Premier League 2018/19, Southampton 1-3 Manchester City: 5 Talking Points
Goals from David Silva, Sergio Aguero and a James Ward-Prowse own goal proved enough for defending champions Manchester City to earn a hard-fought win against Southampton at St. Mary's, closing the gap on leaders Liverpool back to seven points after their emphatic 5-1 victory over Arsenal on Saturday evening.
After successive defeats against Crystal Palace and Leicester City, it was imperative Pep Guardiola's men returned to winning ways ahead of 2019.
Despite Silva's early opener, this game threatened to be another surprise defeat for the Citizens. Pierre-Emile Hojberg equalized in emphatic style after capitalizing on Oleksandr Zinchenko's mistake in possession after 37 minutes.
Quick-fire goals on the stroke of half-time saw City restore their lead and despite squandering goalscoring opportunities, they were dominant in possession and earned a deserved victory on this occasion. With all of that in mind, here's a look at five talking points from a telling result.
#5 City regularly misfire opportunities, poor finishing again
In this game, City recorded 14 attempts on goal and scored three. When you factor in the quality of their strikes - it's understandable that you'd expect them to convert more of their promising opportunities.
Aguero forced Alex McCarthy into an important save from close-range, while Riyad Mahrez was regularly wasteful in the final third. Over their last five league matches, they've now recorded 71 shot attempts. From them, nine goals have been scored.
It's not good enough for a side of City's attacking quality and if you delve deeper into the match statistics, it's easier to understand why they have lost recently - failing to take their chances when on top in games.