Nothing Liverpool can do to halt City’s remarkable charge

IT is remarkable what Manchester City are doing. We are witnessing a special team go about their business superbly and there is little that Liverpool can do about it. Why? Because City just keep on winning. Bernardo Silva set them on the way to this latest win with his opening goal and he is a Pep Guardiola type of player. He is a wonderful footballer. A little wizard who has been a revelation this season. Bernardo was named on the six-man shortlist for PFA Player of the Year by his fellow professionals for good reason. They notice what he brings to this talented City team. He played for Portugal at the World Cup in Russia last summer and you might not have noticed him. But now at City, such is the schooling he gets from Guardiola every week, he has become a magician. In a strange way, the second-half injury to Fernandinho actually did Guardiola a favour. It was a blessing in disguise. It saw Leroy Sane come off the substitutes’ bench and make City look more balanced. Fernandinho went off, Sane joined the forwards and Bernardo was able to return to his best position, which is on the righthand side of the three-man midfield. The opening goal came from the right, too. City were using the left wing far too much at Old Trafford, with Oleksandr Zinchenko charging down that side. It was all left, left, left and I thought they should switch it. Once they did, once they finally entered the territory where Paul Pogba should have been patrolling, they scored. United were brave in the system they put out and City got a little bit sucked into the physical side of things. It became a battle. United had to respond to their poor performance at Everton on Sunday when they lost 4-0. Andreas Pereira looked good in midfield, but ultimately they ran out of steam. It was only going to be a matter of time before City started to make their presence felt. It took Guardiola’s side a while to get going but they sparked into life in the second half. Bernardo was at the forefront of it. Kevin De Bruyne has missed a large part of this season, and to have someone of that calibre waiting in the wings shows City’s strength in depth. They have 18-year-old Phil Foden, too, who does not look far from becoming a first-team regular. I will reiterate — this is a special City side that we are watching charge towards a successful defence of the title. Now they have Burnley away, Leicester at home and Brighton away to finish the job. With the talent Guardiola has at his disposal, you would expect three straight wins and the Premier League trophy to follow.