Manchester City could not break free from their disappointing season with the return of Erling Haaland, as they plummeted to a lackluster draw against Southampton.
Despite expectations of securing a Champions League spot, Saturday’s 0-0 stalemate with the already-relegated Southampton highlighted uncertainties looming over City’s chances with just two games remaining.
Failing to defeat the Premier League’s bottom team—a team regarded as one of the poorest in the league’s history—has left City’s top-five ambitions hanging in the balance.
Aston Villa intensified the competition by seizing a 1-0 win over Bournemouth with a first-half goal from Ollie Watkins, joining a cluster of clubs, including City, in the battle for a Champions League berth.
Currently, City stands third, narrowly ahead of Newcastle and Chelsea—who clash at St. James’ Park on Sunday—and also above sixth-placed Villa, with Nottingham Forest two points behind but possessing a game in hand against Leicester.
The gap is tight, with Arsenal second and Forest seventh, separated by merely six points.
City appeared to have bounced back after their poor form from November to February, a slump that eliminated them from the Premier League title race and the Champions League.
They arrived at Southampton following four consecutive wins and hoped to leapfrog Arsenal, bolstered by Haaland’s return from an ankle injury. However, the team’s performance was sluggish, with Haaland barely impacting the match, and Phil Foden failing to recapture his award-winning form from last season.
This draw amplifies concerns swirling around Guardiola’s squad as they gear up for end-of-season encounters against Bournemouth, vying for its first European excursion, and Fulham. Before those matches, City faces an FA Cup final against Crystal Palace.
Guardiola’s team, having failed to conquer the lowest-ranked team for the first time since his 2016 arrival, faces a “fight until the end” to clinch a Champions League spot. Guardiola reaffirmed, “We take that point still. It’s in our hands.”
Southampton managed to avoid infamy with the result, surpassing Derby County’s lowest points tally in a Premier League season achieved in 2007-08 by securing their twelfth point.
Meanwhile, Ollie Watkins earned a milestone, netting Aston Villa’s lone goal and surpassing Gabby Agbonlahor as the club’s top Premier League scorer with 75 goals. Despite being reduced to ten men following Jacob Ramsey’s red card, Villa retained their Champions League pursuit.
Elsewhere in the race for European placements, eighth place could guarantee a Conference League spot, luring Brentford and Brighton into the mix after their respective victories. Brentford edged out Ipswich 1-0 via a Kevin Schade header, while Brighton subdued Wolverhampton 2-0 with goals from Danny Welbeck and Brajan Gruda.
Brentford and Brighton, equal on points, lead Bournemouth by two points and Fulham—defeated 3-1 by Everton—by four points.