CUTHROAT MAN CITY RETURN TO THE TOP AS THEY HIT SIX

Manchester City picked right up where they left off at the Etihad Stadium, comfortably beating Southampton 6-1 to return to the top of the table.

Manchester City made their intentions clear early on scoring three goals in 18 minutes to put the game in its place.

Southampton were able to create several good chances with Danny Ings winning and scoring a penalty though they were never truly able to compete with City.

Among many others, Raheem Sterling had a great game scoring two goals and getting 2 assists following news he has verbally agreed to a new contract at the club.

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Manchester City started brightly with key man David Silva causing Southampton all kinds of positional problems in the opening minutes.

D. Silva played through Leroy Sane, who was given the start ahead of Riyad Mahrez, who crossed the ball across the box resulting in a own goal from Wesley Hoedt in the sixth minute of play.

Southampton's uphill battle looked more like mission impossible as City kept up the pressure with Raheem Sterling dribbling his way through the box before squaring it to Sergio Aguero who made it 2-0 at 12 minutes.

Guardiola's men did not stop there though as they attacked at Southampton relentlessly with Bernardo and D. Silva finding all the space they need.

It was the spaniard, D. Silva, who put another past Southampton, making it 3-0 with a volley into the top corner from the inside of the box in the 18th minute.

Despite 28 minutes of one-way traffic, Southampton got in behind Manchester City leading to Ederson bringing down Danny Ings in the box who converted the penalty calmly giving Southampton a glimpse of hope in the 30th minute.

In scoring this goal Ings became the first attacker to score against Manchester City in the Premier League this season.

Despite Southampton growing a little in confidence Manchester City continue to look dangerous and end the first half on their terms as Aguero repays the favour, sliding the ball across the box for Sterling to finish and make it 4-1 going into the second half.

This makes it the first time in 18 months that City have scored four goals in the opening half of a Premier League game.

In typical Guardiola fashion, Manchester City controlled the second half, limiting Southampton's offence whilst poking and prodding at their defence.

The scoring resumed when Manchester City picked up the pace again with Aguero once again turning provider for Sterling who shot across the box and made it 5-1 with 23 minutes still to play.

Source: Premier League

It was all but back to business for City after scoring their fifth as they controlled the pace of the game and created more chances for themselves whilst Southampton looked to hang on.

However, City were not done their as they once again looked to end the half with a full stop. A quick counter-attack from Phil Foden, Sterling and the goalscorer Sane undid Southampton once more as Sane's spectacular finish flew into the top left corner.

Game, set and match.

With this win Manchester City go back to the top of the table not only on goal difference but now on points after Liverpool drew to Arsenal yesterday.

They dominated the game and looked as dangerous as ever whilst Southampton did their best to balance attacking them with staying in shape but were ultimately outmatched and outgunned.

Guardiola's men finished the game with 68% possession and 17 shots compared to Southampton's 33% possession and 12 shots on game.

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STATS:

- Sergio Aguero's first-half goal was his 150th Premier League goal for Manchester City.

- Raheem Sterling has now been directly involved in 40 goals since the start of last season (24 goals, 16 assists). Only Liverpool's Mohamed Salah has been involved in more (50).

- Wesley Hoedt's early own-goal was his second of the season, after also scoring one in the Saints' 3-0 loss to Liverpool earlier this season. More than any other Premier League player.

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THE MANAGERS:

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was very pleased with his team's performance, both defensively and offensively.

"We played excellently, without and especially with the ball," Guardiola said. "We were aggressive in the final third, but we were lucky to score the goal in the last minute of the first-half.

"The game was not over, because we concede. Southampton created more chances than most teams this season."

Southampton boss Mark Hughes admitted that his game plan went more or less "out of the window" after City's rampant start.

"We were poor in that opening period, you have to be resolute to keep back an outstanding City team," the former Manchester City boss said.

"We were a bit lightweight and didn't deal with one-on-one situations. Very quickly we found ourselves 3-0 down and the game was gone."