MANCHESTER City boss Pep Guardiola said dropping points against bottom side Southampton in a 0-0 Premier League draw on Saturday will result in a nervy final two games of the season in his side's pursuit of a Champions League place for next season.

Southampton's hard-earned point not only means they avoid being the joint-worst team in Premier League history but also a tougher finish for City, who must hold off the chasing pack of Newcastle United, Chelsea, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest.

"The result, of course, it's a missed opportunity today, we know that," said Guardiola, who failed to beat a bottom team for the first time in his nine seasons at City. "It happened. Now, prepare the (FA Cup) final, less time (for) Bournemouth and then Fulham," he added, with City playing Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final on May 17 at Wembley.

"We have three games left -- the FA Cup and two games in the Premier League and I didn't expect anything different from one month ago in that we will need to fight until the end."

City had won four straight league matches and were poised to move level on points with second-placed Arsenal but the momentum stalled at St Mary's. They are only two points above the three teams below them in the battle for a top-five finish.

While Southampton have conceded a Premier League-high 82 goals this season, they kept City out by defending in numbers, which drew criticism from Guardiola and defender Ruben Dias.

"It was difficult," Guardiola said. "Eleven players on the penalty spot. I didn't expect they would defend so, so deep. Defensively we were brilliant. But we missed the last actions that break the result."

Dias echoed his manager's view.

"It's frustrating to play a team like that," he said. "They didn't want to play. Just wasting time the whole game."

One positive was the return of Erling Haaland, who missed six weeks with injury. The Norwegian, who remains third in the league's scoring chart with 21 goals, played until the end.

"We didn't expect him to play 90," Guardiola said. "But the way the game was going, we needed people in the box."

Guardiola's City remained third in the table on 65 points with two games remaining in their bid for Champions League qualification. Newcastle United and Chelsea, who meet on Sunday, are only two points behind. Nottingham Forest, who also have a game in hand, trail by four.

Aston Villa breathed life into their Champions League hopes with a 1-0 victory over Bournemouth that lifted them to sixth, and just two points behind Manchester City, as the contest for a top-five finish remains wide open.

Brentford's pursuit of a first-ever European qualification gained strength with their 1-0 victory over already-relegated Ipswich Town, while Brighton & Hove Albion claimed a 2-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers to keep them within touching distance of playing in Europe next season.

Fulham's hopes of European football next season are fading fast, however, after they slipped to a fourth league defeat in five games with a 3-1 loss to Everton.

Already-relegated Southampton had looked likely to equal Derby County's season-low tally of 11 points in 2007-08, but the draw moved them to 12 as their fans at a sun-drenched St Mary's Stadium sung loudly in celebration.

Manchester City thoroughly dominated with 26 shots to the home side's two, but Southampton defended in numbers, particularly in the dying minutes, to deny them.

Their game plan drew criticism from City's Ruben Dias.

"It's frustrating to play against a team like them. They don't even try to play, just wasting time the whole game," he told Sky Sports.

"They are just sitting around. We tried every way... but we didn't score."

Southampton goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was proud of his team.

"We've had a tough, tough season, we've had tough Monday mornings after heavy defeats," Ramsdale told Sky Sports. "Today we put smiles on the Southampton fans' faces. It's just a relief to be honest."

Villa's Ollie Watkins flicked in a first-half winner, taking him ahead of Gabriel Agbonlahor as the club's all-time scorer with 75 league goals.

"I think it is massive for us," Watkins told Sky. "There are a lot of teams that are pushing for Champions League spots and it is going down to the wire. Getting that goal to break the record for this club is massive and something I had my eye on when I came to the club."

The visitors had Jacob Ramsey sent off for a second yellow card in the 80th to set up a nervous finish as late-goal specialists Bournemouth finally came to life but could not find an equaliser.

Bournemouth, who could have moved up to eighth, remain in 10th spot with their outside challenge for Europe running out of steam.

At Portman Road, Brentford won their fourth in a row on a first-half header by Kevin Schade to leave them eighth in the table with 55 points, while Ipswich are 18th.

Schade scored in the 18th minute when he met Bryan Mbeumo's corner and steered the ball into the far corner.

LASER FOCUSED

"I see a strong team on form, we have got the momentum which is important. We are close to finishing eighth which would be the best position ever in the league. We are laser focused," Brentford manager Thomas Frank told the BBC.

At Wolverhampton, goals from Danny Welbeck and substitute Brajan Gruda saw Brighton move up one place to ninth, level on 55 points with Brentford. Wolves fell to 14th.

Should Manchester City defeat Crystal Palace in the FA Cup final this month, an eighth-place league finish would secure qualification for the Conference League.

"I think we were up against a good side and they're in good form. We had a gameplan and we played it out well," Welbeck told Premier League Productions.

Fulham's loss at Craven Cottage saw them remain 11th in the table with 51 points from 36 games, four points adrift of eighth place, while Everton climbed one spot to 13th.

Raul Jimenez gave Fulham a deserved lead in the first half with a powerful header before Vitaliy Mykolenko's deflected shot from the edge of the box levelled the score on the stroke of halftime.

Two goals in three minutes from Michael Keane and Beto, who profited from an error by goalkeeper Bernd Leno, turned the game in Everton's favour in the second half and dealt their host's European dreams a heavy blow.

"It is the story of the last three or four games," Fulham manager Marco Silva told BBC. "Goals have come from set-pieces. We have to be willing to fight, do our job well and we didn't. It's about concentration and focus."