It was a defeat but perhaps the most satisfying one of the season, we came through it unscathed and with our pride intact, but more importantly without any serious injuries, now the rest of the season can start.

Ralph Hasenhuttl's team selection drew gasps of breath, we had made six changes from the team at Sheffield United, the manager was clearly prioritising the up and coming games and most people I have spoken were in full agreement with this.

The bonus though was although this might have been a second string team it put in a shift, it battled and it took the game to Manchester City, for the first 15 minutes it dominated the game and possession, but the problem was it couldn't last and with virtually their first attempt on goal City scored and it was a gift.

But if the watching TV audience thought this was the start of a landslide victory they would be wrong, although for the next 10 minutes they had plenty of evidence as we tried to gift City a second with some poor passing and touches.

But then suddenly we were back in the game on 25 minutes, Nathan Redmond get plenty of stick from Saints fans and I have already seen some relating to this game, but against City he was far from the worst player on the pitch and he made a positive contribution when his run and shot forced the keeper into a save and from the resulting corner a thumping header from Jannik Vestergaard drew a great save and then from the rebound the Dane was fouled and James Ward Prowse despatched his second penalty of the week.

Our tails were up and hopes were high that perhaps we might get a result, but then Che Adams had a brainstorm and just before the break tried a suicidal cross pitch pass which was cut out by Mahrez and we were again behind.

When we visit Man City it seems mandatory we concede in the final minute of a half and we didn't let the home fans down by conceding a third sloppy goal of the half in the 3rd minute of first half injury time.

So the game looked over as we kicked off the second half, surely it would be backs to the wall and City might well get a hatful.

When Mahrez got his second it looked the case, but within a minute Che Adams had scored and it was clear that we were not going to lay down and die.

Sadly De Bruyne soon restored the three goal cushion and the worry was back of a landslide with still half an hour left.

But we didn't lose our spirit and we took the game to City as often as they took it to us, the difference was they didn't keep gifting us chances.

Ralph put on Diallo in place of Jack Stephens to hold the the midfield and that shored up the final 30 minutes.

When the final whistle blew there was relief, never has a 5-2 defeat been so welcome, our first objective had been to come through the game injury free and aside from a groin strain for Moussa Djenepo that was the case, we have cover for Moussa and can handle that, but no one was injured in key areas and that was the first objective achieved.

The second was to put in a performance and not get walloped, this was again achieved, the only downside of the game was that we handed them most of their goals, if we hadn't then perhaps the scoreline would have been a lot better.

On this note I don't buy into the view that we should have played a full team as we might have got a result, hindsight is a fine thing, but we had to gamble and for Ralph that was about prioritising the upcoming games, we have lost our top scorer for those, we had to assess that risk against the slim chance of beating a City side in superb form, from this perspective Ralph made the right decision.

The end result was exactly what we set out to achieve, anything else would have been a bonus.

Some will say this approach was negative, but I don't agree, this is the modern game, it is not always about taking every game as it comes, the likes of Manchester City will have no problems with changing their team to prioritise the Champions League so we are just doing similar.

So now we go into the two most important games of the season so far, if we beat Brighton that will put us on the cusp of the safety mark and if we beat Bournemouth the following weekend suddenly the season will start to get interesting, personally i think the gamble we took at the Etihad will have been worthwhile if we win these two games.

Photo: Action Images

IanRC added 15:11 - Mar 11 That game last night was terrific entertainment. Yes we made careless mistakes and I couldn’t believe how the ball appeared to be glued to their feet as they waltzed through our defence but give me that kind of game anytime rather than the park the bus Burnley or Mourinhio approach. Tremendous spirit and much to admire if we can cut out the mistakes we will have no trouble going forward. Reminded me of the good old days when football was about entertainment first. Hope Djenepo’s injury is not serious he is a star in the making.

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AmericanSaint added 15:22 - Mar 11 Wow - Some real "sharp" comments here today. Like everyone has stated, we were the architects of our own downfall, by shipping them goals. Che, Salusi, and Stephans committing the turnovers that led to goals. In addition, you can add RB for being out of position on the 1st goal. I know he is not a RB, but ebing a LB he should have not been so far up the pitch when they had the ball for that long diagonal. Everyone makes mistakes, but we seem to do more than others sometimes and against MC you get punished for it. I am not being negative, but JS (playing out of position) was by far the most lackluster player we had. This was his time to show RH his desire and value, yet he walked half the time and was not sure where to play. For Redmond, he has his issues for sure, but last night he ran his socks off and I could here him yelling to the other players to press and move up, so he was much more involved than others. Positives were that Che scored on 9well two with the offsides one) and we only had one injury. Yes, I would have wanted to get a point but I am looking big picture. Finally, I agree with RH in his game management for this one as he was looking down the road and rightfully so. This was a "free" game and our concern should be Brighton. Look we lost Djnepo last night to injury. Imaging if we lost KWP, Diallo, or Tella. All three of these are most likely starting on Sunday, but if their out because of an injury picked up on this game, we would have bigger issues. So, everyone take a deep breath, and be ready to cheer on our team on Sunday, cause it will be a tight affair, but with a win, we can stop looking over our shoulders and look up. COYR

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Ronnie added 17:43 - Mar 11 I've never before experienced a manager who picks a team, apparently knowing/assuming that we will lose - we should try to win every game!! Ok I can understand making a few changes for players coming back from injury, but to pick three players and play them out of position was criminal in my view. I cant recall either Stephens, Bertrand or Salisu ever playing in the positions that they did against City - surely a recipe for disaster (as it proved). Ralph recently complained that because of injuries, he was having to play people out of position and that this was not something that he liked forced on him - so why pick this team in these positions? A heavy defeat like this one (how else can you describe 5-2?) can surely only generate lower morale in the team which will do nothing for our upcoming games in a relegation fight (which it has now become). Despite us putting up a reasonable and spirited response to City, they could have had more and appeared to just drift through the game, hardly celebrating their goals, as though they were expecting them. For the first time I am questioning Ralph's decision making and that we will now have a real relegation fight ahead of us!

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JoeEgg added 17:56 - Mar 11 Thank you flamingbankers for restoring some belief that I'm not the only one who doesn't feel like celebrating a 5-2 defeat! We have some good players and had several promising moments but the defence and the 'defensive shield' supposedly provided by our midfield, was once again appalling - I will not celebrate that fact either! We took on Manchester City, received a few unlikely plaudits, but conceeded another five goals (six if the penalty had been given). When the opposition manager says we beat you by three clear goals, but you were the best side we've played this season for the first twenty five minutes, then iit might just be time to ask just how we stop making ourselves a laughing stock during the remaining 65 minutes!

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JoeEgg added 17:58 - Mar 11 Thank you flamingbankers for restoring some belief that I'm not the only one who doesn't feel like celebrating a 5-2 defeat! We have some good players and had several promising moments but the defence and the 'defensive shield' supposedly provided by our midfield, was once again appalling - I will not celebrate that fact either! We took on Manchester City, received a few unlikely plaudits, but conceeded another five goals (six if the penalty had been given). When the opposition manager says we beat you by three clear goals, but you were the best side we've played this season for the first twenty five minutes, then iit might just be time to ask just how we stop making ourselves a laughing stock during the remaining 65 minutes!

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