Man City’s Guardiola ‘We won because of the quality of the players’

Manchester City are now 14 points clear at the top of the Premier League

MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS: Ederson - 6, Made some good saves throughout the game, with it taking an effort from the penalty spot and fortuitous drop of the ball to beat him. Some of his passing was a bit off. EPA

Kyle Walker - 6, Defended fairly well and played a good pass into Foden in the lead up to City’s fifth of the game. EPA

Ruben Dias - 6, Played a good pass in the build-up to the opener and looked typically authoritative in a lot of his defending. EPA

Aymeric Laporte - 4, Looked shaky at times and pulled Jannik Vestergaard to concede the penalty for Southampton’s goal, while he could have been a bit more decisive for the away side’s second. Reuters

Oleksandr Zinchenko - 6, Made good runs forward, one of which played a part in the opener, but got away with giving the ball away in a dangerous area. Reuters

Kevin De Bruyne - 9, Scored the opener against the run of play, linked up play nicely in the build-up for the home side’s third and then scored their fifth nicely. EPA

Fernandinho - 6, It was another reliable performance from the Brazilian, who was as combative as ever. Booked for a foul on Nathan Tella. Reuters

Ilkay Gundogan - 7, Had stages where he faded out of the game, but the German scored City’s third with an instinctive finish – displaying his anticipation. EPA

Phil Foden - 9, It was a busy performance from the 20-year-old. His shot being saved lead to the opener, while he got the assist for City’s fourth and fifth. He could have even had a penalty. AFP

Bernardo Silva - 6, Looked composed no matter the situation and moved the ball well, but one of his touches lead to Southampton getting their second. Came so close to getting a ball of his own. AFP

Riyad Mahrez - 9, The Algerian was such a threat. Scored with a great strike from outside the box, then his good footwork and effort going off the post lead to the third, before he scored another of his own. EPA

SUB: SUB Ferran Torres (Mahrez 61’) - 4, Missed a great chance and struggled to make much of an impact – though Mahrez was a tough act to follow. Reuters

SUB: Sergio Aguero (De Bruyne 72’) – N/R, Got a fairly good effort off but there were definitely - and understandably - signs that he was a bit rusty. AFP

SUB: Benjamin Mendy (Zinchenko 81’) – N/R, Put in a good performance and didn’t look stretched at all defensively. AFP

SOUTHAMPTON RATINGS: Alex McCarthy - 5, Was unlucky for the opener, but he was repaid by getting away with one after a poor touch almost lead to him giving away a penalty. Had no chance for the other goals. Reuters

Ryan Bertrand - 6, Very willing to get forward and defended resolutely. While there will be questions asked about his involvement in the opener, Bertrand had little chance having been put in a two-on-one situation. EPA

Jan Bednarek - 5, Showed intelligence in some of his defending, but won’t want to watch himself being nutmegged for the fifth again. EPA

Jannik Vestergaard - 6, Won Southampton’s penalty but there were times where the defender was caught ball-watching and showed a lack of awareness. Reuters

Mohammed Salisu -5, Started well but struggled when Mahrez really got going and got away with sloppy play in his box, when Torres missed an easy chance. AFP

James Ward-Prowse - 7, Converted confidently from the penalty spot, tested Ederson from range and was often seen directing his teammates off the ball. Reuters

Jack Stephens - 5, Playing in midfield, Stephens worked well defensively but looked out of place at times when trying to make things happen on the ball. AFP

Stuart Armstrong - 5, Should have tracked back much better for the opener and struggled to really test Zinchenko for large periods. Reuters

Moussa Djenepo - 6, Showed brilliant discipline and work rate to help out defensively, but will likely be disappointed about missing the chance that presented itself to him in the first half. EPA

Nathan Redmond - 7, Southampton’s biggest threat from open play and provided a nice touch for Adams’ goal. Also forced a decent save from Ederson. Reuters

Che Adams - 6, His shocking attempt to pass the ball across the pitch lead to Mahrez’s goal, but he’ll feel a bit better after he got a goal of his own. Saw a good strike chalked off for offside. AFP

SUB: Nathan Tella (Djenepo HT) - 6, Fought throughout his time on the pitch and showed flashes of quality on the ball. Reuters

SUB: Ibrahima Diallo (Stephens 63’) - 6, Passed the ball neatly and did well in his defensive game. AFP

SUB: Caleb Watts (Armstrong 73’) – N/R, Got minutes under his belt against top opposition and gave a decent account of himself. AFP

Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola praised his players' powers of recovery to beat Southampton 5-2 despite being denied a blatant penalty when the game was delicately poised at 1-1.

City are now 14 points clear at the top of the Premier League as they close in on a third title in four years.

A 21-game winning run for Guardiola's men came to an end against Manchester United on Sunday.

But City offered the second-placed Red Devils little extra encouragement that there was a route back into the title race as Riyad Mahrez and Kevin De Bruyne both struck twice.

Guardiola, though, was still furious after VAR did not intervene when Alex McCarthy wiped out Phil Foden after overrunning the ball.

The England midfielder tried to stay on his feet to tap into an empty net, but, after the chance slipped away, VAR did not tell referee Jon Moss to review the incident.

"Jon cannot see it but that the VAR is there and don't whistle the penalty is incredible," said Guardiola.

"You know after four years I don't talk about the referees, but this action is incredible.

"Maybe one day they will explain us really the rule for all the players, managers.

"That's why I am proud because in this club, I don't know in others, what we have done in these past years we won it ourselves that's for sure."

City's winning run had started against Southampton back in December when the Saints were flying high and above the now champions-elect in the table.

However, Ralph Hasenhuttl's men have taken just nine points from their last 15 games to tumble down to 14th.

The visitors made a bright start before their leaky defence began to creak when faced with City's array of attacking talent.

De Bruyne smashed home the opener off the underside of the bar after McCarthy had parried Foden's shot on 15 minutes.

The lead only lasted 10 minutes, though, as Jannik Vestegaard was hauled down by Aymeric Laporte after his initial header had been parried by Ederson.

James Ward-Prowse coolly converted the penalty straight down the middle.

Moments later came City's penalty appeal, but to their credit the home side turned their anger from that injustice into goals before the break.

The brilliant Mahrez pounced on a stray Che Adams pass before curling into the bottom corner on his favoured left foot.

The Algerian was also the creator for City's third as his right-footed effort came back off the post and Ilkay Gundogan was in the right place to stroke home his 14th goal of the season.

"We won because of the quality of the players we had on the pitch," added Guardiola. "It's important for Kevin and Riyad to score goals. We need them."

Goals continued to flow at both ends after the break as Mahrez wriggled clear in the box again to fire in City's fourth.

A miserly defensive record had been key to the run that allowed Guardiola's side to streak clear at the top of the table.

But they have now conceded six goals in their last four games.

With John Stones rested, Laporte did little to further his chances of starting the big upcoming Champions League games. The Frenchman was again at fault as Adams drilled a loose ball home from close range.

Again City responded almost immediately as Foden teed up De Bruyne to score his second of the evening.