GIF: Manchester City's brilliant counter-attack kills off Southampton

How different things could have been.

Southampton were going toe-to-toe with Manchester City in the opening half of Sunday's match at the St Mary's, and heading into the interval at 0-0 they had every reason to believe they could knock off last season's champions.

Then Morgan Schneiderlin, who had bossed the midfield in the first 45 minutes, was forced off with an injury and replaced to begin the second half.

Forty-five minutes later, after a red card to Eliaquim Mangala, Manchester City were up 3-0 and closing the gap on Chelsea at the top of the Premier League table.

Goals from Yaya Toure and Frank Lampard put the Citizens up 2-0, and Gael Clichy finished off an excellent counter-attack in the 88th minute to put some added sheen on the final score.

(Courtesy: Reddit)

The attack started from a Southampton corner kick. Yeah.