Saints went to the Etihad Stadium and secured their first point in the five attempts at the home of Manchester City since returning to the Premier League in 2012.

Let's make no bones about it, Saints were on the back foot from word go, they were up against a side that man for man would be classed as better than any man in the Saints line up, they conceded 65% possession to the home side, yet kept their discipline and on reflection kept City down to relatively few decent attempts on goal, indeed they only had three of fourteen attempts in total on target.

Saints job was to keep their shape and it should be remembered that we had our second choice right back and third choice left back who was making his full Premier league debut coming on the back of 3/4 of a game last week.

But Claude Puel is a master of using his squad to its fullest ability and he again changed the line up.

But one constant this season has been Oriol Romeu who was given Sky's man of the match and rightly so, those that said that the loss of Wanyama would be catastrophic have been proved wrong and Romeu has stepped up to the plate, not only is he strong in the tackle, but he is mobile and uses the ball well, it has to be said that if Wanyama had played in this day he would have undoubtedly have won a lot in the middle, but would he have also given it away a lot, what Romeu does it win it and pass it well and therefore keeps the pressure off the side.

Another star was Nathan Redmond, again some said that he was not as good as Mane, but he is starting to make people reconsider, he was full of running and took his goal well and caused problems all afternoon.

But this was not about two players it was about all of those that got on the pitch, yes it was backs to the wall, but sometimes as a team you have to grit your teeth, dig in and hope that you have a bit of luck and this was one of those days.

Sofiane Boufal again came on and this time perhaps showed a little more to show why he is the club's record signing, he showed some nice touches and ability to use the ball and this was not an easy day to make your Premier League debut.

So Saints were worth the point, perhaps Manchester City fans will disagree, but being good for a point or a win isn't all about dominating games and having the lions share of chances, it is about the overall performance and the standard of the team you are playing affects that.

We cannot deny that City are a better team, indeed this point took them to the top of the league, but we showed that we are again a force to be reckoned with in the Premier League, we are slowly but surely getting used to our manager and his system, but this game showed that our players are starting to flourish under it.

A team effort with one or two outstanding performances, but without the efforts of every player, those outstanding performances would have been worth nothing to us and we should remember that.

Photo: Action Images

dirk_doone added 16:48 - Oct 23 Man for man they weren't as good as Saints in central defence and that's what cost them. Fonte was the MOTM. It certainly wasn't all one-way traffic. We looked dangerous in attack and had the chances to win.
1

lemmsy added 18:06 - Oct 23 I think it shows how far we've come when we're slightly disappointed with a point at the etihad. Personally I thought we were a little fortunate, our goal was a gift from them & stones disallowed effort could easily have stood. Don't get me wrong it was a terrific fighting performance & hard earned point but didn't think tadic had much of A game & therefore we didn't create too much. I realise city are a top side & reiterate just how far we've come

-2

dirk_doone added 18:29 - Oct 23 lemmsy, City had 3 shots on target, we had 2. For all their possession, they hardly ever got the better of our defence. We may not have the best attack but have the best central defence in the league and that's why we are such a difficult team to beat. But, their goal was similar to Inter's so van Dijk is going to have to learn to always face and stick closer to the man he is marking in the penalty area. That's difficult I know with the pace of the top strikers. But, compared to Stones he is superb.

1

SaintBrock added 18:34 - Oct 23 Not fortunate at all lemmsy. Stones 'goal' was a clear offside so nothing fortunate about that either. Well deserved through an outstanding defensive display. Defence is as important as attack. Although I am certain Puel would not admit it, no doubt we went up there to get a point today. "If you can't win, don't lose" is his creed. Excellent performances all over the pitch today but we need Cedric and Ryan back quickly to take the pressure off the overstretched full backs who were very clearly knackered after 60 minutes, hence no wing-play and not much threat. They are the key to a Puel side's attacking ability Remember too that Tadic has had to carry the burden of the attacking threat on his own for most matches this season so it is nothing short of astounding how he keeps going at all when you recall his lack of fitness last season when he lasted only for about 60 mins of a match. Guardiola looked well shell shocked today, this PL lark ain't quite the pushover he thought it was going to be.

2

halftimeorange added 19:37 - Oct 23 True, Romeu was outstanding today and deservedly MoM. I agree that both full backs looked less sharp today but, even if they are not first choice, they have largely both played well in the last three games. What they don't do is take throw-ins positively, both of them seemingly confused as to what to do with the ball and Puel will have surely noticed this and will rectify it. Boufal definitely showed flashes of his talent (and of wanting too much time on the ball) and once he gets match fit he will be a real handful for the opposition. I hope Tadic retains his current form because together he and Boufal could run teams ragged. Shooting practice is still in need, particularly Davis who continually gets into wonderful positions only to fritter his chances away. A really good point and shows we are top half for sure.

3

lemmsy added 21:27 - Oct 23 Saintbrock IMO we were a little fortunate Stones goal was given offside due to Aguero, Sky didn't realise it was disallowed & often in the grey areas of today's football he would be deemed not interfering.( West Ham's winner v Sunderland). I agree tadic has had a lot on his shoulders, just felt he was a little below the high standards he's set this season.again I agree great defensive performance but felt we're much better at arsenal and came away empty handed & today played for a point

0

Cjay80 added 22:17 - Oct 23 How far we have come to feel robbed away at Inter and mildly disappointed with one point at Man City. I thought we were let down somewhat by Clasie today, not enough effort to track back, get tackles in, and Martina either optimistic or naive to want to run forward every time we had possession leaving the right back spot decidedly vacant. He was the reason Sane had so much space to create the equaliser. Boufal needs to quickly realise that the Premier League is fast paced and physical, wanted too much time on the ball and therefore a sitting duck losing possession. Aside from that, a massive effort from the Saints, Romeu was solid and VVD supporting a clearly knackered Sam McQueen worked well together. A great point away.

1

SaintNick added 22:21 - Oct 23 I dont think we played for a point, City are a good side and we had to work hard to contain them
0

smiffdub added 01:59 - Oct 24 I don't know what to make of my sense these last 2 games that Boufal is pretty much the same player as Tadic. Apart from that strange ness, great point at city! Romeu def yes, back four def yes. Clasie my only scapegoat today, giving the ball away and making bad decisions all day.
0

BoondockSaint added 03:23 - Oct 24 I'd say we were fortunate, but made our own luck. As I have mentioned before, Citehad is one of the top teams who will bully a lower side, but if you step into them, they shy away.That was what Romeu provided today. Liked McQueen, still don't think JWP is the dead ball specialist the announcers think he is, Boufal looks good, but as in the game, he is a replacement for Tadic , not Pelle or Mane, who were again missed-nothing to reconsider. I know VIrgil was down for a while-but 5 mins of "Lets give the big rich team a chance" Time?

2

LeTissIwish added 03:57 - Oct 24 I disagree that man for man, city's team are classed as better than Saints. Mainly, because I watched VVD and Jose boss it. They'd both walk into City's team, and would both be classed as better than their opposite numbers at City, and not just for yesterday's performance.
4

abingdonsaint added 09:41 - Oct 24 Totally agree with LeTisslwish, and was about to say the same. Would anyone seriously swap our central defenders for theirs? And while I'm at it, Bertrand would walk into their team when fit, and don't even get me started on Sterling! Probably take Aguero to be fair..... I think there is a tendency among Saints fans generally to underestimate us. We did finish in the top six last season remember. Jose Fonte made an interesting comment yesterday about being not totally happy with a point. 'It's not 3 or 4 years ago. We are now one of the top sides'. Finally, the comments about Boufal being 'off the pace'. Jeez.....give him a chance. He just played his first 20 minutes in the PL after 5 months out. He has obvious quality. Bit more positivity please!

4

GeordieSaint added 12:53 - Oct 24 That is the first game I have attended in a while and I thought the lads were immense. They must have only got back from Milan on Friday and straight down to Manchester on Saturday with not real time to prepare. City are a quality team but the way Saints set up was perfect. Tadic and Redmond always looked dangerous and the defence well drilled and ready to pounce on the counter. Beyond the obvious stand out performers through defence and midfield I was very impressed with Charlie Austin. It was a difficult game for him but he worked his socks off and was constantly organising and encouraging from the front, a performance of a leader and a man. I thought bringing on Boufal was a brave decision as we always looked like we could hurt City on the counter. I expect him and Tadic to take more of a share of game time over the next couple of months and he looks like he could be a huge player in unlocking defences when they are defending deep at St Mary's. In some ways he biggest moment of the game was the counter at the end. That happened right in front of me and Martina's decision and pass was awful. Saints had 4 on 3 overload and should have created a goal scoring opportunity to win the game at the death. Overall really positive, can't see us losing many games this season.

0

BoondockSaint added 14:10 - Oct 24 Please LeTissIWish! Don't give them or Citehad andy ideas!!
0

TeamCortese added 18:44 - Oct 24 Brilliant performance! Yes we probably could have nicked a win but for crying out loud we need to put things into perspective--not many teams are going to get anything from the Etihad. We shouldn't ignore that we had less time to prepare than City and were playing an under-strength squad. I still think in general we are lacking in the final third when it comes to being clinical in front of goal and countering. We had plenty of opportunities to catch City on the break but didn't capitalise. If it wasn't for the solid display of Jose, VVD and Romeu we probably would have lost. Hopefully Boufal will solve that. He's different to Tadic in the sense that he's more likely to commit defenders with dribbling than with incisive through-balls. He's more of an in-between of Tadic and Mane. Tadic is likely to create more assists and Boufal is likely to score more goals. Looking forward to the EFL cup match against Sunderland. I want Puel to really go for it and put some faith in our youngsters. Hopefully Gardos will get a run-out and Shane Long as well #COYR.

3

Blogs 31 bloggers

Peterborough United Polls