Southampton 1-4 Manchester City: Erling Haaland’s acrobatic goal the pick of the bunch for visitors

By mid-September, we had run out of superlatives to describe Erling Haaland, but as we approach a decisive month that could end in disaster or singular glory, one adjective feels particularly apt: inevitable.

Whether teams mark him man for man or reject the Norwegian, the outcome is the same. Whether they restrict him to single digits for touching the ball or drop him deep to affect play, the result is the same.

Like death and taxes, Haaland finding the net becomes one of life’s certainties. He scored with his first sniff of goal here and then added another with a superb bicycle kick to take his tally to 44 for the season, 30 of them in the Premier League.

Let’s take a few seconds to digest those numbers. Thirty league goals in his debut season – the cherished number so few have managed to score – and now just four away from Mo Salah’s Premier League campaign record of 34.

Due to the inevitability of Haaland being in the right place at the right time, it often feels unnecessary to talk about his sheer brilliance, but as he pulled away to celebrate his brace, one wondered what City can achieve with him at the pipe.

Kevin De Bruyne got his 100th Premier League assist, setting up Haaland’s opener, as the Belgian played a phenomenal game

Pep Guardiola replaced Haaland after his second goal, but substitute Julian Alvarez scored a penalty

The champions did not pay £51 million for Haaland to win regulation games against a lowly opponent, but instead to tip matches like Tuesday against German giants Bayern Munich in their favour. What should Thomas Tuchel think when he sees this performance?

With two more legs against Bayern ahead, as well as an FA Cup semi-final at Wembley and a potentially decisive title fight with Arsenal in Manchester, Haaland and co still have the chance of a historic Treble. Why wouldn’t they like themselves?

As the pollen count rises and the nights lengthen, spring is often also the time when City begins to spin. So many times in Guardiola’s time that his team all blew away from him in April and May – domestically at least -.

This win was their first five-game streak since last spring. They were at their most breathtaking in the second half in particular, with Jack Grealish’s impact on the team growing by the week. No one is talking about him as a £100 million flop anymore, right?

Grealish played the pass that unlocked Saints’ stubborn defense for the first goal on the stroke of half time, and delivered a flashing pass to Kevin De Bruyne that knocked out Haaland. It was De Bruyne’s 100th assist in the Premier League and Haaland’s seventh this season. Again, inevitable.

It was Grealish at the heart of all that was good for City, with Southampton bizarrely leaving him in space again and again. Full-back Ainsley Maitland-Niles will see the Grealish in his dreams this week after an agonizing day. In the beginning of the second half, he scored a goal himself.

Then Grealish capped off a fine performance with a nimble chip in the path of Haaland for third. The lanky Norwegian threw his fleshy body in the air and made perfect contact with the ball in the air to score. When someone saw him attempt the daring finish, did you ever doubt him?

Arsenal fans would have looked ominously at City’s relentless second half, but the first 45 minutes could have given cause for optimism, with champions sometimes sloppy. With luck, Southampton would have taken the lead after 16 minutes.

Kamaldeen Sulemana lost a golden opportunity after Kevin De Bruyne gave possession to the Ghanaian. He charged through on goal but was unsure of himself, allowing Nathan Ake to catch up and Ederson to close and save him.

Sekou Mara came off the bench to score for Southampton but it was only a solitary consolation for the bottom club

Kamaldeen Sulemana had an exceptional opportunity for the Saints after a blistering run, but was unable to finish it

The result leaves Ruben Selles’ side two points behind 19th-placed Leicester City at the foot of the Premier League table

It was the kind of miss that sums up Southampton’s season, as Ruben Selles’ side also failed to get to the end of a pair of poisonous crosses. With Che Adams injured, they played without an outright No. 9 and that was obvious, with no players betting on decent balls.

Substitute Sekou Mara scored one goal back in the 72nd minute, but any hopes of a late return were dashed less than two minutes later when Julian Alvarez converted a penalty to make it 4–1.

Southampton will not be judged on this game, but they are running out of games to save any hope of survival as City fans taunted them with chants of ‘Erling Haaland, he’s scored more than you’. Thirty for Haaland, 24 for Southampton in the Premier League this season, for the record.

So when he won this game with some inevitability for City, people wondered what was in store for him? Fifty goals for the season? Are old foes Bayern Munich chasing? Salah’s record? A historic treble? Don’t bet against it.