It’s official, City will go into record books
NOT AFFECTED BY SHOOT-OUT VICTORY
CITY’S astonishing run of 15 straight wins WILL go down in the record books.
The Blues have racked up that sequence of victories, in all competitions, since Raheem Sterling’s late winner at Bournemouth in August.
But there was some dispute about whether the Carabao Cup triumph over Wolves – which came via a penalty shoot-out – should be regarded as a win or a goalless draw
City historian Gary James sought clarification from some of the game’s top statisticians and law-makers – and the answer he received was that the 15-game run will go down as a record. That puts City ahead of the Arsenal team which won 14 on the bounce in 1987 – ten in the league and four in the League Cup.
Some stats websites have recorded the Wolves result as a draw, but former referee David Elleray, who is now technical director of the International Football Association Board, the game’s ultimate law-making body.
Said Elleray: “Kicks from the penalty mark are a method of determining the winner of a match, or tie, when the scores are level.
“QED if any team plays any match which required KFPM and they win that ‘event’ they win the match.”
That was backed up by the Association of Football Statisticians, whose director Mark Baber said, in reply to a message from James: “We fully agree the game against Wolves should be regarded as a Manchester City win for all the reasons you have outlined so clearly.” The winning sequence will also go down in the next edition of the Nationwide Football annual as a record.
The annual is the longest-running statistical record of football, dating back to 1887, and its editor Stuart Barnes consulted the sage of stats men, Albert Sewell, who was Match of the Day’s numbers man for 37 years.
Said Barnes: “I have spoken to Albert Sewell and we both agree that Manchester City’s winning sequence is a bona fide record. City’s club record will certainly be mentioned in the next annual’s review of clubs.”
The City record takes in Premier League wins over Bournemouth, Liverpool, Watford, Crystal Palace, Chelsea, Stoke, Burnley, West Brom, and Arsenal.
With Carabao Cup wins over West Brom and that contentious Wolves triumph, and Champions League victories over Feyenoord, Shakhtar Donetsk and Napoli twice, it all adds up to a new record.
The Blues have also racked up 23 games unbeaten, which is a new club record – but is still a long way short of Nottingham Forest’s best run of 40 games unbeaten, under Brian Clough in 1978.
The run of nine straight league wins is also some way short of the top-flight English record, which stands at 14 and was set by Arsenal in 2002.