´They didn´t even try to play´ – Dias fumes at Southampton after Man City draw

Ruben Dias accused Southampton of not trying to play in a frustrated rant after Manchester City’s turgid goalless draw on Saturday.

The Saints managed only two shots and none on target during a bore fest at St Mary’s Stadium, in a game where they had just 28.7 per cent possession.

Moreover, the ball was only in play for 58:09 of the 99:35 match time, as a deep defensive block frustrated the superstars of City.

Simon Rusk’s side had only seven touches in the opposition box compared to City’s 69 and were out-ed 640 to 258.

Dias told Sky Sports: “In a moment like this, every point matters and it’s obviously frustrating to play against a team like this.

“They don’t even try anything, they just sit and don’t even want to win the game, they just want to be there. And it’s not good for the show, it’s not good for themselves, it’s not good for anyone. But it is what it is.

“The funny thing is we do what [Aaron] Ramsdale did once and straight away it’s a yellow card, he does it 20 times and it’s just play on.

FULL-TIME | It ends level.

0-0 #ManCity | @okx pic.twitter.com/JbledVtG9D

— Manchester City (@ManCity) May 10, 2025

“But anyway, we had our chances, we tried to get in, tried to be versatile, tried to be flexible, that’s our job. But it was not easy to get in.

“We’re used to this kind of adversity but normally the other team is at least trying to win, or trying to play.

“Today was quite the opposite and there was not even a sparkle of them trying to do anything. They were just sitting around. And obviously it makes it more difficult to get in.”

Dias also feels the officiating did not help City’s cause.

“Without being disrespectful and trying to respect the referees as much as we can, but we try and [say to the referee], ‘Listen, this is just going to slow down the game. This is not what anyone wants, who is watching,’,” Dias said.

“Obviously we know we’re in a circumstance where we have to attack and they have to sustain, but the way they wasted time today, in some way the referee needs to help us control that time-wasting; people going down for nothing, for no reason. And it happened the whole game. It is what it is.”