Guardiola fuming as Salah scoops player of year award
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TO think, Pep Guardiola was worried that Manchester City might clock off once the Premier League title was in the bag.
It happened to him at Barcelona and Bayern Munich, he said. Now the challenge was on for City to maintain their imperious form until the end of a season that could go down in the record books.
His players did not let him down on an afternoon of celebration at the Etihad.
It went a little far at times. Stewards let the inflatables go but stepped in when a blow-up doll made an appearance wearing a City shirt in the first half.
On a more serious note, City might well be hearing from the FA about a pitch invasion at the end, in particular blue flares being set off by supporters only three weeks after similar problems in the Manchester derby.
Nothing could detract from the occasion, though.
City had waited a week to party since United’s shock defeat by West Brom, and this was a day to salute Guardiola’s side and wonder at the quality of their football yet again, as they produced another performance full of confidence and verve.
A thumping win, lit up by a stupendous strike from Kevin De Bruyne, saw them move to within five points, five goals and one win of equalling the Premier League record in each category.
Guardiola believes City can be stronger still next season and the appearance of Benjamin Mendy and Phil Foden off the bench in the second half suggests that may well be the case.
You had to spare a thought for poor Swansea. They resembled rather awkward guests who had stumbled into the wrong party and been made to stay.
Carlos Carvalhal and his players still have the serious business of securing their Premier League status. They stood dutifully to form a guard of honour for their opponents before kick-off, then spent much of the match watching Guardiola’s side produce the kind of exhilarating football we have seen from them so often.
City enjoyed almost total domination. The 542 completed passes in the first half, and 1,015 passes overall, were the most since records began.
They were not harmless passes either. Time and again they carved Swansea open, resulting in two goals in the space of five minutes in the first half.
The first came from an excellent move after De Bruyne played a pass in to Raheem Sterling, whose clever cutback found David Silva.
The Spaniard took a touch and the ball sat up invitingly for him to bury a left-foot volley into the bottom corner. He became the sixth City player to reach double figures for the season.
The second again came down the City left. David Silva played a one-two with Fabian Delph, who drilled the ball across goal.
The Swansea defence raised their arms in unison, hoping for an offside decision, but Mike van der Hoorn was playing Sterling on and he side-footed home his 23rd goal of an excellent season.
The celebration was in full swing by the time De Bruyne came up with his party piece nine minutes into the second half.
Not for the first time, Danilo showed the hunger Guardiola had demanded by closing down Andre Ayew to win the ball back.
It ran for De Bruyne, who knew exactly what he intended to do and let fly with stunning effort into the top corner from 25 yards.
Federico Fernandez’s rash sliding tackle on Sterling gave Gabriel Jesus an opportunity to extend City’s lead from the penalty spot, even though the fans wanted Ederson to take it.
The Brazilian was denied when Lukasz Fabianski turned his attempt against the post, but it ran across the goal for Bernardo Silva to score in an empty net.
The woodwork prevented Alfie Mawson from heading into his own goal before Jesus got his reward, launching himself to meet substitute Yaya Toure’s angled cross with a looping header.
This was always going to be a horrible fixture as Carvalhal’s side fight to avoid relegation and Chelsea are next up.
For City, the days of looking over their shoulder are over. They are champions, deservedly so. Here, once again, they showed us why.