MANCHESTER, England : Manchester City's Erling Haaland scored an early goal to take the champions provisionally top of the Premier League with a 1-0 victory over lowly Southampton at Etihad Stadium on Saturday.Pep Guardiola's team have 23 points after nine games, two ahead of Liverpool, who visit Arsenal on Sunday.
Southampton are still without a win in their first season back in the top flight after a season away and sit second-bottom on one point.While Haaland scored a stunner in Wednesday's 5-0 Champions League thrashing of Sparta Prague, he had gone three Premier League games without a goal but ended that drought in the fifth minute on Saturday.Wrestling with defender Jan Bednarek, the 24-year-old Norwegian stabbed the ball into the roof of the net with a toe while falling onto his backside.Southampton had a terrific chance to level right before the break but Cameron Archer smashed his shot against the bar.
Haaland, whose 11 goals top the league scoring chart, had a flurry of near-misses in the second half, including a sitter from close range that he poked just wide and then buried his head in his hands in disbelief.