Theo Walcott 8, Jannik Vestergaard 8; Raheem Sterling 6, Ferran Torres 4 - Southampton v Manchester City player ratings

Sterling's first-half effort clinches all three points at St Mary's

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  SOUTHAMPTON RATINGS: Alex McCarthy - 7. Pulled off full-length saves to deny Joao Cancelo and Ilkay Gundogan, and was a reassuring presence behind the Saints defence. Reuters

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  Kyle Walker-Peters - 7. Combined superbly with Walcott down Southampton's right and made several well-timed tackles on Sterling. Reuters

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  Jannik Vestergaard - 8. The Dane evokes distant memories of Virgil van Dijk with his tackling, physique and diagonal passing. He almost landed his team in it with one wayward pass, though. Reuters

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  Jan Bednarek - 7. Another who looked unruffled by anything City threw at him. AFP

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  Ryan Bertrand - 6. Switched off at one point in the second half that almost allowed City to steal in for a second goal. AFP

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  Theo Walcott - 8. Southampton's best player and caused Cancelo all sorts of problems in the first half. Forced Ederson to beat away his angled shot and looked like the dazzling winger of his youth. AFP

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  James Ward-Prowse - 6. Looked good in open play but his set-pieces were well below his usual high standards. AFP

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  Oriol Romeu - 7. Has made the enforcer's role his own since Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg's departure. A no-nonsense display and a threat at both ends. Reuters

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  Moussa Djenepo - 6. Enjoyed little success up against Kyle Walker and was replaced just before the hour. Reuters

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  Che Adams - 6. Put in plenty of yards to try and unsettle Stones and Dias but with little reward. AFP

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  Danny Ings - 5. Had calls for a penalty waved away before succumbing to injury that Saints will pray is not serious. EPA

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  SUB Nathan Tella (Ings) - 5. One cross from the left almost found Walcott but otherwise quiet. EPA

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  SUB: Nathan Redmond (Djenepo) - 4. His first two touches consisted of an air shot and a mis-control that resulted in a City throw-in. AFP

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  SUB: Dan N'Lundulu (Adams) - N/A. Little time to make an impact after replacing Adams on 82 minutes. AFP

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  MANCHESTER CITY RATINGS - Ederson - 8. The Brazilian was alert to danger and thwarted many a Southampton attack. His distribution was superb, too. Reuters

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  Kyle Walker - 7. A force in defence and attack and showed why he remains such an integral part to Pep Guardiola's tactics. AFP

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  John Stones - 8. Won everything in the air and didn't put a foot wrong all match. AFP

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  Ruben Dias - 8. Each week he makes Aymeric Laporte's task of getting back into this City defence even harder. EPA

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  Joao Cancelo - 6. Just doesn't offer the same energy as his full-back on the opposite flank. AFP

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  Rodri - 6. Not one of the City midfielder's best game's but his physical duel with fellow Spaniard Romeu made for good viewing. AFP

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  Ilkay Gundogan - 6. Crisp passing and stuck to his task of protecting his back four. EPA

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  Bernardo Silva - 7. City looked a better attacking unit with the Portuguese buzzing around the top third. Timed his pass to release De Bruyne for the opener to perfection but wasted one of many City chances to make the game comfortable when he scuffed his shot. Reuters

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  Kevin De Bruyne - 7. The Belgian loves nothing more than to attack the inside right channel and it was his pass that picked out Sterling for a first-time finish. One pass in the second half with the outside of his right foot was an absolute peach. AFP

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  Raheem Sterling - 6. A composed finish but the City attacker was too indecisive when presented with opportunities to kill the game off. Was fortune not to be penalised for what looked a clear handball in the area. EPA

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  Ferran Torres - 4. Offered zero attacking threat playing as a false 9. No surprise to see the Spaniard withdrawn on 72 minutes. AFP

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  SUB: Riyad Mahrez (Torres) - 4. Wasted two glorious chances to put the game to bed for City. Reuters

Manchester City secured a much-needed win to keep their Premier League title challenge alive as Raheem Sterling's goal earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory at fourth-placed Southampton.

City slipped to 11 points behind leaders Liverpool prior to kick off, albeit with two games in hand on the champions, and once again had to rely on a solid defensive display to edge up to fifth in the table thanks to a seventh clean sheet in eight games.

Pep Guardiola's men were again guilty of not being ruthless enough in front of goal with the few chances they did create, but one moment of quality that saw Kevin De Bruyne tee up Sterling separated the sides.