Perhaps the best performance of Saints season so far as Manchester City were brushed aside on a day where all the other results went for us.

Saints fans in the pubs watching the other results coming in on Sky Sports before they headed to St Mary's had a lot to cheer about and cheer they did with optimism not being that high for the main game of theday against Premier champions Manchester City, result after result went our way as all the teams below us and those just above us lost with even the Norwich V Fulham game being a draw leaving both clubs only two points above us.

So Saints fans headed towards St Mary's knowing that the pressure to get a result was eased a little and perhaps this was in the minds of the players themselves as they played without fear or awe of their illustrious opponents and quite simply put them to the sword.

The first goal on 7 minutes was a little fortunate in that as Hart and a City defender blocked Jay Rodriguez the ball fell for Jason Pucheon who had started the move and finished it with aplomb, fifteen minutes later and a shot from Rickie Lambert looked easy for Joe Hart but he had one of those moments even the best keepers have from time to time and let it slip through his arms and Steven Davis was alert and poked the ball home from close range under pressure from a City defender, from then on Saints were in the driving seat but Saints being Saints they had to give City a lifeline, a corner on 39 minutes looked like it might be dangerous, it was but sadly for us the danger was on us and not the visitors, we tried to be clever and played the ball long to the edge of the area but we got caught and as City broke our defence clearly wasnt as organised as it should have been and Dzeko finished the counter attack he had started.

But if Saints fans feared that the second half might be a bit of a backs to the wall performance then they were wrong, three minutes after the restart Lambert broke down the right and looked to have nothing on and crossed more in hope than anything else, Barry finished for an own goal that was bizarre in that he had plenty of time to do anything else but sidefoot it past his own keeper.

From then on the result was never in doubt, it perhaps didnt feel like that at the time, but on reflection Saints were strong in all areasand took the game to their opponents at the right times.

The only moment that City looked like they might get back in it say Artur Boruc make a superb save to push it past his left hand post and that was it for the visitors who didnt like Saints pressing high tempo game one bit.

So did City play badly or did Saints play that well ? a bit of both really once Saints showed they wouldnt roll over then City did just that themselves, they played like a team with nothing to play for, so I would say this result was perhaps 80% how Saints played and 20% City's own lack of enthusiasm, although as stated we had to knock the stuffing out of them first so even that 20% was down to our hard work and endeavor.

What I like about the way Maurricio Pochettino sets up a team is that he gets the foundations right first,he wants to play a pressing game so there was no place for Adam Lallana in the starting line up, it was about matching City for workrate first and this meant that our central midfield players were key, Schneiderlin and Davis set the tone and Davis especially showed why he has been back in the side of late, he wins the ball and moves it on quickly creating attack in a moment.

But those two werent alone, at the back we were strong and a special mention to Jos Hooiveld who had probably his best game of the season, his only slack moment coming in the second half ironically at the verty moment I was half way through commenting to the man next to me what a good game he was having, but it was a real team performance and a great win that puts us six points clear of the drop zone although that could reduce to four if Aston Villa beat West ham this afternoon.

So Saints fans left St Mary's buoyant and with every right to do so, our problem ahead of this game was our failure to beat anyone above us in the league apart from Newcastle who sat one place in front of us come kick off, by 7.30pm on Saturday night we had still only beaten one club above us, but that club was second place Manchester City as we leapfrogged Newcastle on goal difference, so this wasnt just about the result but it was about proving we can beat more than just the relegation fodder.

This was a gigantic step forward in our season and if we can come through the vital game at Newcastle in a fortnight unscathed then we will be turning into the home straight and that safety finishing line will be in sight, there is still a long way to go though but this great result perhaps shows we are up to the task. 

Photo: Action Images

davram added 11:52 - Feb 10 Well done Saints - any change in style with new manager? Did the lads "do it for Nigel"?
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Saintpaul120 added 12:22 - Feb 10 There wasn't a Saints player who didn't play his heart out yesterday. Schneirderlin was winning everything and breaking up play as was Cork. As you rightly say, Steven Davis was excellent too. Rickie Lambert? So calm in possession of the ball and picked out some great passes. Yoshida was huge and I think had his best game as did Jos. All in a all a great team display. We hunted as a pack and bought our quarry down.

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Scummer added 12:24 - Feb 10 Stunning effort. Jos and Maya were great at the back. I don't think Dzeko will want to go up against Hooiveld any time soon. The central three of Cork, Schneiderlin and Davis were everywhere. The amount of ground they covered was enormous and City just looked shellshocked. The team showed a real steely determination to not add to that total of 24 points dropped from winning positions, and St Mary's was absolutely rocking last night. So proud to be a Saints fan.

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big_buddaH added 12:32 - Feb 10 The encouraging aspect of the new tactics is that if MCFC and MUFC (second half) can't cope with us, then teams down the bottom certainly won't be able to. Even with time to study or new actics, I don't see the liks of QPR and Reading being able to outwit MP. The other important feature is by pressing high up the pitch, some of the less capable players in the squad have less pressure on them, and are puting in good/acceptable performances (Hooiveld, Fox). Also, Spider and Cork have been given more license to get forward, and both are looking a lot better for it (could do with some shooting practice though)

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st_mike added 12:47 - Feb 10 Awesome Saints performance against Man City, and very proud to be a Saints fan. But we didn't just beat Man City, not for the first time the referee was playing against us too. Take the Jay Rodriguez stonewall penalty we didn't get, we all know that if Jay had been wearing a city shirt, it would have been a penalty. Fact! Referees are 60/40 biased in favor of the big clubs, I've watched 4 or 5 matches at St Mary's this year where this has clearly been the case. Several people have suggested that MotD should start a referee's performance league table, based on their performance and decisions. Sounds like a great idea to me.

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davram added 13:16 - Feb 10 Totally agree with your comments about refs, St. Mike - it might be subconscious on their part to favour the "glam" teams, but the bias is so obvious in its pattern to the average fan and neutral observers that the production of some objective statistics might induce some check on it. I've seen it affect my team, and it seems to occur every week on MOTD. True, the pace of today's game can be deceptive when instant decisions have to be made, but Saints' penalty shout was very clear. Happily for you Saints fans, poor refereeing wasn't going to stop your team steamrollering City!

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slynch added 13:34 - Feb 10 Adkins' headless chickens have been trained into a relentless pack of wild dogs. Harrying the prey till they are exhausted, chasing down the stragglers, cutting off any options to escape till there's nothing left but to roll over and die - proper football at last! Well done team, well done the manager. Proper football, proper tactics, proper manager, proper chairman; it's all in place now, Saints will win every game till the end of the season.

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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 14:09 - Feb 10 What a superb team performance! Really proud to be a Saints fan. Everyone had a good game and put in 100% effort. The tactics are great, really ballsy to get so many players forward and have a go at them. It really is a Barcelona style of working incredibly hard to close down and get the ball back. When all players are doing it relentlessly its almost impossible to play against. Thats Man Utd and City that we've bossed playing this way. A key feature from yesterday was a lack of mistakes from our defence. Yoshida and Hooiveld were solid for 90 minutes. That makes such a difference. We've also got one of the hardest working midfields in the league. Cork and Schneiderlin are brilliant together in this system. Steven Davis has also been doing very well recently, Ramirez will struggle to get back in the side! We've got a good mid-table side and thats where we're heading. Onwards and Upwards!!

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Fordy added 14:37 - Feb 10 Ref was dreadful. There was two minutes added time in the first half but he kept playing until City lost the ball. And where did the 5 minutes added time at the end come from?
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thegeneral added 16:29 - Feb 10 Apparantly we didn't win it MC lost it, despite us outplaying them in every area of the pitch, hassling, harrying, closing down, winning second balls and every player giving 110%. The mancs arrogance led them to believe an easy game was upon them with no need to get out of second gear, despite a warning in the shape of Fergies comments about our second half performance at old trafford. They were rubbish because we made them rubbish with superior tactics and determination to win. I hope when we start turning over the top 5 on a regular basis our team gets the credit it deserves.

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SaintNick added 20:28 - Feb 10 As I mentioned City are the only team above us we have bneaten this season, given there are 14 sides above us thats not a great record, if we change that then safety will be assured
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BoondockSaint added 22:20 - Feb 10 Well done lads! And Ricky played a full game! So he is in shape and having a big guy like that harassing you has to tire defences. I totally agree with with Fordy and St. Mike. I was nervously thinking "Oh they'll give City an extra 3 or 4 because they're City and then they come up with 5!!!? I have friends who are ManU and Spurs supporters (I await their Thank You cards in the Post) and I've always told them, there's a pecking order . The bigger/glamour clubs get the calls. If we play Spurs, they get the majority of the calls, if Spurs play ManU, it's ManU gets the calls. I don't think it's fixed, but it's just as DAVRAM says, "subconscious" Speaking of Spurs, any one know if we get "Sell On" money if they sell Bale?

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SaintNick added 22:25 - Feb 10 I think that we wrote off the sell on money for a lump sum payment and Tommy Forecast when we were in financial sh*t a few years ago so the answer is
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Whatsforpud added 23:22 - Feb 10 Great creative attacking play, and without Ramirez and mainly without Lallana. If they are both fit for Newcastle, will either of them start? We have to have Cork and Sneiderlin as they are fast becoming one of the best pairings in the league. Davis did well, but perhaps has been less consistent.
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thingummy added 23:42 - Feb 10 great game - what was different was the last 20 minutes. we played a mucher line up the park rather than defending our penalty area ....... waiting for jos to hit an og. jos had his best game in a saints shirt. I think cork would have got my MOM award but frankly it could have been any from half a dozen. The new approach is to take pressure off the back line, making them look less chaotic ...

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schatfield added 01:29 - Feb 11 I will be honest, im not seeing the play difference to how our old guvnor had them play, so obviously im missing something here. But i do see a more steely confidence in them - unsure why, maybe its the new manager affect, but we dont seem to want to let in a last minute goal now. Agree on what thingummy sais above about the defense as well, it seems to take pressure off the back line. Wonder if the new 4m buy will get a game anytime soon now....

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scummerlou added 09:33 - Feb 11 Cant really add much to the comments above, WHAT A PERFORMANCE...!!!! Hard to pick out individuals, but MY and JH were outstanding at the back....Dzeko is 6'27" and hardly won a thing in the air vs JH, and then there is the calm that is MY..Maya also showed a good turn of speed a few times when City tried to play over the top. And our midfield seems a lot more balanced with SD in there, deserved his goal. He is vital if we are to keep playing the high tempo and high pressing game (credit to the Fitness staff) The only negative points...worst Ref we have seen this season at SMS...And How and Why is SRL not in the England squad, esp for last weeks friendly!! One very happy Saints fan today...COYR

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landsdownsaint added 11:45 - Feb 11 We were outstanding,fantastic, incredible! Only down side was Pompey idiots trying to beat us up on train back to Brighton
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trotsky added 14:36 - Feb 11 Agree largely with schatfield. Seems to be a rush to identify great tactical masterstrokes from MP (and not just from comedy wind-up merchants like slynch), which I don't think really exist. At times, we do play a higher-tempo pressing game than under Nigel, but MP seems to appreciate that you can't play like that for 90 minutes (it was completely absent in the first half at Old Trafford). What I can see is a team continuing to improve and be more resolute, exactly as they were under Nigel, albeit with less fluency than earlier in the season without Ramirez and Lallana. Certainly MP is keeping faith with the confusing habit of replacing Puncheon relatively early when he's playing well.

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REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 17:18 - Feb 11 The biggest tactical difference Poche has made is what we do without the ball. As soon as we've lost it, everyone looks to close down the opposition straight away. The players work incredibly hard to not give the opposition any time on the ball where ever they are on the pitch. It makes it very difficult for any team to settle and find rythem when we are constantly harrying them and breaking up the play. Cork, Schneiderlin and Davis are great at this, and from this tactic we scored the first goal v City when Puncheon robbed Barry. Adkins did try to get us to do this to some extent but Poche is clearly an expert at getting his teams to press high up the pitch as he's got us doing it very effectively. I wonder how many other teams will try to take this approach as it works. Barcelona started it, Poche copied it at Espanyol and has now brought it to Southampton. I've been impressed with how tactically astute Poche is so far. He's not afraid to make changes during a game and haul off a big name to get the best out of the team. Like v United where he took off Ram and Punch at half-time and then we bossed the 2nd half. Bringing on Lallana v City gave us fresh legs and a new attacking threat. It'll be really interesting to see how we get on at a newly resurgent Newcastle. Should be a good game!

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zonehead added 18:10 - Feb 11 I cant understand how the fitness levels have improved and in mid season too! Have they been drug tested yet? I remeber the man U game early season, we looked knackered and Nigel made some questionable subs because of this, long may it last.
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