Premier League: Manchester City v Southampton full-time report

Manchester City celebrate

Manchester City 3 Southampton 2

Manchester City began the defence of their Premier League title with a dramatic 3-2 victory over new boys Southampton – in a game reminiscent of their previous match at the Etihad Stadium.

Roberto Mancini's side famously beat Queens Park Rangers on home turf back in May to win their first league title for 44 years – and again required two goals to come from behind and defeat the plucky Saints in their opening match of the 2012-13 campaign.

Carlos Tévez broke the deadlock for the champions before the break, but two Southampton substitutes turned the game on its head early in the second half.

Ricky Lambert and Steve Davis both came off the bench to score goals and silence the Etihad Stadium, but City showed the stuff of champions, with Edin Džeko and Samir Nasri both scoring to complete another dramatic comeback.

The home side were dealt a major blow early in the contest when Sergio Agüero was forced off with a serious looking knee injury. The Argentina international, who scored one of the most important goals in City's history on his last appearance at the Etihad Stadium, was stretchered to the dressing room after a challenge by Southampton debutant Nathaniel Clyne.

Džeko, the Bosnian who headed the equalising goal against QPR in May, took his place in the City attack. And moments later the hosts should have taken the lead.

Referee Howard Webb pointed to the spot when Jos Hooiveld brought down Tévez just inside the penalty area, but David Silva failed to capitalise, hitting a weak penalty which Saints' goalkeeper Kelvin Davis gathered comfortably.

Had Agüero still been on the pitch, he would have taken the penalty. However Silva, one of the most technically-gifted players in Europe, would have been strongly-fancied to convert from 12 yards.

Half-an-hour passed and the deadlock remained unbroken. Nigel Adkins' men were forced to work hard off the ball, but kept their shape and remained defensively solid.

Tévez managed to find a gap on the edge of the penalty area but proceeded to shoot straight at Davis, while Silva had a strike well-blocked by the frame of José Fonte.

But Southampton's resistance was eventually broken with five minutes of the first half remaining through Tévez, who latched on to Samir Nasri's intelligent pass after beating the offside trap before producing a typically assured finish past Davis.

It was vital for the newly-promoted visitors that they reached half-time without conceding again.

They managed to do that – but only just.

City piled on the pressure in search of a second goal during first-half stoppage-time, with the lively Tévez firing an effort at Davis and Nasri shooting just over.

The home side continued to dominate in the early stages of the second half and spurned two glorious chances to double their advantage.

Gaël Clichy shot over from close-range after being picked out by Yaya Touré, moments before Silva struck the crossbar.

And their wastefulness in front of goal was punished by their opponents, who sensationally scored twice in quick succession to take a shock 2-1 lead.

Lambert had barely entered the fray when he struck a curling effort into the bottom corner of the City net after Guly do Prado's effort was blocked, while his fellow substitute Davis netted his own curling effort past Joe Hart following a swift counter-attack.

City have been in this situation before, though, and restored parity soon after thanks to Džeko.

The 26-year-old finished from close range after Yaya Touré had played a clever pass inside a congested Southampton penalty area, but City were never going to settle for a mere point.

Mario Balotelli missed an open goal after coming off the bench, while Džeko headed a decent chance wide, but Nasri made no mistake when the ball fell to him inside the box.

The France international, who endured a difficult summer with his international team at Euro 2012, slammed the ball past Davis to put the champions ahead for the second time in the match.

Southampton, to their credit, refused to give up and it was a nervy finale for the Premier League's richest club.

But they held on to put their first three points of the season on the board.

Rob Swan - follow me on Twitter

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