Manchester City’s shaky away form continued on Saturday with a 1-1 draw at Southampton as Dani Osvaldo’s exquisite strike ended their three-match losing streak in style.
As impressive as City have been since Manuel Pellegrini’s arrival, they have shown a soft underbelly away from home, winning just two matches on the road - the latest of which came at West Brom on Wednesday.
It was a result they were unable to match on the south coast, where Osvaldo’s wondrous goal earned Southampton a deserved, morale-boosting 1-1 draw.
Early on it had looked like City would win comfortably, with in-form Sergio Aguero turning home after just 10 minutes at St Mary's. Aleksandar Kolarov came close to doubling that advantage almost immediately and Aguero wasted a gilt-edged chance midway through the first half - missed chances they were made to rue as Saints, missing seven players through injury, grew into the match.
Mauricio Pochettino's side were showing confidence that belied their run of three successive defeats and deservedly pulled level on the stroke of half-time through club record signing Osvaldo. Showing amazing control and skill, the man that may well face England at next year's World Cup with Italy put Vincent Kompany on his backside, cut back past Pablo Zabaleta and sent an exquisite effort into the top corner.
Osvaldo missed two decent chances to add to that goal-of-the-month contender after fine work by Jay Rodriguez in a second half the hosts dominated, but they had to settle for a for a draw that continued City's struggles away from Manchester.
Norwich bounced back from their Anfield nightmare as goals from Gary Hooper and Leroy Fer earned them a valuable win over West Brom at The Hawthorns. Hooper scored the opener in the 13th minute, smashing an unstoppable drive into the top corner, before Fer finished off a sharp counter late on to seal a 2-0 victory.
West Brom had countless chances to take at least a point from this game with Stephane Sessegnon twice failing to convert great opportunities and Shane Long also guilty of being profligate in front of goal. It is now one win in nine games for the Baggies, and Steve Clarke's side were booed off at full-time.
After starting brightly Norwich took the lead with a wonderful strike from Hooper. Nathan Redmond fed Fer, who picked out the striker's run with the aid of a deflection off Diego Lugano's heel.
The angle of the pass was taking Hooper away from goal but he fizzed a superb strike beyond Boaz Myhill.
Norwich sealed the points as all the home side’s pressure came to nothing and they were punished as Redmond found Fer for the midfielder to cut inside and fire low beyond a flat-footed Myhill with a minute remaining.
And Tony Pulis enjoyed a second home victory inside a week as his Crystal Palace side recorded a fully deserved win over Cardiff at Selhurst Park on Saturday. The former Stoke boss took charge at Palace a little over two weeks ago and, following a narrow loss at Norwich, the Welshman has now guided the Eagles to back-to-back home wins as Cameron Jerome and Marouane Chamakh got on the scoresheet to secure a comfortable 2-0 victory.
Glenn Murray scored a hat-trick in a 3-2 win for Palace when these two sides met in south London in the Sky Bet Championship last season, but with their talisman still recovering from a long-term injury, it was two of their summer recruits who sealed another vital victory which moves them to within a point of the 16th-placed Bluebirds.
Much was made of Jerome’s relationship with Pulis during their time together at Stoke but the striker, on a season-long loan from the Britannia Stadium, opened the scoring with his first Palace goal as he headed home after six minutes before going on to be a constant thorn in the side of his former club. The hosts dominated for large spells and deservedly doubled their lead as Chamakh finished coolly just before the hour mark, with Pulis’ side going on to create the better of the chances after doubling their advantage without adding to their two goals.
