Southampton . Man City

Southampton's Premier League form has been awful under Nathan Jones - so how did they stun Manchester City in the League Cup?

Ortega had become the second keeper on City’s books to be dinked at St Mary’s and from the Northam End after [Ederson](https://theathletic.com/football/player/ederson-NrTd48lP4XORzw4r/) in 2020. With legs and other limbs typically sprawling, Djenepo aimed to cut out passes into [Jack Grealish](https://theathletic.com/football/player/jack-grealish-D9VhhPVj6LYzpmVZ/) and Gundogan. The game was littered with passages of play that continued to turn the dial in Southampton’s favour. That act of bravery showed its purpose later on, when Bazunu raced off his line to stop [Erling Haaland](https://theathletic.com/football/player/erling-haaland-UqdITFAwdmIrBQfd/) from going through on goal. [Sekou Mara](https://theathletic.com/football/player/sekou-mara-TkGrtE9QIq9gV6Q3/) started up top and set the tone for the timed press, with [Aymeric Laporte](https://theathletic.com/football/player/aymeric-laporte-Q4uhweZJfdqmC41v/) error-strewn early on. “The best team won,” said Guardiola. Jones tasked his captain with blocking passing lanes and putting pressure on [Kalvin Phillips](https://theathletic.com/football/player/kalvin-phillips-cUbQOZWCW1nYJx8x/), where he could “jump out of shape” to be the first pressing trigger. Guardiola, supporters, Jones and maybe even the players waited for City’s waves of pressure to come. Southampton looked more likely to grab a third, with By this stage, Southampton had made eight interceptions to City’s two, with three coming from Lyanco alone. Ultimately, though, it was the Malian’s sense of carte blanche that produced his goal and Southampton’s second, drifting towards the left and chipping As Sport Republic’s co-founder Henrik Kraft took his seat a few minutes before kick-off, he would have noticed the many clusters of empty red seats.