VANGUARD HAS FAITH IN HARRY
come. We have won 5-1, 6-0 and 7-2 and this was 3-2, so there is more to come.”
Guardiola was afforded the luxury of keeping Sergio Aguero on the bench for the whole 90 minutes and the striker must have felt he would have broken the club’s scoring record if he had been on the pitch.
City never looked like losing despite Albion’s dogged persistence – but the Premier League leaders often wasted many of their best attacking moments.
The visitors ran the game as the Baggies mounted a rearguard action from the start. The scoreline flattered the home side but their manager Tony Pulis was proud of his team’s performance.
He said: “We needed the breaks and we missed two good chances through Salomon Rondon and then Grzegorz Krychowiak.”
“Having said that they created a lot of chances of their own.
“But I can’t fault my players. I thought they were fantastic. They worked so hard as a group.
“Every one of those players has had a right go at a proper team. Now we need to get a result and get our best team out there”
This was a whole new ball game for City. Guardiola (above) had complained about the Mitre ball for failing to score in 120 minutes against Wolves in the Carabao Cup in midweek – but the Premier League’s Nike version was much more to his liking. Leroy Sane put the visitors ahead with a fierce cross shot through Allan Nyom’s legs in the 10th minute which sparked a rush of three goals in five minutes. But the Baggies were level three minutes later when Jay Rodriguez latched onto Gareth Barry’s through ball to lob the equaliser over Ederson. It took City two further minutes to regain the lead with Fernandinho firing home a 20-yarder. Albion missed chances to draw level either side of the interval with Rondon heading a Rodriguez cross over the top and Krychowiak putting a free header straight at Ederson.
Most of the second half was a procession towards the home goal but City squandered a lot of possession and failed to make the most of their dominance.
It took the introduction of Raheem Sterling to put some daylight between the two sides with the City sub scoring with virtually his first touch.
Albion still refused to lie down and scored an injury-time consolation with Phillips latching onto a dreadful, misplaced backpass from Nicolas Otamendi before poking his shot wide of keeper Ederson.
But it left Albion with just two wins in their last 19 top-flight fixtures and without a victory in their last eight league games. media representative at Monday’s FIFA ‘The Best’ awards in London, where Cristiano Ronaldo picked up the main gong ahead of Lionel Messi.
The Pacific Island nation with a population of just 270,000 – about three Wembley Stadiums – clearly has a love affair with the Premier League, with their media voting for Jamie Vardy for the 2016 Ballon d’Or, again won by Ronaldo.
Best league in the world? Well it’s definitely No.1 in Vanuatu.
VICTOR LINDELOF has had a disappointing start to his Manchester United career, but the defender has certainly been clocking up the air miles.
The Swede (below) made his 10th start of the season for club and country at Swansea in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday.
And it was in a ninth country – Macedonia, Bulgaria, Belarus, England (twice), Russia, Sweden, Netherlands, Portugal and Wales. No wonder he often looks a bit dizzy!