Southampton out of EFL Cup after 3-1 loss to City!

What a great win for Manchester City to take them through to the next round of the EFL Cup. A game which signified Kun Aguero's 350th appearance for the club and he sure did mark it in style!! A game where Pep Guardiola rested some of his main men ready for the league games at the weekend.

In the first few minutes of the game, Manchester City were the ones putting all the pressure on, it seemed as though Southampton's plan was to put every man in the box to try and stop the current Premier League Champions in their tracks. But it did not work...

The first goal game in the 19th minute and put City ahead. It came from the corner, as Gabriel Jesus was given the ball and crossed it into the box, where Otamendi was patiently waiting to get his head on it and nod it into the back of the net. City deserved to be in the lead in the first 20 minutes, as they were by far the better side. Southampton found it difficult to come back, after their confidence was already knocked from their 0-9 thrashing at the weekend and was then even worse as they fell behind away from home! We also have to remember that they play City on Saturday in the league too...

The second goal arrived shortly after, in the 37th minute. Some good lead-up action saw Aguero confidently tap the ball into the back of the net. Kyle Walker made a run down the right side of the box after receiving the ball further up the pitch and he just crossed the ball into the box, waiting for Aguero to finish it off! And just like that, City had doubled their lead. 

Half time saw Manchester City dominate the game. It was a game in which they had pretty much all of possession (80%) and completely ruled the game, Southampton would find it very hard to get back into the game in the second half as they had no shots in this first half and did not look convincing at all.

And shortly into the second half, Aguero made it three!! What a way to remember his 350th game for City. A great pass from Mahrez (who was incredible all night) outside the box on the left, saw Aguero get a slight touch to it, but it was enough to put it in the back of the net and City pretty much secured their win from here on in. A battered Southampton didn't know what to do.

About 20 minutes before the end the visitors came to life and looked a lot less shy than they did in the rest of the game. They had a ffew good shots and pressed a lot, having a lot more of the possession and a lot more of the ball in their attacking end. 

They got, what ended up being, a consolation goal, from a corner. The corner was struck perfectly and landed right in the right place, Stephens got his head on it and controlled it well. This game them a bit more confidence to try and get something out of the game in the last 15 minutes. 

There was also more injury worries for Pep, as Angelino went down with what looked like a muscle problem in his leg and had to be substituted for John Stones!

However, this was not the case and the game finished 3-1 to Manchester City. Full time meant that City skipped through to the next round after beating Southampton 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium. Southampton came to life a bit in the end, but could not get anything out of this game. They are out of the cup, but face City again in the league on Saturday!