Southampton vs Manchester City player ratings: Raheem Sterling edges the win for City

Saints 0-1 Man City: Sterling’s first-half goal sends City into the top five

Raheem Sterling scores for Man City (Getty Images)

Manchester City did enough to hold off Southampton and take a 1-0 win in the Premier League on Saturday afternoon.

City had plenty of early attacking possession and scored the opener with a sweeping move, Kevin de Bruyne crossing for Raheem Sterling to finish.

Saints went close through Che Adams and an inadvertent John Stones header wide of his own goal, but City remained ahead at the break.

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The home side enjoyed large spells of possession in the second half, with City a threat on the break, but Bernardo Silva and De Bruyne both squandered chances to increase the lead, while Che Adams missed Saints’ best chances at the other end.

Here are the player ratings from the match at St. Mary’s on Saturday.

Southampton

Alex McCarthy - 6. Nothing he could do about the goal. Not much else to do aside from a couple of routine stops.

Kyle Walker-Peters - 7. A useful outlet down the right for Saints and produced some good deliveries.

Jannik Vestergaard - 7. Twice threatened to net for Saints but caught woefully out of position for City’s goal. Other than that telling moment, he was excellent defensively.

Jan Bednarek - 7. Held the line well and showed good defensive awareness more than once.

Ryan Bertrand - 6. Up and down all game but did have a few issues in one-on-ones.

Theo Walcott - 7. Continued his good recent form with some neat link play and constant dribbling at Cancelo.

James Ward-Prowse - 7. Used the ball well, sent over his usual dangerous set-piece delivieres.

Oriol Romeu - 7. Booked and will be suspended for the next game, but played an important role in midfield.

Moussa Djenepo - 6. Not always at his best in possession but was crucial to Saints’ attempts to put City’s defence under pressure.

Danny Ings - 7. Had his usual busy impact and headed one chance wide, but was replaced before half-time after an apparent knee injury.

Che Adams - 6. Missed the two or three best chances which fell for Saints, but showed good movement throughout.

Manchester City

Ederson - 6. A few comfortable saves and once or twice reacted well to run out of his box and clear.

Kyle Walker - 6. Missed a great chance to tee up a second City goal in the first half.

Ruben Dias - 6. A tough game at times against the movement and physicality of Adams, but just about prevailed.

John Stones - 7. His best run of form in several seasons. Another consistent showing at the back.

Joao Cancelo - 7. Worked hard defensively and got forward to good effect.

Rodri - 7. Lots of off-the-ball running to close out space against Saints’ constant passing.

Ilkay Gundogan - 6. Hard-working without being dominant.

Bernardo Silva - 7. Created the opening for City’s good start with a fine run and well-timed pass. Almost scored the second with a great run into the box.

Kevin De Bruyne - 8. Effective and influential as ever. Great low cross for Sterling’s goal, almost assisted a second for Silva.

Raheem Sterling - 7. Great first-time strike but had another chance or two to add to his tally.

Ferran Torres - 6. Mostly bypassed in the first half. One early chance which he sent wide after the break.