That was ominous from Manchester City, who taken advantage of Chelsea’s draw yesterday with a win that takes them six points behind Jose Mourinho’s side. Suddenly it’s back on! Although they’re going to have to rely on a few more slips from Chelsea, so let’s not get carried away just yet. Even so, City were very good today, which shouldn’t really be news, because they are very good, much better than they’ve shown on a number of occasions this season. Yaya Toure, Frank Lampard and Gael Clichy got the goals. As for Southampton, it was a disappointing day. They never really got going and there was a lack of belief about them. They’ll look back and wonder, although they don’t have too much time to do that before they go to Arsenal on Wednesday. Thanks for reading and emailing - Daniel Harris has coverage of Tottenham v Everton here. Goodbye.

90 min+5: Dusan Tadic is caught offside when he should have held his run. He’s looked tired this week.

90 min+4: A Sunderland fan named Steve emails me to say that he wants eight.

90 min+2: City’s fans are informing St Mary’s that this is why they’re the champions. If they were being wholly accurate, of course, they’d be holding up buckets of oil.

90 min: There will be five more minutes of misery for Southampton.

89 min: Before the game can restart, there’s the worrying sight for City of Kompany limping off with what looks like a muscle injury. They’ll finish the game with nine men.

87 min: “The two yellows for Mangala were, bizarrely, the only two decisions the ref got right today,” says Mark Turner. “That waste of 32m aside, Man City suddenly look like a very good association football team. Kompany key.”

86 min: Wanyama places a shot straight at Hart from 18 yards.

85 min: Now Aguero slips in the D as he Dive! Book him! Southampton charge up the other end and Long shakes off Zabaleta and swerves a cross into the six-yard box. But Pelle can’t reach it.

82 min: Emmanuel Mayuka replaces Steven Davis. That’s Southampton’s final change.

81 min: Kompany is booked for a barge on Long on the left.

78 min: City catch Southampton on the break, Aguero feeding a pass to Fernandinho on the right. His rising shot flies into the side-netting.

77 min: “You wonder whether that sending off has helped Southampton,” muses Alan Smith. Hard to say. They’re now playing against 10 men, whereas before they were playing against 11. I have a feeling that it might help them.

76 min: Martin Demichelis is on for Jesus Navas. But Southampton have a free-kick, just to the right of the D. Tadic fancies it with that left foot of his. But he can’t beat the wall.

73 min: City are all over Southampton. Navas beats Bertrand to a loose pass from Wanyama and scuffs a few yards wide from the edge of the area. Southampton are struggling to get out of their half.

72 min: This time Mangala flicks Milner’s corner on at the far post; again City can’t capitalise. But they want that second goal.

71 min: It’s hard to see how City don’t win this match. Southampton are rocking. Aguero tries to squirm through on goal but Clyne hacks behind. He’s such a handful.

69 min: A corner to City on the left. Milner sends it to the near post and Kompany glances it into the six-yard box where Aguero, under pressure from Clyne, hooks over from close range.

67 min: Southampton make their second change, Shane Long replacing Sadio Mane.

65 min: Milner tries to shape a shot into the far corner from the edge of the area after being set up by Aguero but his effort goes over. That’s the cue for Frank Lampard to come on for Samir Nasri.

63 min: Pelle tries to feed a pass through to Mane on the left but Zabaleta pulls him back. For some reason, he escapes without a booking.

61 min: Southampton continue to press and Alderweireld’s cross from the right is headed behind by Kompany. But Tadic’s corner is underhit and poor. Southampton need to sort this out.

60 min: This is better from Southampton, Pelle forcing Navas to concede a corner on the left. But Southampton try a short one and Davis can’t beat the first man with his cross.

58 min: Southampton’s belief seems to have been sapped by Toure’s goal.

56 min: Mane plays a one-two with Davis and shrugs off a challenge from Fernandinho but then blazes a hurried shot well over from 25 yards when he could have kept the moving going with a pass out to Clyne on the right. Muddled thinking.

55 min: Before the corner can be taken, City introduce James Milner in place of Stevan Jovetic. Finally Nasri takes it but Mangala heads wide at the near post.

54 min: Navas takes on Bertrand and slams in a cross that Yoshida deflects behind for a corner.

53 min: St Mary’s has become very quiet, save for the jubilant City fans.

49 min: Southampton have started the second half on the front foot and Clyne gets clear on the right, but his cross is headed away by Kompany. City break, Aguero making headway up the left, but the move breaks down when Navas, who has been disappointing recently, fluffs a cross out for a goal-kick.

47 min: Franz Alderweireld strides forward and unleashes a venomous shot from 25 yards that flashes a yard or two past Hart’s right post. Hart was worried there. Moments later, Tadic drops a shoulder and dashes in from the right before curling just past the far post with his left foot.

46 min: Maya Yoshida has come on for Morgan Schneiderlin, who must be injured. Maybe Southampton will switch to a back three, a system invented by Louis van Gaal but one that Ronald Koeman used at Feyernoord, although it seems that Toby Alderweireld has pushed up a little.

45 min: A long pass intended to reach Tadic is hoicked into the air by Clichy on the volley. Kompany then has a swing. The whole sorry episode ends with Fernandinho shanking the ball out for a throw. City are not shy of making life difficult for themselves at times. There will be two minutes of added time.

43 min: Toure knocks a pass out of play. City have lost some of the incision of the first 20 minutes. It’s been more even since then but it’s not a great game so far.

41 min: Bertrand scampers up the wing and whacks a cross into the area. Hart comes for it and looks set to catch it, only for Mangala to knock it behind for a corner. Was there a shout? Either way, a worrying moment of indecision in the City defence. Davis takes the corner and Hart punches it away but only as far as the edge of the area. Southampton keep it alive and the ball comes to Davis on the left. He wins another corner. Again Hart punches it away. He’s very punchy today.

39 min: Aguero turns and adroitly flicks a pass through to Navas but Alderweireld knocks it behind for a corner. It comes to nothing. Set-pieces haven’t been up to much today.

35 min: Pelle escapes down the left and tries to screw a cross into the area. It hits Mangala and goes behind for a corner, Jones not interested in Southampton’s appeals for a penalty for handball. Which is a shame because the corner is a forgettable affair.

34 min: Bertrand wins a corner for Southampton on the left. Tadic swings it into the near post, where Pelle glances a header wide.

32 min: Aguero tumbles again, this time after a heavy challenge from Alderweireld in the D. Jones ignores his appeals but this time he doesn’t book him for diving. It was probably a foul.

31 min: Nasri sends the corner towards the near post. It’s flicked on by Kompany and Aguero, under pressure, heads wide.

30 min: This is incredible. How are City not ahead? Nasri nips in to reach a pass before Clyne and then plays a pass to the left to send Jovetic through on goal. His shot beats Forster but Alderweireld gets back to clear it off the line. The ball spins up on to his thigh and then he gets extremely lucky when his thumping clearance hits Aguero, who was closing in, and doesn’t fly straight back past him and into the Southampton net. Instead it falls to Navas on the right and he has to settle for a corner.

29 min: Aguero balloons an effort miles over the bar from 30 yards. If there was a top tier at St Mary’s, he’d have found it. This is why we’d all pick Yaya Sanogo over him.

27 min: Mane skips inside again and is pushed over by Fernandinho in a central position. Southampton are improving although Koeman doesn’t look particularly happy in the dug-out. Steven Davis whips the ball into the middle and Hart punches it away and manages to win a free-kick after being clattered by Fonte.

24 min: I think someone needs to tell the officials how the advantage law works. A long clearance from Southampton is collected easily by Mangala, so the flag didn’t go up for offside against Pelle, who didn’t try to challenge for the ball. Pelle then belatedly came alive and sped after Managala fruitlessly. Mangala held him off, made it well into Southampton’s half - but by this point the flag had gone up for offside against Pelle.

22 min: Mangala is booked for a foul on Tadic on the right. He’s one booking away from a suspension now.

21 min: For all that City pressure, it’s almost Southampton who take the lead with their first proper attack! Mane cut in from the left and chipped a lovely ball over the square City defence to Pelle. He was unmarked in the middle and tried to knock a volley past the onrushing Joe Hart but the City goalkeeper was stronger and Pelle wasn’t able to make a good connection. Hart’s block fell to Davis, however, and he gathered the ball and then drilled a low shot from the right towards the far corner, only for Hart to brilliantly push it away. The rebound came out into the six-yard box but neither Pelle nor Tadic were able to force it home, City defending stoutly. But that’s more like it from Southampton.

20 min: “Agüero or Roy of the Rovers?” wonders Mark Turner. “A question that would get the pundits in the Melchester stands buzzing will bubble comments.”

18 min: Southampton keep the ball for a good 30 seconds in City’s half but they’re never going anywhere with it. They look slightly shaken and unnerved by City’s start. They’re an extremely imposing side when they play like this. They’ve got their game faces on.

16 min: Navas knocks a pass back to Toure, who rolls the ball under his foot and then tries to bend one into the top corner from 25 yards. It’s a powerful effort but it’s straight at Forster.

15 min: Nasri takes the corner but Kompany’s flicked header at the near post comes to nothing. Southampton look to attack and Aguero fouls Bertrand. Jones plays advantage because Southampton have the ball and then, when they’ve got Schneiderlin into a good position a full five seconds later, decides to blow his whistle, probably because the advantage was too advantageous. This guy is a clown. He’s having a stinker.

14 min: It’s one-way traffic. Navas combines with Zabaleta down the right and City win a corner. Can they do anything with it?

13 min: Navas fires in a low ball from the right. Alderweireld clears but Southampton aren’t seeing much of the ball at the moment. City are working hard, which is something they haven’t done on a few occasions this season.

11 min: “Have to go with Suarez over Aguero mostly because Luis is a better playmaker,” says Mike MacKenzie. “Both are somewhat below CRonaldo and Messi level but both are ahead of anyone else. But it’s marginal between them ... likely depends on who’s best suited for rest of your team.”

Would you rather have Sergio Aguero or Yaya Sanogo?

9 min: This is an outrageously poor decision from Mike Jones. Aguero shuffled into the area from the right, all low centre of gravity and quick feet, and just as he appears to have lost control, he pokes it round Fonte, who flies in wildly and cleans Aguero out. It’s as blatant a penalty as you could wish to see and the Weebl-esque Aguero usually stays on his feet, but Jones books him for diving. He was only standing a few yards away. That’s ridiculous. Aguero can’t believe it.

8 min: City make a mess of the free-kick, attempting a training ground routine that they clearly haven’t rehearsed enough, but they’ve started well. They look focused. Clyne loses the ball on the right and City attack. Nasri slips a pass to Jovetic but his low cross from the left is cleared. Southampton are having to defend well.

7 min: Mike Jones enrages Southampton again by booking Wanyama for a foul on Toure. He chased Toure as the City midfielder bouldered through the middle and then brought him down with a sliding challenge 30 yards from goal. Southampton claimed that he got the ball but the referee disagreed and Wanyamis shown a yellow card.

6 min: Gael Clichy shoots from 25 yards, forgetting that he is Gael Clichy.

5 min: Samir Nasri tries to wriggle out of a tight spot by the right corner flag but the ball runs behind for a goal-kick - only for Mike Jones to decide that Toby Alderweireld had committed a foul. Southampton are displeased but they get the free-kick away, Mane landing his bonce on the ball.

3 min: Wanyama wins the ball in midfield and sends Mane racing down the left but he’s too eager and overruns it, allowing Kompany to tackle. The ball ends up with Hart, who slips as he makes his clearance and sends it out for a throw.

2 min: As it happens, City haven’t won at St Mary’s in either of the past two seasons. They lost 3-1 in February 2013 and drew 1-1 last season when Dani Osvaldo decided to do his one useful thing in a Southampton shirt, curling a peach of an equaliser past Joe Hart.

Southampton emerge from their huddle and get the game underway! They’re kicking from left to right in the first half. City have taken their tracksuit tops off, by the way, so you know they mean business. Southampton stroke the ball round at the back for a bit and then Clyne lets a pass roll under his foot and out for a throw. Onwards and upwards, that’s what I say!

And here come the teams! Southampton, you’ll be shocked to learn, are wearing red and white stripes, while City have the tracksuit tops on. I reckon they’ll be wearing blue shirts underneath those. The suspense is killing me. This tracksuit top business is a menace. What’s the point of it? Who do they think they are? Who do they think they’re kidding? Why do they have to wear them? It’s an absolute nonsense. It’s worse than diving. And grappling. There’s the Daily Mail’s next campaign sorted, I’ll invoice them for the finder’s fee.

Joe Hart, sporting a natty Movember moustache, is in the tunnel. He slaps hands with Fraser Forster. I wonder what shampoo The Hartdog uses on his moustache.

The return of Steven Davis is a big boost for Southampton. They missed him against Aston Villa on Monday and the decision to play Shane Long with Graziano Pelle didn’t quite work - there wasn’t the same control in midfield. Other players have grabbed the attention at Southampton but Davis is an underrated player, not one you notice all the time but someone who keeps them ticking over. But can Southampton stop Aguero? I was at City’s game against Bayern and he never looked like he was going to miss when he went through on goal. Koeman likened him to Romario on Friday and has said Southampton’s defenders can’t afford to lose concentration for a second. Where would you place Aguero at the moment? Just below your Lionel Ronaldos and Cristiano Messis, sure, but would you rather have him than, say, your Luis Suarezes?