Saints’ proud defensive record suffered a significant blow here, but it did not always look as if that would be the case.

For the first 45 minutes at St Mary’s, Ronald Koeman’s side proved every bit a match for Manchester City’s attack.

The second 45 was never likely to be as simple, however.

The loss of Morgan Schneiderlin to injury at half-time was a major blow to Saints’ hopes of securing what could have been a huge result in the context of their season.

His departure resulted in a significant reshuffle, with Toby Alderweireld being pushed into an unfamiliar midfield role and Maya Yoshida, who has not played a first-team game since late September, brought on to play centre-half.

It was far from an ideal situation, and it was little surprise that Saints’ record of having only conceded once at St Mary’s this season was soon blown away, as they began to fray around the edges, with City ruthlessly pulling at the loose threads.

Unfortunately for Saints manger Ronald Koeman, he does not have a huge wealth of options in his squad like City counterpart Manuel Pellegrini, so coping with such situations is difficult.

The absence of Jack Cork through illness, coupled with James Ward-Prowse’s long-term injury, meant that only the inexperienced Harrison Reed was available as a like-for-like replacement for Schneiderlin, and it is understandable Koeman would not want to throw him into such a situation at this stage.

Perhaps he could have put Shane Long on, and dropped Steven Davis into the deeper role, but it was fairly inevitable that whatever he chose to do would unsettle things to some extent.

Saints did not look threatening in this game, but had been so disciplined defensively in the first half that, for City’s control of the play, the visitors were barely given a chance of any note.

Alderweireld had been immense, helping to keep the normally irrepressible Sergio Aguero quiet alongside Jose Fonte, while Ryan Bertrand was outstanding at left back and Nathaniel Clyne solid on the other side.

With Schneiderlin and Victor Wanyama giving every bit as good as they got in a titanic midfield with Yaya Toure and Fernandinho, there was a genuine sense that Saints could become only the second Premier League side to keep City out this season.

But the hosts never had the same measure of their opponents after half-time and the enforced change, with some uncharacteristic sloppy mistakes hurting them.

It was perhaps simply a sign of one the biggest things that still separates a side like Saints from those at City’s level.

At full strength, it is fair to say Koeman’s men can take on anyone in this division.

But start removing significant pieces and it becomes too much against sides of City’s quality.