I saw Pep Guardiola do something he's never done before with Man City players - but it didn't work

Manchester City continued their unbeaten run with a home win over struggling Southampton - but the result doesn't tell the full story of an afternoon where they struggled to kill off the visitors.

Erling Haaland's early goal proved enough for the win, with Southampton looking better than their league position suggests. They enjoyed more of the ball in the first half and hit the bar shortly before the break, and when City searched for a second goal to kill the game they stood firm and got bodies in the way.

But City did enough to prevent any late equaliser and moved top of the Premier League ahead of rivals Liverpool and Arsenal playing each other on Sunday. These are the moments you might have missed.

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Guardiola's last-minute change before half-time

Manchester City went into the half-time break ahead but not fully in control. Southampton had more of the ball in the first half and smashed the bar with the last kick of the opening period to send a reminder of their abilities. Until then they hadn't had a shot, but Guardiola had seen enough to be worried.

It was similar to the Sparta Prague game - a 1-0 advantage but a stubborn opposition - and the message at half-time was to keep calm. Maybe that was the instruction here, but Guardiola made sure every player got the gist by gathering them in the mouth of the tunnel just before the restart.

Keeping Southampton waiting, Guardiola delivered a passionate huddle, addressing all of his players, before emerging through the centre and leading the squad out. He has offered final thoughts in the tunnel before in recent weeks, but not as formally as this where the whole starting XI were included.

Savinho's frustrating afternoon

Savinho spoke this week of Haaland's regular reminders in training to get the ball in the box for him to score. The winger fulfilled his end of the bargain against Southampton, but Haaland was uncharacteristically wasteful.

Three of Savinho's four assists this season have been for Haaland and there should have been more against Southampton. The winger got an assist he won't have expected when Haaland plucked his cross out of the sky with an acrobatic backheel volley on Wednesday, yet the Norwegian somehow missed two far easier efforts at the back post against Southampton.

With Jeremy Doku and Jack Grealish out, Savinho has a golden opportunity to get a run of games with a favourable fixture list. He could have done with Haaland converting some of his crosses to kick-start that run on. Still, Savinho's contributions didn't go unnoticed as he was awarded Man of the Match, much to the appreciation of fans in the stadium.

Pep's subs snub

With just 15 outfield players available, Guardiola clearly had an eye on the longer-term fixture list as well as the immediate priority of winning this game. City held just a one-goal lead for more than 80 minutes but Guardiola stuck to his guns and refused to shake up his side. The five outfielders on the bench were warming up for most of the second half, but Guardiola rarely looked in their direction.

It wasn't until the 85th minute that the boss beckoned for Ilkay Gundogan to come on and see out the three points. Guardiola would have preferred to lead comfortably and rotate his pack but instead opted for stability. He can make changes at Tottenham on Wednesday.

Bobb's miraculous recovery

Pep Guardiola this week suggested that Oscar Bobb will remain out until January or February, offering a slightly later return date than initial projections. Bobb offered an update too, saying the plan is to return "not as soon as possible, but as strong as possible."

So it was a surprise to see Bobb's name and number on the teamsheets handed out at the Etihad an hour or so before kick-off. Had Guardiola and Bobb been bluffing and he was infact ready to return? It would have been one of the best-kept secrets if Bobb was back out of nowhere.

Some things are too good to be true, though, and Bobb's inclusion was a typo. He had replaced James McAtee on the teamsheet, who was in fact on the bench as expected. New teamsheets were promptly redistributed correcting the error. Bobb's timeframe remains to return for the New Year.