Southampton’s stunning win over Manchester City

After two successful spells at Luton Town, including a promotion and Championship playoff place, Nathan Jones was appointed manager of Southampton in November 2022. He arrived with Southampton in the Premier League relegation places, and was tasked with keeping the struggling south-coast club in the top flight. But in a challenging season for Southampton, cup ties provided as many wins as their league fixtures. The highlight was a comprehensive EFL Cup quarter-final victory over heavy favourites Manchester City.

As well as a rare bright spot for Southampton in the 2022/23 season, it was a result that denied eventual treble-winners City the chance to win an unprecedented quadruple. For Jones, it was a demonstration that he could pit his tactical wits against one of the most revered coaches in football history, Pep Guardiola.

As all coaches know, the best laid plans rarely pan out exactly as desired. On this January night at St Mary’s Stadium, however, Jones’ carefully constructed tactical plans – which he reveals in our exclusive Masterclass (below) – came to spectacular fruition. Such was their successful implementation, it was the only occasion City would be beaten by more than one goal in their treble-winning season. 

For Jones’ Southampton, it was the second of three consecutive wins in a busy week, after an FA Cup victory at Crystal Palace on the previous weekend. Three days later, they followed up the City win with three Premier League points at Everton. 

By February, however, with Southampton still struggling to get results in the league, Jones was dismissed. The club’s third manager of the campaign also struggled to get league points, and relegation was confirmed with two games remaining.

But against City in the EFL Cup, Jones and his team gave a demonstration of what they were capable of. In this detailed Masterclass (below), Jones explains the thinking behind his selections, key principles that underpinned the performance, and the planned secondary shape he switched to, in response to a tactical tweak from Guardiola.

Starting line-ups

SouthamptonManchester City

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Southampton4-2-3-1

Manchester City4-3-3

31Gavin Bazunu

18Stefan Ortega

2Kyle Walker-Peters

7João Cancelo

22Mohammed Salisu

2Kyle Walker

6Duje Caleta-Car

14Aymeric Laporte

4Lyanco

21Sergio Gómez

27Ibrahima Diallo

4Kalvin Phillips

45Roméo Lavia

8Ilkay Gündogan

9Adam Armstrong

47Phil Foden

8James Ward-Prowse

80Cole Palmer

19Moussa Djenepo

19Julián Álvarez

18Sékou Mara

10Jack Grealish

Author: Craig Bloomfield