finals before hosting Newcastle in the Premier League on Boxing Day.