City reminded their title rivals just how good they really are
THE last time City won four games in a row, the idea of football being played in empty stadiums was still a dystopian nightmare, like the prospect of having to compete with United in a title race anytime soon.
Ten months after a spin of five successive wins came to an end, the Blues have finally hit a level of consistency that is worthy of the ‘old normal’ and the return of Pep Guardiola’s thrillseekers couldn’t have been timed any better.
In a football week dominated by talk of postponements and Covid-19 outbreaks, City’s recent run of results has gone under the radar.
Depleted by the absence of six first-teamers at Chelsea, they added to wins over Southampton, Arsenal and Newcastle with a blistering display at Stamford Bridge.
City went into the game eighth in the Premier League and while they had games in hand, their title credentials were going under the radar, if not written off entirely.
Guardiola’s side have been doing their work in silence this season while the noise has increased across town at Old Trafford, with United emerging as serious contenders to leaders Liverpool.
But the squabble between those two rivals might be irrelevant if Sunday’s statement win from City is a sign they are back to their very best.
The idea of United and Liverpool fighting it out for the title is a grim one for Blues supporters, but on this evidence their side can make sure it’s a reality they don’t have to confront.
City have been easy to write off this season. Like all of their rivals, consistency hasn’t always come easy and the defensive improvement has tended to arrive at the cost of some attacking sparkle. Against Chelsea, Guardiola’s side combined both and they did so without Ederson, Kyle Walker, Aymeric Laporte, Nathan Ake, Ferran Torres and Gabriel Jesus, while Sergio Aguero was still only on the bench. There might be a theory that City were motivated by the ridiculous criticism they’ve faced for the Covid-enforced postponement against Everton and were equally determined to reassert their
Beating Chelsea sends out a message to those critics so willing to call the end of the Guardiola era. Not so fast!
own superiority to end the United vs Liverpool narrative.
But that would overlook the improvement they’ve made recently. This performance in West London was the natural progression of that, although there’s no doubt it does send out a message to those critics so willing to call the end of the Guardiola era. Not so fast.
In the movement and ingenuity of Phil Foden, the brilliance of Kevin de Bruyne, the drive and energy of Ilkay Gundogan, the direct running of Raheem Sterling and the steel of John Stones and Ruben Dias, City have a team that can still wreak havoc, as Frank Lampard found out. And that’s with a substantial list of absentees as well.
Right now this is a wide-open title race, but it’s also one that can easily be seized. A run of six or seven successive victories in the Premier League for any of the serious challengers could end the race in the space of a month.
So far no team has looked capable of producing that, but while Liverpool have drawn with Fulham, West Brom and Newcastle recently, City have just reminded them how good they can be on their day.
Consistency is the challenge for every side this season, one punctuated by a brutal schedule and the risk of Covid outbreaks and fatigueinduced injuries. On the back of their best performance of the season the Blues might prove this was no one-off.
If De Bruyne can sparkle like he did in the final third at Stamford Bridge, if Gundogan can continue to provide such quality from midfield, if Stones and Dias can continue to look like the best defence in the Premier League, then an enthralling title race could easily become a onehorse race.