A near-capacity crowd watched Manchester City play out a goalless draw at the Etihad Stadium after Southampton were dramatically denied a second-half penalty.
City boss Pep Guardiola urged more supporters to attend Saturday’s Premier League encounter after 38,000 watched the midweek win over RB Leipzig, and the attendance was back to previous levels – as it was against Norwich (51,437) and Arsenal (52,276) – as the hosts were left frustrated by a resilient Southampton side.
The Saints thought they had a chance to break the deadlock after half-time, but after awarding the visitors a penalty and showing Kyle Walker a red card for making contact with Adam Armstrong, referee Jon Moss overturned both decisions when consulting the pitch-side monitor .
It was a big reprieve for City, but the champions could not find the breakthrough, and after VAR denied Raheem Sterling a late winner for offside, the points were shared as City ended the match with just the one shot on target.
More to follow…
What’s next?
Manchester City welcome Wycombe to the Etihad in the third round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday, and then travel to Chelsea in the Premier League for a lunchtime kick-off next Saturday.
Meanwhile, Southampton head to Sheffield United for their Carabao Cup tie on Tuesday, and then host Wolves next Sunday live on Sky Sports Premier League – kick-off 2pm.
