Southampton v Manchester City Match From The Past – Blues Fine Away Form Continues At The Dell

2^nd November 1991

Manchester City travelled to The Dell with a dismal record on the south coast. The blues had lost ten of their eleven meetings at Southampton, with just a solitary 1-1 draw in November 1986 that prevented on of the worst away runs for the club.

City’s away form over the years hadn’t been great either, but they had started to get things together on the road and had recorded four wins away from home with victories at Coventry, West Ham, Notts County and Spurs, and now they looked to add Southampton to the list of away wins.

The Saints, who boasted Matt Le Tissier and future England striker Alan Shearer in their ranks, had no answer to City who took the lead in the first half. A City free kick found Niall Quinn in the penalty area and the tall striker controlled the ball on his chest before side-footing home from a difficult angle to put City 1-0 up.

It stayed like that until half time, when the blues upped the tempo and compounded Southampton’s position in the relegation zone.

Neil Pointon’s throw in from the left was flicked on by Adrian Heath into the path pf Mike Sheron, and the youngster hit a first time shot that went in off the post and sent the travelling hoards of City fans looking at their fifth away win of the season.

Southampton rallied after that goal but couldn’t find a way past Tony Coton in the City goal and City made the game secure when Colin Hendry flicked on a corner and the ball was flicked home by a Southampton defender to make it 3-0.

Hendry himself got in the scoresheet with a thumping finish that looked more like a centre forward’s finish than a centre half, but the defender had been flagged offside.

The big win consolidated City’s third place in the league, and kept the pressure on Manchester United and Leeds United for the last ever First Division title.

Final Score: Southampton 0-3 Manchester City