Pep Guardiola’s men followed up last week’s 4-1 triumph over Liverpool with another convincing display and the same scoreline at St. Mary’s Stadium.
It was also another game with a new record obtained by a City player, as Kevin De Bruyne provided his 100th Premier League assist, making him the fastest player to achieve the accolade in the process.
Indeed, the Belgian achieved the feat in just 237 games – 56 games faster than the previous quickest Cesc Fabregas.
There were plenty of other positives to take away from the result as well, and we’ll take a look at some of them with the key facts and figures below.
Eighth consecutive win
We are on our best run of form this season as our win over Southampton becomes our eighth consecutive win in all competitions.
That includes five Premier League wins, also our best run this campaign, victories over Bristol City and Burnley in the FA Cup and a 7-0 triumph over RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League last 16.
The last league game in which Guardiola’s team dropped points was in the 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest in February. Our last Premier League defeat earlier that month was at the hands of Tottenham Hotspur who won 1-0.
A match made in heaven
De Bruyne and Erling Haaland have struck up an incredible partnership, exemplified by them currently leading the Premier League’s assist and scoring charts for 2022/23.
According to Opta, the Belgian has assisted seven Premier League goals for Haaland – the most one City player has assisted another in a single campaign.
De Bruyne’s pinpoint cross into the box allowed the Norwegian to head home on the brink of half-time after a tough 45 minutes against a stubborn Southampton defense.
This sees the Belgian beat his own record, which he held with Sergio Aguero from the 2019/20 season.
The 31-year-old leads the Premier League assists tally for the 2022/23 season, with 14. Arsenal’s Bukayo Saka is in second with 10 followed by Leandro Trossard with nine.
KDB’s 14
West Ham 0-2 City | 07.08.22 | For Erling Haaland
City 4-0 Bournemouth | 13.08.22 | For Phil Foden
Newcastle United 3-3 City | 21.08.22 | For Bernardo Silva
Aston Villa 1-1 City | 03.09.22 | For Erling Haaland
Wolves 0-3 City | 17.09.22 | For Jack Grealish
Wolves 0-3 City | 17.09.22 | For Phil Foden
City 6-3 Manchester United | 02.10.22 | For Erling Haaland
City 6-3 Manchester United | 02.10.22 | For Erling Haaland
City 4-0 Southampton | 08.10.22 | For Phil Foden
Manchester United 2-1 City | 14.01.23 | For Jack Grealish
City 3-0 Wolves | 22.01.23 | For Erling Haaland
Arsenal 1-3 City | 15.02.23 | For Erling Haaland
City 4-1 Liverpool | 01.04.23 | For Jack Grealish
Southampton 1-4 City | 08.04.23 | For Erling Haaland
WATCH: De Bruyne points to key role of City colleagues after creating Premier League history
Super Jack
Grealish, who feels he is playing some of his best football at City this season, had another stellar performance in the win over Southampton.
The 27-year-old has scored and assisted in his last two Premier League matches, with City losing just one league game when Guardiola has utilised him on the left-hand side of the pitch this season.
Former City forward Paul Dickov, during our Matchday Live broadcast, spoke about how Grealish is pivotal at helping creating space and overloading areas.
In the game against Southampton, the England international spent most of his time on the ball out wide to create space on the opposite side of the pitch and in the centre.
If a pass wasn’t always the best option, the forward drove confidently with the ball at the Southampton defence, cutting inside to his right foot or even going further down the line to cross the ball into the box.
The endless options he provides proved key in breaking down a commendable Southampton back line.
Close to perfection
It’s not often you see four centre-backs enlisted for the entirety of a defensive line. But for Guardiola’s City, it’s worked like a charm.
Guardiola recently praised John Stones for his adaptability having been enlisted to play right-back against Southampton and play in midfield the week before in the win against Liverpool.
But this week his defensive team-mates Manuel Akanji and Ruben Dias impressed with their figures when analysed post-game,
The centre-back pairing led the way with pass success rates of 95 per cent after 80 and 109 passes respectively – the first and second highest for City.
Dias also topped the stats for most touches, 115, showing how instrumental maintaining possession and playing out from the back has been for Guardiola’s side this season.
