PEP’S GRAND MASTERS
City celebrate title win by attempting over 1,000 passes to set an all-time record.. and this is just the start!
PEP GUARDIOLA said he was unsure how his Manchester City players would react after sealing the title with five games to go.
But here was the emphatic response, City endorsing their newfound status as champions with a five-star display that took them closer to rewriting the Premier League record books.
Even with the title already won, there was no let-up from City, who set a new Premier League record of passes completed in a game (942).
City attempted 1015 passes, becoming the first side to exceed 1,000 in a single match since Opta started collecting data in 2003.
Not even a pitch invasion at the final whistle by their jubilant fans could take the gloss off another glittering display in a remarkable season from Guardiola’s side.
Blues moved to 90 points with this win, just five short of Chelsea’s record Premier League total of 95 set in the 2004-05 season. With four games left, all against sides in the bottom eight, that record is there for the taking.
Guardiola’s side are also just five short of the Premier League goals record of 103, set by Chelsea in 2009-10, and few would bet against the free-scoring champs eclipsing that total too. This was City at their mesmerising best, tormenting Swansea by dumping them on the passing carousel which is the hallmark of all Guardiola sides, and ultimately killing them with their ruthless finishing.
David Silva opened the scoring in the 12th minute, producing a sublime left-footed finish, with Raheem Sterling providing the assist.
It was Sterling’s turn to get on the scorehseet four minutes later, Silva combining with Fabian Delph, who squared for his England colleague to tap in from close range for his 23rd goal of the campaign.
At that stage it looked as though Swansea could have been buried under an avalanche of goals by the break, but Carlos Carvalhal’s side somehow managed to get to half-time without conceding further, although it took them until the 45th minute to produce their first effort on goal.
But any hopes they harboured of protecting their goal difference were crushed after the break as Guardiola’s side ran amok, Swansea unable to stem the sky blue tide that ultimately dragged them under.
Fittingly, Kevin De Bruyne, City’s undisputed player of the season, got on the scoresheet in the 54th minute with a 25-yard thunderbolt which left even Guardiola blowing out his cheeks in astonishment.
Despite having secured the victory, City were in no mood to show their opponents any mercy, with Guardiola on the touchline
imploring his players not to take their foot off the gas.
Sterling, who tormented the Swansea defence all afternoon, won a penalty in the 63rd minute after Federico Fernandez, who was nowhere near the ball, slid in on the City and England star, sending him sprawling to the turf.
In the absence of injured striker Sergio Aguero, recovering in Barcelona following knee surgery, Gabriel Jesus stepped up to take the resulting spot-kick.
Swans keeper Lukasz Fabianksi managed to palm Jesus’s effort onto his right-hand post, but was helpless to stop Bernardo Silva from scoring from the rebound to make it 4-0.
Jesus , who missed a header soon after, finally plundered the goal his endeavour warranted, sending a looping header beyond the reach of Fabianski from sub Yaya Toure’s cross in the 88th minute.
At the final whistle, City fans poured on to the pitch en masse, with some setting off flares, before the players had managed to escape to the sanctuary of the tunnel. An FA charge is inevitable, but not even that will cast a shadow over the greatest season in City’s history.