First-half goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Fabian Delph set the tone as Manchester City punished a lacklustre Southampton to secure a 3-1 win at Eastlands this evening.

Maya Yoshida's horrendous error after nine minutes directly led to De Bruyne tapping home a Raheem Sterling cross, before Delph drove home the second via a deflection 11 minutes later.

The Saints threw themselves a lifeline when Shane Long headed home early in the second period, but Aleksandar Kolarov restored the two-goal cushion in style on 70 minutes.

Here Sports Mole analyses how City put a difficult week behind them to stop the rot at the Etihad this evening.

Match statistics

MANCHESTER CITY
Shots: 16
On target: 9
Possession: 46%
Corners: 6
Fouls: 14

SOUTHAMPTON
Shots: 12
On target: 8
Possession: 54%
Corners: 4
Fouls: 11

Was the result fair?

Southampton were an utter mess for the first 20 minutes or so and it cost them in the end. Whether it was Yoshida making criminal errors, or Oriol Romeu playing hospital passes, nobody in red and white looked up for the task of beating a Manchester City side who made their intentions known from the first minute. Only at 2-0 down did the Saints spring to life, but it was too little too late. The damage was done, and the 220-mile trip back to the South Coast will be extra gruelling for Koeman knowing that it could have been different.

Manchester City's performance

Still reeling from defeats to Liverpool and Juventus, Manuel Pellegrini admitted that it had been a poor week for Manchester City - and that was before the widespread speculation touting Bayern Munich's Pep Guardiola to replace him next summer. Pep had dominated the headlines away from the field, but there was plenty of pep on it too as the revitalised Sky Blues started like a team determined to stop the rot after a testing last seven days.

Visiting goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg was called into action twice in the first six minutes to keep out Sterling and Kolarov. It was a sign of things to come, but City barely had to work for the breakthrough. It was handed to them on a plate via Yoshida's error as De Bruyne tapped home from close range. Nobody in blue cared. As the onslaught continued, a second seemed imminent, and it came on the 20-minute mark when Delph's rifled shot from outside the box found the net after a deflection had wrong-footed Stekelenburg. Again, no City affiliate would have cared; not with the week they have had.

The width of the crossbar preserved their two-goal lead as Southampton woke up, but they held on to their advantage at the break. After it, Martin Demichelis seemed to grow more erratic as each minute passed and the Argentine was beaten in the air when Long headed home within five minutes of the restart. He was suspect again when Dusan Tadic jogged through on goal, but the excellent Willy Caballero - standing in for the injured Joe Hart - kept him out. Twitter was rife with pessimistic expectations over Caballero, given his horror show at White Hart Lane last month, but he barely put a foot wrong here.

Kolarov, who was found by a wonderful cross from De Bruyne, put the result to bed with 20 minutes to play when his half-volley nestled in the corner of the net, but the anonymous Sergio Aguero later limped off to put a major downer on an otherwise excellent afternoon for the Citizens.

Southampton's performance

The day after Black Friday, in which retailers across the world excited consumers with bargain-busting deals, Southampton were also in charitable mood. From goals, to clear-cut chances, Ronald Koeman's side were giving away things for fun. Yet, they still paid a hefty price. With nine minutes gone, Yoshida tried to play it out of defence and was caught out by Sterling, who set up De Bruyne. Minutes later, a loose ball from Romeu led to Aguero running through on goal, but Stekelenburg made a smart save. Then Delph had all the time in the world to lash home a second goal when Koeman's troops reacted too slow from a corner. It was abysmal, but the wake-up call that they needed.

Centre-back Virgil van Dijk pinged the crossbar from the guts of 25 yards. Despite the disappointment, the message was clear: City were far from impenetrable and the speed and movement of Long - deputising for the suspended Graziano Pelle - began to cause problems. Anonymous in the first half, the explosive Sadio Mane came to life in timely fashion, winning the free kick and then delivering the inch-perfect cross which Long headed home on the 50-minute mark. It was the lifeline that Southampton needed - and the one they deserved.

However, Tadic, who replaced the woeful Romeu at half time, should have certainly levelled up. The increasingly-erratic Demichelis bizarrely moved out of the Serbian's way, almost as if he had money on him to score the next goal, as Tadic went through one-on-one with Caballero, but he tried a cheeky dink and it failed to pay off. Had he played it safe, Southampton would have equalised. Had Yoshida played it safe on nine minutes, De Bruyne would not have scored.

It was a silly display from the Saints, whose coffin nail came on 70 minutes when Kolarov drilled home a third and killer goal. It has been an inconsistent second season for Southampton under Koeman, and on days like this, it is easy to see why.

Sports Mole's man of the match

Aleksandar Kolarov: De Bruyne got a goal and an assist, but the Belgian was largely anonymous in between both moments. Consequently, it simply has to be Kolarov, who was the only player on the pitch to maintain a certain standard over both halves. That wand of a left foot caused no end of problems from wide positions, while his brilliant goal on 70 minutes was his just desserts for an excellent performance.

Biggest gaffe

Koeman recalled Yoshida into his first XI at the expense of Cedric Soares. Within nine minutes, it looked a costly decision. Inexplicably, Yoshida was caught in possession by Sterling, who then went on to set up the first goal. There were a whole host of individual errors from Southampton, but none more silly than the one from their right-back this evening.

Referee performance

Had the result gone against Manchester City, then Pellegrini will have surely flagged an incident just before their second goal when Steven Davis appeared to divert Fernandinho's header wide using his hand. It was missed by Roger East, who did not have the best of games it must be said.

What's next?

Manchester City: The Citizens are back at Eastlands on Tuesday for the visit of Hull City in a quarter-final Capital One Cup tie.

Southampton: Koeman's side also have a League Cup quarter-final to contest as they travel to Liverpool on Wednesday.