Frank Lampard marked his final Manchester City appearance with a goal to give his side a 1-0 lead at half time against Southampton at the Etihad Stadium.
The obstinate Saints were showing why they hold the division's best defensive record, and City were unable to create anything clear cut inside the first 20 minutes.
It was the visitors who created the first real chance of the game when Shane Long raced onto a flick-on by Graziano Pelle, but the Irishman's effort was saved by Joe Hart.
City responded almost immediately when David Silva threaded a ball through to Sergio Aguero, but the Argentina hitman could only fire over the bar on 21 minutes.
Aguero was denied by Kelvin Davis moments later after the goalkeeper had initially spilled Yaya Toure's strike into the path of the striker.
Lampard broke the deadlock just after the half-hour mark in typical fashion, when he arrived inside the penalty area to meet James Milner's low cross and send the ball past Davis with a first-time strike.
