Southampton gave Manchester City their hardest period of the season at Etihad Stadium, Pep Guardiola insisted following their 5-2 victory on Wednesday night.
City moved 14 points clear at the top of the table as they got back to winning ways after their 21-game winning streak was ended by defeat to Manchester United on Sunday.
The Saints gave City huge problems until Kevin De Bruyne and Riyad Mahrez scored twice and Ilkay Gundogan added another to make the scoreline more flattering.
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Why were Southampton so good?
Guardiola was annoyed in his pre-match news conference about the possibility of Southampton suffering a third 9-0 defeat in two years, and he was justified as the Saints started well on Wednesday evening.