The Saints failed to muster a single shot on target, and just two overall, in a game where City huffed and puffed but never truly did enough to blow the door down.

Jeremy Doku's half-time introduction did at least open things up and he set up Bernardo Silva for a chance that Jack Stephens did well to block.

Omar Marmoush also crunched the crossbar in stoppage-time as Pep Guardiola's side was left frustrated against the league's bottom side.

A point means City is third and four points clear of sixth-place Nottingham Forest as it looks to round-out a spot in the top five, while Southampton moves to 12 points – one more than history's lowest Premier League tally recorded by Derby County in 2007-2008.

There was little to speak of in a turgid first half but Doku's introduction after the break led to him cutting one back for Silva to dig one goalwards that Stephens hacked to safety.

An otherwise ineffective Erling Haaland laid one on a plate for substitutes Nico O'Reilly and Savinho, who had overshot their rungs into the area, while Aaron Ramsdale became busier in the closing stages to deny Ruben Dias and Kevin De Bruyne.

Ramsdale needed the help of the crossbar to keep out Marmoush's whipped strike inside the area as City was held to a frustrating stalemate.

Reflecting on the outcome, Guardiola said: "In the second half we were much better, much more incisive, especially with the wingers. We brought players into the box.

"[But] they were so, so deep. I did expect it, but they defended there with 11 players in that penalty area, and it was not easy to break them down. We needed that quality in the right moment. We had four or five chances in the last few minutes, but we could not score.

"What happened, is, of course, when we were on the sides, the full-backs and wingers [were] completely different, the players in the middle were not much in the box, and we needed the quality. We could not do it, they were so defensive, it's difficult to break them down. Today that was the case."

Haaland was back in the starting line-up for the first time since injuring his ankle at the end of March but managed only five touches in an ineffective first half.

Guardiola conceded he did not intend for the Norway international to play for as long as he did with the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace on the horizon next weekend.

"He [Erling Haaland] didn't expect to play as many minutes, but the way the game was played we needed people in the box," Guardiola added.