Manuel Pellegrini says he'd do the same again in fielding a rotated side with Real Madrid coming up, despite Man City getting thumped 4-2 by Southampton Raheem Sterling was lacklustre against Southampton and has work to do to prove he merits an England place for Euro 2016 Manchester City were beaten 4-2 by Southampton in the Premier League Raheem Sterling produced another unconvincing performance for City Winger's display did him few favours ahead of this summer's Euros He was anonymous for most of the game at St Mary's on Sunday afternoon Danny Welbeck and Adam Lallana's form threaten his England place To show Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini he can provide the X-factor in the Champions League semi-final against Real Madrid and to demonstrate to England manager Roy Hodgson he can shoulder the nation’s expectations this summer. Unfortunately, this lacklustre performance in City’s 4-2 reverse at Southampton did Sterling few favours on either front. He was simply anonymous here for the most part, wasting the one chance that fell his way; one that might have altered the game’s outcome. As City chased the game, he just faded from it, barely touching the ball after half-time, let alone influencing the game with it. Should he play in the Bernabeu? On this evidence, no, though City might not have much choice. Should he start at Euro 2016? It’s increasingly hard to make the argument. At a time when Sterling should be stating his case for a starting berth in Hodgson’s England team at the European Championship, he is encountering only frustration. Alarmingly for a man who arrived at City for a hefty £49m last summer, he had not started a Premier League match since the miserable 3-0 loss at his former club Liverpool on March 2 before this. And he’d not completed a full 90 minutes in the league since the match with Tottenham on February 12. At least that run came to an end. A groin injury saw Sterling miss three league games - all of which resulted in City wins - both legs of the Champions League quarter-final triumph over Paris Saint-Germain and England’s late March friendlies against Germany and Holland. So while Sterling either sat on the substitutes’ bench or laid on the treatment table, his case for inclusion in Hodgson’s team when England open their Euro 2016 campaign against Russia on June 11 was receding. Danny Welbeck was favoured on the left-side of a forward three in the thrilling 3-2 win in Berlin, while Adam Lallana played in Sterling’s position against the Dutch. Both can be considered to be in better form. A bit-part player of late anyway, Sterling would certainly have been miffed that Pellegrini called for Kelechi Iheanacho ahead of him when David Silva was injured against Real Madrid the other night. He eventually got on - for a mere 11 minutes. But with Silva definitely out of the Bernabeu return and doubts over Yaya Toure’s fitness as well, this was a golden opportunity to Sterling to prove a point not only to Pellegrini but Hodgson too. Indeed, Pellegrini had hinted that a solid performance here would ensure Sterling a place in his team for Real. His body language early on was all wrong, however. Sterling shrugged and sulked as Pellegrini beckoned him into a wider left position in the opening minutes. Early passes were loose and Sterling took a while to settle into the game, his every touch hustled by Cuco Martina and the covering Sadio Mane. But even with their pack shuffled with Madrid on the mind, City still possessed plenty of attacking menace, and a superb opening came Sterling’s way on 20 minutes. Sterling flicked on a throw-in to Iheanacho and the youngster spun his man and wriggled his way into a crossing position. Sterling had the presence of mind to continue his run and was barely 10 yards from goal when he received the cross. His shot was struck well enough but Fraser Forster, another trying to force his way into Hodgson’s thoughts, was a match for it with an excellent low save. How City rued not putting that chance away. With another 10 minutes they were two goals down, their defenders also appearing to have their heads stuck on fast-forward to Wednesday night as they lost concentration and their runners over and over again. First Shane Long and then Sadio Mane netted and Sterling, jogging around attempting to find space but nowhere near the ball, was a mere sideshow.

• published: 01 May 2016
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