Southampton 0-3 Manchester City: Vincent Kompany sparks second-half show of strength to bury the Saints

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Claudio Bravo made a save, Vincent Kompany did something even rarer and Sergio Aguero nailed his 11th goal in as many games. A lot has gone wrong for Pep Guardiola this season but, finally, here was a day where so much went right.

It wasn’t quite a perfect stroll in the south coast air because City stuttered through the first 45 minutes and Southampton had their moments.

But across the whole game they were good, occasionally excellent and that counts for something in a campaign that has delivered Guardiola’s worst performance as a manager in Europe. The fact they are out of the title race in mid-April is damning for a club with such grand intentions and personnel.

Captain Vincent Kompany marked his return to the side with a goal in the second half to put Manchester City ahead

The Belgian roared and pumped his fists in front of the visiting City fans as in an emotional celebration after his goal

Leroy Sane finished off a delightful, sweeping City move to make it 2-0 as Southampton pushed for an equaliser

The German youngster was quick to congratulate his team-mates for their role in creating his lead-doubling strike

Sergio Aguero popped up at the back post shortly after Sane's goal to make it 3-0 and end the match as a contest

MATCH FACTS, TABLE AND MATCH ZONE

Southampton (4-2-3-1): Forster, Cedric, Stephens, Yoshida, Bertrand, Davis, Hojbjerg, Ward-Prowse (Long 60 (Rodriguez 82)), Tadic, Redmond, Gabbiadini (Boufal 60). 

Unused subs: Clasie, Caceres, Martina, Hassen.

Bookings: Soares, Davis, Hojberg 

Man City (4-2-3-1): Bravo, Jesus Navas, Kompany, Otamendi, Clichy, Toure, Fernandinho, De Bruyne, Silva (Zabaleta 81), Sane (Sterling 86), Aguero (Iheanacho 89). 

Unused subs: Fernando, Kolarov, Caballero, Garcia. 

Goals: Kompany 55, Sane 77, Aguero 80 

 Referee: Neil Swarbrick (Lancashire)

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A look at how Leroy Sane doubled Manchester City's lead over Southampton as they broke from their own half from Sportmail's excellent Match Zone service. More graphics, stats and facts

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But here they did what they were meant to do so much more often, which was play with pace and aggression and make progress. In the sense of the table, that meant jumping over Liverpool and into third place.

In terms of squad milestones, it meant a first save for Bravo since January 2, and a first goal for Kompany in 608 days and, more importantly, no obvious twinges or pulls or ruptures. He celebrated his second-half header like a madman, having only recently returned from yet another debilitating injury. Who could blame him?

That strike set a platform from which Leroy Sane and Aguero scored the subsequent goals that buried Southampton. Guardiola allowed himself a few smiles and that was fair enough, as well, given City now have a firmer grip on a top-four place going into their FA Cup semi-final against Arsenal next weekend.

‘We played good,’ he said. ‘I’m so happy because until the last game at Watford the qualification for the Champions League will be so tough. Two teams [Chelsea and Tottenham] are already done and there are four top teams for two positions.

‘On Thursday week we play the real final against Manchester United. That’s why it was so important to win today and for our confidence ahead of the semi-final of the FA Cup. I’m so glad with our performance and for our players.’

James Ward-Prowse keeps a close eye on Gael Clichy in the early stages of Southampton's clash with City

Sergio Ageuro had an early chance to get a shot in at goal when picked out by David Silva but the striker volleyed wide

Leroy Sane's trickery was an asset to City as they looked to create going forward, here Steven Davis pays close attention

Ward-Prowse had to get through a lot of work as Southampton kept their visitors at bay in the early stages of the match

City captain Vincent Kompany returned to starting XI as he continues his comeback from a long-term knee injury

On Kompany, whose City future is unclear, Guardiola added: ‘We have missed him this season. In the past two years he has had a lot of problems and of course this is only his third or fourth game of the season.’

The return of Kompany, who suffered a minor problem against Chelsea after a two-month lay-off, was one of the four changes Guardiola made to the side that beat Hull the previous Saturday. Those alterations brought to 100 the figure for switches the Catalan has made to his side throughout this campaign and that, in itself, could be construed as one of his issues this season. While Antonio Conte has made only 31 and thrived on the stability, Guardiola has frequently looked like he does not know his best XI.

He intends to address that in the summer, with at least three new defenders targeted, and there remains a fair chance he will pursue a new goalkeeper, even if he did back Bravo over Willy Caballero for a second straight start after admitting recently that he no longer has a set No 1.

The pressure on Bravo has been significant, with a pre-match statistic showing he had kept out none of the past seven shots on his goal.

When Cedric headed straight at him in the 70th minute, he ended that streak. By then, City were already in control. The first half had only been fleetingly entertaining, with a poor David Silva miss and an unsuccessful penalty appeal for Sane, before Kompany headed in a Silva corner on 55 minutes. Southampton enjoyed brief pressure in response but created only one meaningful chance, which Dusan Tadic had blazed over in the first half, and they were soon put to the sword. 

Saints manager Claude Puel issues instructions from the touchline as Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg prepares to take a throw-in

Fraser Forster came under scrutiny when he felled Sane in the box but replays show the keeper got a touch on the ball

Manolo Gabbiandini made his return from injury and proved a nuisance to City, here Claudio Bravo reaches for the ball

A robust Ryan Bertrand challenge left Aguero writhing on the pitch in pain, the Saints defender raked the striker's Achilles 

Bertrand stands over the Argentine, who required lengthy treatment. Neil Swarbrick decided to keep his cards in his pocket

First, Kevin De Bruyne led a breakaway and squared for Sane to make it 2-0, before the Belgian floated a perfect cross for Aguero to bury with his head.

Claude Puel was distinctly unimpressed with his side, who had won their previous two but played like a group of players who know they will almost certainly finish somewhere between eighth and 10th.

Puel said: ‘I feel disappointment but not just about the result but about our play. We can do better. We didn’t show a good Southampton with good quality on the pitch.

‘We were nervous throughout the game. Congratulations of course to a good team but we gave them opportunities.’

And City took them. A good day in a season when they have had far worse.

Yaya Toure looks dejected after a missed City chance during the first half of the Premier League clash at St Mary's

Silva was guilty of spurning a fantastic opportunity late in opening period when he placed wide from close range

Kompany got up ahead of Maya Yoshida and headed firmly down into the turf with the bounce defeat Forster in goal

The frustration of his prolonged absence from the team came out as he celebrated putting City ahead in the second half 

Kevin De Bruyne fires at goal as City look to press home their advantage after taking a second half lead 

Yoshida rues an opportunity to pull the Saints back into the game when he put his back post header straight at Claudio Bravo

Soon after Sane doubled the visiting side's advantage when he finished off a flowing counter attack past a diving Forster

Sergio Aguero and Leroy Sane celebrate after the German put Guardiola's side two goals ahead at St Mary's Stadium

Moments later Aguero added a third when he rose above two Southampton defenders to head home De Bruyne's cross

The Argentine striker scored his 11th goal in 11 games for City and looked mightily pleased after finding the net once more