Goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Fabian Delph have given Manchester City a 2-0 lead over Southampton at the break this afternoon.
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Eager to avenge two defeats in a week by Liverpool and Juventus, the hosts made a thrilling start to the match, forcing Southampton goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg into action twice early on.
Yaya Toure played in Raheem Sterling for a volley on three minutes, which the Dutch international parried, before the on-loan shot-stopper kept out an Alexander Kolarov free kick.
The Saints' resistance was broken after just nine minutes, as Sterling won the ball off Maya Yoshida, before teeing up De Bruyne for a tap-in.
Ronald Koeman's side struggled to find a response to the Belgian midfielder's goal, and almost fell further behind moments later when Stekelenburg responded quickly to cut out a Delph pass towards Sergio Aguero.
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Southampton did concede a second goal on 20 minutes, when Delph found the net with a shot from the edge of the Southampton penalty area, which struck Virgil van Dijk on its way to hitting the target.
The visitors were rocked into action after Delph's goal, and were unfortunate not to pull one back three minutes later as Van Dijk struck the crossbar from 25 yards out, while James Ward-Prowse missed the target from a free kick on the half-hour mark.
City came close to adding a third goal on 35 minutes, as De Bruyne found Sterling in a good position, only for the former Liverpool winger to blaze his effort over the bar.
Stand-in Manchester City goalkeeper Willy Caballero denied Southampton a way back into the game before the break, as the Argentinian denied Shane Long.
Stephen Topping
