Manchester City looked to have used up their weekly allotment of goals on Wednesday. Just days after crushing RB Leipzig 6-3 in their Champions League group stage opener, City had to settle for a poor, deserved, 0-0 draw with relegation candidate Southampton at the Etihad on Saturday. Facing a team that had yet to win a league game this season, City managed to do what you would expect — control the ball, create chances and look like a threat. Now, they usually put away plenty, considering they entered having scored at least five goals in four of their previous five games, but it was not meant to be, putting just one shot on goal out of their 16, good for 6.5 percent. Those 16 shots amounted to only 1.00 total expected goals (xG), a fair distance below the standard the team had set with over 11 xG in their first four matches.
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Pep Guardiola’s team were quite average for an hour but the match looked likely to turn when superstar Kevin de Bruyne was introduced in the 65th minute. The move was the last one Guardiola made in search of the win, following bringing on Riyad Mahrez for Gabriel Jesus, and Phil Foden for Bernardo Silva, but the goal, legally, never came.
Raheem Sterling put the ball in the net in added time, finishing off a loose ball after a Phil Foden header was saved by Alex McCarthy. It was reviewed and ruled out due to offside, though on the other side of things Southampton had a penalty kick called before it was ruled out via VAR as Kyle Walker’s challenge was deemed fine.
Southampton finished the match with 10 shots, two on frame, holding onto a golden point in their pursuit of Premier League survival. As for City, they’ve failed to score in two of their five Premier League games his season and ruined a chance to move to the top of the table.