MANCHESTER City manager Pep Guardiola has called Saints' approach on Saturday 'brilliant' as Ruben Selles's side held their own for much of the first half before Erling Haaland opened the scoring.

City ended up overwhelming Saints after the break as Jack Grealish made it 2-0 before Haaland scored his 30th league goal of the campaign with an acrobatic finish.

Sekou Mara then gave Saints something of a lifeline before Julian Alvarez ended the contest from the penalty spot shortly after.

READ MORE: Despite Selles’s calm, Saints are on the brink of being cut adrift in survival battle

The result in itself was far from a surprise with title-chasing City always expected to beat this struggling Saints team but they certainly made their expensively assembled opposition work for it in the first half, something Guardiola recognised.

“I would not say we were bad but I give a lot of credit to Southampton, their game plan was brilliant,” the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss said. 

“Erling is here for these types of games. He has a big heart and he was on the end of the assist from Kevin (De Bruyne). His ability is incredible.

“We adjusted something in the first half and started the second really well and started much better.

“If it was 0-0 it would’ve been completely different. But, our game second half was much better.”

Of course, Saints fans understand that an impressive 45 minutes is not nearly enough at this stage of the season as Saturday's clash with City ended in another defeat.

The result leaves Saints four points adrift of safety with just eight games to go in their Premier League campaign.