Sky Blue News: City Stroll, João Wows, Pep Jokes, and More...

Manchester City dispatched Southampton 4-0 at the Etihad Saturday. Sky Blue News has all the latest headlines to get ready for your Premier League Sunday.

CITY CLIMB TO SUMMIT WITH EMPHATIC WIN OVER SAINTS - David Clayton - ManCity.com

City are top of the table as they wait for the result of Arsenal v Liverpool.

It was wonderful football from the champions throughout, but there was one thing missing - an Erling Haaland goal.

The Norwegian had hit the woodwork and gone close several times but it looked as though it was going to be a rare day without adding to his incredible tally - until finally clever play between Kevin De Bruyne and Cancelo saw the latter’s pinpoint cross drilled home by Haaland on 65 to complete a 4-0 win.

Manchester City Dispose of Saints, Win 4-0: Reaction & Tweets - Saul Garcia - Bitter and Blue

Saul has Pep’s reaction to a comfortable win against the Saints.

Manchester City are winners on the day. Goals from Haaland, Foden ans Mahrez made it an enjoyable night at the Etihad. City go top and are still undefeated and earn a nice clean sheet!

We move, on to the reaction-

Pep Guardiola Reaction

“For Kevin - especially Kevin - to have this threat, pace and movement in behind helps a lot,” said Guardiola.

“He made plenty of assists but he could play better today - this was not the best Kevin we know. He was not in the position we should find him but Kevin has Julian, Phil and these players who make movements in behind.”

“In general we played very well against a team we have struggled against a lot,” said the manager.

“We changed our setup, our build-up. We created chances and we had a feeling those upfront could have been more clinical, but it’s fine. After a game every three days the players react like who they are.”

Man City’s Joao Cancelo played insane pass during masterclass v Southampton - Danny Ryan - GIVEMESPORT

João turned in another masterful performance for the Manc Blues.

At times, Cancelo could be mistaken for Dani Alves or Marcelo in their primes, he’s that darn good.

There was one moment in particular during City’s resounding victory over Southampton that sums up Cancelo’s current form in sky blue.

In just the 13th minute of play when the scores were level at 0-0, the Portugal international opted to play a ‘trivela volley cross’ to Riyad Mahrez – and he executed it to perfection.

The ball landed right on Mahrez’s deadly left peg, but the Algerian’s shot sadly went flying over the crossbar.

Cancelo leads the parade! Man City winners, losers and ratings for destruction of Southampton - Jonathan Smith - Goal.com

A goal, an assist, and a central role in the City setup.

City were totally dominant with goals from Cancelo, Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez inside the opening 50 minutes.

Cancelo, the world-class and ever-versatile full-back, put in the best showing of the match, as he also stood out as a playmaker.

Haaland, meanwhile, took his time getting on the scoresheet, hitting the inside of the post and somehow failing to connect with a Kevin De Bruyne pass. But he finally got his goal in the 65th minute to take his goal streak to seven successive Premier League games and 10 matches overall.

Pep Guardiola jokes as Erling Haaland has to settle for just one goal - The Irish Times

Pep was in a jovial mood in the post-match presser.

Pep Guardiola joked that he was angry with Erling Haaland after he scored just one goal in Manchester City’s 4-0 rout of Southampton on Saturday.

The prolific Norwegian netted his 20th goal in just his 13th appearance for the club when he scored the fourth in a routine win that took the champions back to the Premier League summit.

Haaland, who also hit the post and spurned a handful of other chances, had scored hat-tricks in each of City’s previous three home league games.

Why Pep Guardiola was ‘upset’ with Erling Haaland after Man City vs Southampton - Joe Bray - Manchester Evening News

All joking aside. Erling was electric as always.

And Guardiola referred to a petition asking for Haaland to be banned from the Premier League when analysing his performance, and in particular that first-half miss.

“I’m so upset with him he didn’t score three goals, that’s why the petition is to sack him for the Premier League,” he joked.

“It happens [the first-half miss]. The expectation is so high people expect he’ll score three or four goals every game. In the end he was there to score it. He helped to keep the ball, fight. Erling played really good today too.”

“Never disrespect this man”, “Incredible in every possible way” – Manchester City fans hail 28-year-old star as ‘best in the world’ after display in 4-0 win over Southampton - Apratim Banerjee - Sportskeeda

And finally... City supporters show online love for the lads in Sky Blue.

Erling Haaland inevitably got on the scoresheet as the Norwegian scored the fourth goal for the Cityzens in the 65th minute of the game. Cancelo got the assist for the goal as he found the striker inside the box.

He has now scored two goals and registered five assists in 13 games for the club in all competitions this season.

Fans heaped praise on the Portuguese for yet another spectacular display.

Many opined that Cancelo is currently the best full-back in the world and can easily play as a winger for any side. Others went a step further to label him as the greatest full-back of all time.

That’s all for now Cityzens. Stay with us at Bitter and Blue as we get ready for the Tuesday trip to Denmark.