Making his 30th appearance of a frustrating first season at the club, Adams pounced on a loose ball after City defender Oleksandr Zinchenko was dispossessed. The centre-forward hit a curling first-time shot from around 40 meters, with his effort sailing over stranded goalkeeper Ederson Moraes and into an unguarded net in the 16th minute.

Southampton then relied on a series of wonderful saves by goalkeeper Alex McCarthy to consign City to a third straight away defeat in the league. This is the first time that has happened to a team managed by Pep Guardiola in his distinguished coaching career.

City’s players had 26 shots on goal at an empty St Mary’s Stadium, but lacked the cutting edge they had in their 4-0 win over Liverpool last Thursday. Kevin De Bruyne and 20-year-old midfielder Phil Foden started on the bench and couldn’t inspire an equaliser after coming on as 59th-minute substitutes.

The result left second-placed City (66 points) 23 points behind already-crowned champion Liverpool (89 points) with five games remaining. Southampton (43 points) climbed to 13th place and is assured of another season in PL.

Barcelona thrashes Villarreal

Barcelona produced a scintillating display to thrash Villarreal 4-1 away on Sunday and stay alive in the La Liga title race.

Barcelona had drawn its last two matches to hand more momentum to league leader Real Madrid, but Sunday’s success took it to 73 points after 34 games, four behind its arch-rival which won 1-0 at Athletic Bilbao earlier in the day.

An own goal from Pau Torres put Barcelona in front in the third minute, with Villarreal’s Gerard Moreno levelling on the rebound in the 14th. However, the visitor restored its lead through an outstanding, curling strike from Luis Suarez six minutes later.

Antoine Griezmann stretched Barcelona’s advantage just before the break with a sublime chip, having been dropped from the starting line-up in the previous two games. The, 17-year-old Ansu Fati added a fourth in the second half with a low strike.

Premier League: Southampton 1 beat Manchester City 0; Liverpool 2 beat Aston Villa 0; Newcastle United 2 drew with West Ham United 2; Burnley 1 drew with Sheffield United 1.

La Liga: Villarreal 1 lost to Barcelona 4; Athletic Bilbao 0 lost to Real Madrid 1; Osasuna 0 drew with Getafe 0; Espanyol 0 lost to Leganes 1.

Serie A: Napoli 2 beat Roma 1; Brescia 2 beat Verona 0; Cagliari 0 lost to Atalanta 1; Parma 1 lost to Fiorentina 2; Sampdoria 3 beat SPAL 0; Udinese 2 drew with Genoa 2; Inter Milan 1 lost to Bologna 2.