De Bruyne the engine room of Pep’s City juggernaut KEV’S THE ARCHITECT AS HE OOZES CL ASS IN ROMP
Steve Bates
HE DIDN’T score and made only one assist as Manchester City resumed normal service – but Kevin De Bruyne made Pep Guardiola’s day.
That was clear enough as the classy midfielder ended his contribution after 79 minutes of quality string-pulling against West Ham.
Guardiola shook the Belgian’s hand then had a lightning-quick debrief which you can guess roughly translated as: ‘Please stay fit this season’.
De Bruyne missed half of City’s Premier League games last season through injury and they still managed to win a domestic treble including a back-to-back title by a single point.
Master
Guardiola, though, doesn’t want to cut it so fine this time in pursuit of a third straight League crown.
Not with Liverpool intending to run City all the way to the finish line again.
That’s why De Bruyne is more central to his plans than any of his stars, a midfielder who oozes quality and a master technician unrivalled in European football. And while City have plenty of ammunition at their disposal – a fit and firing De Bruyne is the one weapon Jurgen Klopp must fear most in City’s armoury.
His eye for the killer pass, the simple ball, the change of pace and the game intelligence is a frightening combination that Guardiola couldn’t rely on last season.
If De Bruyne stays healthy this time, the possibilities are even greater for this City machine.
And they’ve started with a brutal intent – smashing West Ham all over the London Stadium in a manner r that that’s s become all too familiar.
A Raheem Sterling g hat-trick will grab the headlines nes while
Riyad Mahrez was central entral to the goals and £62.8million 8million record signing Rodri showed he’s an immediate threat to
Fernandinho.
Guardiola’s men en again proved they’re a football force of nature. An unstoppable juggernaut with a hunger driven by their heir manager’s own insane ane desire to win.
Even before kick-off off the result was never an issue. Only, perhaps, for optimistic Hammers co-chairman David Gold who predicted a win was “do-able” in a pre-match tweet. In his dreams!
Not with a pool of talent so outstanding Guardiola could afford the luxury of leaving Bernardo Silva and Sergio Aguero on the bench. The only question was how many?
This time it was five. An ominous warning to Premier League clubs like West Ham that no matter how much you spend to strengthen it won’t mean a thing against this City side. Manuel Pel l e g r i n i invested £75m in his squad this summer but if West H Ham had spent double or treble tha that it wouldn’t have come close to d derailing City yesterday. This is the start of Guardiola’s four fourth season in England and his fire for perfection still b burns brightly.
C City’s patchy quality in th the opening 20 minutes ra rankled all the way into his post- match media briefing.
Fair play to West Ham ea early on, they didn’t sit ba back and wait for City to tea tear them to bits even if tha that was the ultimate out outcome. Bolstered by new £ 45 45m attacker Sebastien Haller, there was a spring in their step. Predictably, though, despite decent possession, their confidence drained away once City edged ahead.
Gabriel Jesus opened the scoring with a cute near post finish after a powerful surge by Kyle Walker.
Agility
The next didn’t come until six minutes after the break when De Bruyne popped the ball into Sterling to fire home.
The f i r s t of s everal VAR interventions to spark debate ruled out another Jesus close-range effort.
Then came a superb double save from Ederson, denying Javier Hernandez and Manuel Lanzini with a mix of reflex and agility.
That only triggered City’s third goal as Mahrez played in Sterling to produce a finish that VAR correctly ruled onside.
More VAR found Declan Rice encroaching as Aguero’s penalty was saved by Lukasz Fabianski after Issa Diop fouled Mahrez.
Aguero re-took the penalty with more venom to make it 4-0 before Sterling grabbed his hat-trick.
It’s no wonder the bookies reckon City’s rivals are already playing for second place.