Serge powers Blues to victory
IT’S ‘AS YOU WERE’ IN TITLE RACE AS CITY SEE OFF OLD BOSS PELLEGRINI
BERNARDO Silva and Raheem Sterling came off the bench to inspire City to three priceless Premier League points against West Ham.
If the performance often left Pep Guardiola an exasperated man on the sidelines as he chuntered his way through the game, the introduction of the two Player of the Season contenders produced the key moment when Bernardo was brought down for a second-half penalty that Sergio Aguero happily converted.
With a weary, depleted City coming into this game after an energysapping Sunday at Wembley, the coach demanded a win against West Ham to prove that his team wanted could make up for tired legs with more trophies.
Despite a largelyterrific 2019, the old habits of the support left for a few nerves for this game but the opening five minutes soon dispelled those.
From Vincent Kompany grappling with Andy Carroll to Kevin de Bruyne and David Silva threading through balls that were well past West Ham’s wavelength, Guardiola’s team could have been two up if they had taken some presentable chances – Riyad Mahrez couldn’t keep the ball down on the end of Silva’s cross before the Spaniard turned the ball onto the post when it looked easier to find the net. West Ham, beaten 4-0 in the reverse fixture when they allowed City the freedom of the London Stadium, could not get a kick. So much was the domination of the home team it felt like they had three more players on the pitch and it took until the 23rd minute of the game for the first bit of play in Ederson’s box. That Manuel Pellegrini’s side were still in the game said a lot about the poor finishing from the Blues. Clinical here against Chelsea when they scored four goals with their first five shots on goal, they managed ten efforts in the opening half-hour but the first nine didn’t test Lukasz Fabianski. As news of a 2-0 lead for Liverpool at Anfield filtered around the ground, frustration set in around the Etihad. De Bruyne and Mahrez, neither at the peak of their own game, grew more agitated by the lack of progress on the righthand side while Guardiola raced out of his seat when the ball entered his technical area to ensure a quick restart. The decision to leave key trio Raheem Sterling, Bernardo Silva and Kyle Walker on the bench had looked prudent before the game, given the minutes they have played and a trip to Bournemouth at the weekend looming. It should have been a prime opportunity for others to prove a point, with barely any of the starting XI guaranteed a regular place.
What transpired though, with Aymeric Laporte and Fernandinho also missing, was a lack of understanding and rhythm that a half-time teamtalk could not fix.
Within 12 minutes of the second half Guardiola had swapped Mahrez and Leroy Sane for Sterling and Bernardo Silva, and within minutes Bernardo had drawn a foul in the penalty box.
Up stepped Aguero to plant the ball in the same corner he had at Wembley, and the stadium breathed deeply and contentedly.
When Pellegrini responded to the goal by bringing on Pablo Zabaleta (to a terrific reception, of course) for Ben Johnson at left-back, it sent out the message that everyone in the ground could see.
Bernardo and Sterling made City a completely different proposition for West Ham to handle, adding to the one-way
traffic of the first half but with a much higher threat of goal. Aguero, Sterling, and David Silva all went close to adding to the lead in the same move with further efforts from the trio in the ten minutes that followed the opener.
Not that City got much better in front of goal. Sterling will be kicking himself after side-footing wide from Bernardo’s inviting ball ten yards from the goal, and the Blues got less than half of their 27 shots on target.
But the two substitutes did enough to lift the Blues from their wastefulness and achieve a victory that keeps them within a point of Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool on the night the leaders picked up an impressive 5-0 win against Watford.
Whichever way you look at the players who are not at the top of their game, Kompany played through his first 90 minutes since the beginning of the year, Aleks Zinchenko continues to grow into the team.
This win was also City’s consecutive league clean sheet.
Having ground out this victory to stay close to Liverpool, the top of the table beckons at least briefly on Saturday if they can get a result at Bournemouth.
With 15 wins in 16 games since defeat to Leicester on Boxing Day, the