Manchester City 2-1 Southampton: 5 Talking Points & Tactical Analysis

#1 Aguero, Walker with timely strikes, snatching late victory

Walker wheels away to celebrate his first league goal for a year, securing all three points in a tense finish

It was coming. City were probing, pressing for that all-important equaliser and once that breakthrough arrived, there was a sense of inevitability that they'd get a late winner too.

Kyle Walker went from creator to scorer in 15 minutes: teeing up Aguero with a ball fizzed across the box. Although the Argentine like many of his teammates was frustrated and not at his razor-sharp best, a player of Sergio's ability was never going to miss from close-range.

His ninth league goal of the campaign, you could sense a collective sigh of relief reverberated around the stadium as the resistance was finally breached. Walker then went on to score his first league goal since September last year late on, with the visitors' backs truly against the wall at this point. What a time to get it, too.

This season has been a difficult one thus far for the experienced English fullback: battling inconsistency with injury, illness, being omitted in the short-term from Gareth Southgate's NT plans and the big-money arrival of Joao Cancelo as competition for his place this summer.

Having returned to start during their 3-1 Cup win in midweek, he started again on this occasion and despite a challenging afternoon's work, enjoyed the last laugh against a determined Southampton display, eager to prove their doubters wrong. They very nearly did.

City face away trips to Atalanta and league leaders Liverpool this coming week, before an international break separates an intriguing clash in-store against Frank Lampard's Chelsea. The season doesn't get any easier from here, though the manner of this win should provide a morale-boosting one despite the Reds' late away victory at Villa Park elsewhere today.

Stats' source: SofaScore and WhoScored