This was meant to be the hardest game of the season, the free hit, the one we always get torn apart in, but from the very start there was an air of confidence about Saints, a desire and a determination to get the job done.

If we take a look at the starting line up of Saints it had cost a combined transfer fee of around £85 million, some £15 million less than Manchester City had paid for Jack Grealish in the summer, real evidence as to how much the gap has widened between the likes of City and most of the Premier League.

Ralph Hasenhuttl once again made a few changes to the side that raised a few eyebrows, out went Salisu, Djenepo and Peraud and in came Jan Bednarek for his first Premier League start of the season, Kyle Walker Peters at right back and Che Adams in a two man attack.

In the first 25 minutes Saints looked determined, but they were still getting caught at the back and didn't look disciplined.

With Jack Stephens coming off injured on 37 and Mohammed Salisu coming on, they looked better organised and although they had plenty of possession City rarely looked like scoring again.

Why Bednarek & Salisu haven't been paired together before this season is a mystery, but it is the best central defensive duo we have at the club at the moment. I'm not saying this from any other standpoint than both Mohammed Salisu & Jan Bednarek are better players than Jack Stephens as I'm sure some will tell me that Jack was brilliant last week,

I am glad to hear that, competition for places is good, having good options is good, but the reality is that you have to play your best players.

Watching Match of the day their highlights seemed to show a different game from the full 99 minutes including injury time in both halves I watched, no one could argue with the amount of possession City had, 64% in total, but a resolute Saints side defended from the front and made sure that they actually had less shots on target than Saints, only 1 as opposed to our 2.

The fact that they had 16 attempts on goal shows how little we actually allowed them and aside from a few chances that went begging for them in the first half hour, they rarely got a decent sight of goal.

We broke quickly and had our moments as MOTD showed in their analysis when they highlighted several good attacks we had that had not even featured in the highlights, but our problem was that too often we failed in the end product, we didn't get a shot away or failed to play the right ball.

But the game hinged on two decisions, the first went against Saints, Nathan Redmond won the ball from Kyle Walker Peters and Adam Armstrong was put through, it was a clear penalty, the ball wasn't played by Kyle Walker and he not only bundled Armstrong over with his arm to the neck but went over him in a tackle.

It was surely as clear a penalty as I have seen, again MOTD agreed, but VAR felt otherwise, I cannot think why, Armstrong was bundled over without the ball being played, in any other part of the pitch it would be a foul, we had players booked for less by the ref.

But there would be more controversy, City looked to have scored in injury time, Allex McCarthy had made a wonder save to keep the initial header out, but he could do nothing with the loose ball and Raheem Sterling forced it home.

It took a good 2 1/2 minutes for VAR to make it's decision and from a technical point of view it was the right one, Sterling's boot was definitely offside, Saints were reprieved, but this was exactly the type of decision that makes VAR so controversial, why did they take so long to come to their verdict, it should have taken no more than 30 seconds to decide.

But come the final whistle the result was perhaps the right one, Saints certainly didn't deserve to lose and we were good value for the point, although we had to chase the ball for long periods, we were not swamped and we ran our socks off to make sure that City's possession rarely turned to actual pressure and chances on goal.

But we never parked the bus either, we had an attacking line up, we had our chances and went quickly at the break, Che Adams had very similar chance in the second half as Broja had against West Ham, a good run and a low shot that in this case went a foot wide of the post, City rarely had anything as close.

Saints have come through a tough opening 5 fixtures, four against teams that have started the season in the top 7, in the corresponding fixtures last season we only got 1 point, this season we have got 4.

Of course we have yet to win a game, but we have made a solid start against teams Newcastle aside who have made decent starts, we have a squad now that has depth, that Ralph Hasenhuttl can work with and pick teams to suit the opposition, unlike for large parts of last season where he had a job putting out XI experienced players let alone being able to make tactical changes.

But all of our hard work will go to waste if we don't get that win on the table and there is no better time to do that than against Wolves next weekend, if we beat them we move up the table and start to create a gap between ourselves and the bottom three, defeat will mean we will be looking over our shoulders.

But we can look forward with confidence now, we have a squad rather than a team, we have a manager who has taken us through a difficult couple of years where we have been hampered by having so much dead wood on the wage bill and having to run with a small squad on a shoestring.

We have showed at times we can challenge for the top 10, no more so than the first half of last season, now we have to prove that we can be more consistent.

At Manchester City not one single player had a bad game, some didn't have as good a game as they can do, but they made up for it with effort and workrate to get a point at the Etihad that few will get and it should be remembered that both Norwich and Arsenal both got beaten 5-0 in City's other 2 Premier League games this season and Red Bull Leipzig shipped 6 in midweek.

Slowly but surely we are now moving forward and this season perhaps won't bring trophies, but it will see us compete, we are not there yet, but we are a lot closer than we were a year ago.

Photo: Action Images

Colburn added 09:39 - Sep 20 Saint Nick.. I can only conclude that VAR is as corrupt as your constant knocking of Jack. I've seen your responses and I suggest you read your own article again (I appreciate that you don't usually do this, or even use a spellcheck or check if you have our own players names correct) If you read your own article again, you will find that you instantly jumped to make your repeatedly tiresome misjudgements on Jack, in fact you dedicated 4 ******* paragraphs to it, building up your prosecution. This is without doubt your most pathetic offering to date on a player who made the goal against Utd and played 127 minutes of two clean sheets the last two games so your timing is equally pathetic. Get a grip on yourself, it's lazy journalism at best and merely detracts from one of our best performances and our recent good form. Clown.

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pwithers123 added 10:43 - Sep 20 Reference Saint Nick continuous comments about central defence- and the recent criticism of Jack Stephens. It does come over as repetitive and that our defender have rather unrealistic expectations to meet - in order to satisfy Saint Nick. I would add the following comments: The negative comments often go back to Van Dijk and Fonte partnership. I feel that is a standard that any defenders would find hard to match. Van Dijk is World class and wholly exceptional combination of speed, height, athletic ability and savvy football nous. He changed a team as good as Liverpool to win the Premier league and Champions League. Fonte was again European Championship winner. It is great to have high standards and to hope that we can keep finding players of such quality - however maybe we should not beat up players who are doing an excellent job - and are committed to the team and to Southampton FC. Let us be proud of Jack in the same way as we feel great about Ward-Prowse. 2nd- the way that Hassenhutl sets us up to play - with the very high press allied to the strong encouragement for wing backs attacking - and forwards constantly harrying - creates incredible pressure for the central two defenders. They are often left deliberately exposed. e.g. at any point the full backs over commit, or make an error, or the attackers drop energy or lose the ball - then the central path to our goal is vulnerable. Our central two defenders are often more exposed to this than other teams who do not play in the same extreme fashion. It means that each member on the pitch must play a perfect game. So let's be fair to the challenging role that those two central positions face- and be less critical when that last line breaks down- It is less about the person in that last line - more about the entire team. Maybe we all should avoid blaming the two at the back and keep expecting that Saints can constantly find world class players

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underweststand added 11:08 - Sep 20 Once again the media were massaging City's ego by suggesting they ALL had a bad day at the office, in part because they didn't score 5 against Saints (who are always painted as Prem. interlopers by team north of Watford). The ongoing comments about TWO controversial VAR decisions is plainly meant to help City fans come to terms with the loss of TWO home points, when it was clear that when the incoming ball was played in, AT LEAST two City players were already off side and there the argument should have ended there instead of trying to create a case for a disputed/ disallowed goal. Ralph stated that he felt it was the best performance from his side since he arrived, and few of us could disagree, and although City had more possession we certainly shaded the first half, and had more shots on target then City. Pep G. (along with Jose M. on previous occasion) recognised that Saints do present major problems ( even the big sides ) and in the past had to be rescued from defeat by their £ mulit-million signings. Referee Moss ( along with Dean) will get "a warm welcome" IF / WHEN they turn up at SMS, and one can only hope that their bad consciences may give Saints the benefit of the doubt on future occasions.

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Peterx added 13:38 - Sep 20 Amazing performance. In terms of our weak shooting, I think lets give AA some time, he is working extremely hard and he had an intervention in our penalty area late in the game which slowed down their attack and showcased how hard he was working. But both Che and AA snatched at shots during the game. But this was against a side who were light years ahead of anyone else last year. I also think getting Stewie back will increase our cutting edge. Days like this as a Saints fan are fantastic, and I also get a kick out of the press saying MC had an off day just like West Ham and MU had off days recently. Can't wait for Chelsea to have an off day in two weeks time as well.

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aceofthebase added 16:27 - Sep 20 The conversation between ref and var should be published. It would expose the crap reversed decision
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PaleRider added 17:19 - Sep 20 Some great observations! I have a few further ones: 1) The crowd and team need to be patient against Wolves; 2) It is worth remembering that Stephens and the much maligned Yoshida were really thrown in at the deep end and have done great service for Saints; 3) I worry that we haven't signed a leader. I wonder if Ralph doesn't like a bit of competition? But overall a great result on Saturday and I think (hope) that we are indeed in a better position than last year.

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GeordieSaint added 20:20 - Sep 20 Is everyone absolutely certain on the penalty incident? I actually think he got it right. Whether or not it was clear and obvious to overturn is another matter.
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KriSaint added 09:32 - Sep 21 The 2 outfield players who deserve special praise are Romeu, who played in a very deep DM'er role and looked back to his best, and Kyle Walker-Peters, who is just a brilliant, quick, clever defender both defensively and offensively. No dis-respect to Romain Perraud, but Kyle W-P should start every PL match, and with Livramento playing so well as RB, KWP should be our first choice LB for now in my opinion. Alex McCarthy - what a fantastic save (from Citys one finish at target). Foden connected perfectly with the cross and headed hard and downwards and the ball bounced at the goal line just inside Maccas right post - and was going in - when Macca flew to the right and kept the ball out milliseconds after the goal line bounce. Reminds me a little of Gordon Banks famous save from Peles header. Superb, and I'm happy that Macca is showing some class and has 2 clean sheets in a row now. Must boost his confidence, and he looks fitter and braver than ever. Also when it comes to dealing with crosses. Good!

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