Man City beats Southampton 3-1 in Premier League
MANCHESTER, England (AP) Manchester City rebounded emphatically from two disappointing losses with a 3-1 win over Southampton in the Premier League on Saturday, but lost Sergio Aguero to another injury.
After a 4-1 drubbing by Liverpool and 1-0 loss to Juventus in the Champions League, City found its attacking verve again as Kevin de Bruyne and Fabian Delph put the team 2-0 ahead after 21 minutes. City dominated the first half and could have extended its lead, before Southampton threatened a comeback after the break as Shane Long to pulled one back in the 50th. But Kolarov scored from a difficult angle in the 70th to restore the two-goal lead and send City provisionally back atop the standings.
In a worrying sign for City, though, Aguero limped off with an apparent ankle injury in the second half - although the team did get a boost when David Silva came off the bench after a nine-game injury layoff.
After being publicly criticized by manager Manuel Pellegrini following the loss to Liverpool, City's players looked determined to make amends in the first half.
Kolarov hit the bar from a free kick in the opening minutes and Maarten Stekelenburg anxiously grabbed the ball as City players swarmed in.
More pressure led to the opener after nine minutes as Raheem Sterling robbed Maya Yoshida and sprinted into the area to square for De Bruyne to tap in.
Delph then marked his first league start for City by scoring from a corner as the ball rolled into his path outside the area and shot took a big deflection as Stekelenburg was wrong-footed.
Sterling fired over when presented with a great chance to make it 3-0 and Saints pulled one back early in the second half as Long powered in a header from a superb cross by Saido Mane.
But City weathered the comeback attempt and took the sting out of the game with a third goal after 69 minutes.
Sterling made the initial run and Wilfried Bony was involved before De Bruyne, resisting the temptation to shoot, cleverly picked out an unmarked Kolarov on the far side. The Serbian drove home to ease City nerves.
Southampton dropped to ninth, nine points behind City.