Aleksandar Kolarov and Kevin De Bruyne were in top form as Manchester City swept aside Southampton 3-1 at Eastlands this evening to put a difficult last seven days behind them.

De Bruyne opened the scoring on nine minutes following a dreadful error from Maya Yoshida, before setting up his Serbian counterpart for a killer third goal on 70 minutes.

The tireless Fabian Delph added a second, before Shane Long threw the visitors a lifeline, but Kolarov saw to it that City, reeling from back-to-back defeats against Liverpool and Juventus, would enjoy some respite.

Here, Sports Mole looks at who else impressed on a wet and windy evening in Manchester.

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Goal

Willy Caballero: Did very little wrong on a day when his inclusion would not have been greeted too warmly by City fans following a horror show at White Hart Lane earlier in the campaign. (7/10)

Defence

Bacary Sagna: Coped well with Mane and Bertrand, who did their best to stifle the French right-back, who responded well after his error against Liverpool seven days ago. (7/10)

Nicolas Otamendi: Looked City's weak link at times, but Demichelis swiftly took that title off him. Much better in the second period. (6/10)

Martin Demichelis: The Argentine got worse as the minutes ticked on. He was out-jumped by Long for the goal and struggled with the Irishman throughout the second half. (4/10)

Aleksandar Kolarov: Fizzed in a number of superb deliveries which really deserved to be converted, and bagged a brilliant third goal for City. Man of the match. (8/10)

Midfield

Kevin De Bruyne: Opened the scoring by tapping home Sterling's teasing cross, and delivered a class ball for Kolarov's strike, but did little in between that. (7/10)

Fabian Delph: Slightly fortunate to score after his shot deflected off a Southampton player, but did excellently overall, forcing a number of errors with his relentless pressing. (7/10)

Fernandinho: Brilliant defensively as usual, and unlucky not to score when Davis brushed his goal-bound header wide using a hand. (7/10)

Yaya Toure: Despite his best efforts, Toure, City's number 10 today, lacked the finesse of, say, Silva in the creativity stakes, but his powerful running always made Southampton nervous. (6/10)

Raheem Sterling: Picked Yoshida's pocket before setting up the first goal and generally looked a menace all evening with his pace. Should have scored at least once though. (6/10)

Attack

Sergio Aguero: The Argentine did virtually nothing in his 65-minute spell, before limping off the field and being replaced by Bony. (4/10)

Substitutes

Wilfried Bony: Very little impact. (4/10)

Goal

Maarten Stekelenburg: Two excellent saves early on and the Dutchman was faultless for the goals. (6/10)

Defence

Maya Yoshida: Inexplicably lost possession in the build-up to the opening goal, and contributed virtually nothing at the other end. Struggled with Sterling and Kolarov throughout. (3/10)

Virgil Van Dijk: Probably Saints' best defender on the day and hugely unlucky not to score when his fierce drive cannoned off the bar in the first half. (6/10)

Jose Fonte: Only lasted 35 minutes before going off injured with a bloody knee. He had looked dodgy against the dangerous Sterling, though. (5/10)

Ryan Bertrand: Surprisingly struggled with the pace of De Bruyne, but was one of Southampton's best attacking outlets as the left-back bombed forward regularly. (6/10)

Midfield

Oriol Romeu: Played some seriously horrendous passes which did him and his teammates no favours at all. Subbed at the break for Tadic. (4/10)

Victor Wanyama: Solid as usual from the stocky Kenyan, but his distribution could have been a bit better. (5/10)

Steven Davis: Massively fortunate to stay on the field after appearing to block Fernandinho's goal-bound header with his hand. Struggled on Southampton's left-hand side. (4/10)

James Ward-Prowse: Sent a free kick just wide in the first half, but the young midfielder did little to add to his burgeoning reputation here. (4/10)

Attack

Sadio Mane: Poor first half but came to life immensely after the break and delivered the free kick which led to Long's header. (6/10)

Shane Long: Started in the absence of the suspended Graziano Pelle and gave Southampton a huge lifeline with a brilliant second-half header. (7/10)

Substitutes

Steven Caulker: Replaced Fonte in the first half and coped remarkably well with Aguero and Sterling. (7/10)

Dusan Tadic: Had 45 minutes in which to make a difference, and he had a huge impact, but he missed a gilt-edged one-on-one with Caballero in the second half. (7/10)

Written by
Shane Callaghan