Pep Guardiola took the opportunity to take Erling Haaland off at half-time with their Champions League game already won against FC Copenhagen.
After three consecutive home hat-tricks at the Etihad, Haaland scored twice in the opening 45 minutes against Copenhagen to help City open up a 3-0 lead but did not come out after the break with Cole Palmer replacing him. The No.9 ran a lap of honour around the stadium after the match to dispel any worries over his fitness.
Guardiola admitted it had not been the plan to take Haaland off at half-time but he could not resist the opportunity to rest him with the Southampton game coming up on Saturday. However, he rejected the notion that it was simply for rest as he talked up the importance of his squad.
Also read: City player ratings vs Copenhagen
"He plays a lot of minutes, the game was under control and Cole Palmer is an excellent player and was looking forward to playing. If the game would have been tight Erling would have continued but it is better to rest for Southampton - who we weren't able to beat last season.
"It's not about resting players. We have a squad of 20 players if you just play 11 you don't have 20 players. The other ones, when you need them, don't work.
"Today I put the best selection to win the game because we need the players in this tight schedule. It's already an excellent result and better performance than we played in [a while]. I know people will say [it was only] Copenhagen but they defend really really really well. The way we played, the movements we had everyone in position, with the ball but especially without the ball.
"Today we see why this club has been so successful because after we beat Manchester United 6-3 and got a lot of compliments we were able to be humble enough to respect the opponent. Every team deserves to play.
"This is the secret of this team, the work ethic. Yesterday we trained 20-25 minutes and everyone was focused and paid attention. This is the reason why this season and seasons before with different players every three days we were there. This is the biggest title we can get - beyond Premier League, Champions League and everything."
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