City close on title after Silva service
STOKE 0-2 MAN CITY
The sight of Pep Guardiola marching onto the pitch after the final whistle to lecture Leroy Sane said it all: the Manchester City manager wants more. This comfortable victory, earned through two sublime David Silva goals, was not enough in a campaign in which City can break all kinds of Premier League records. And, with the Champions League draw on Friday, they can achieve even greater things.
City will be in Abu Dhabi when that draw takes place as they enjoy a break before resuming their campaign against Everton at the end of this month. Win that and it means they can claim the title in their next fixture: which just happens to be against Manchester United at home on April 7. The countdown is on.
Guardiola said that City will “come back stronger” from the Middle East and it sounded like a threat as much as a promise. Just how much stronger can this dazzling City side be? Stoke are no mugs under Paul Lambert and, as they should, they fought for their lives but they did not even register a shot on target.
Guardiola chose to highlight the
fact that this result meant City had achieved the double over Stoke for the first time since 1999-2000 and it shone a light on the fact that such achievements matter to him.
Guardiola does not just want to win this league but to achieve new landmarks in doing so. Already City have earned 81 points, the first team to achieve that after 30 games, and now the highest ever points total in the Premier League – Chelsea’s 95 under Jose Mourinho in 2004-05 – is in Guardiola’s sights. City can top 100 points and, with 85 goals already, can beat the record of 103 achieved by Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea in 2009-10. A double century – 100 points, 100 goals – is possible.
This result also means that City surpassed their points total of 78 earned last season – and did so with eight games to go. But it is not enough. It also matters to Guardiola that City do not relent once the Premier League is won and stay full-on in Europe. There was an insight into that in the way he spoke to Sane, who had wasted chances, and also called over Vincent Kompany to instruct him once Stoke had brought on substitute Peter Crouch.
The goals were worthy of winning any match. They summed up the silky brilliance of City as they cut through Stoke. The first came after just 10 minutes with Fernandinho, fit again and recalled, playing the ball in to Gabriel Jesus, who turned and took out three Stoke players with a pass that released Raheem Sterling down the right. Sterling looked up and crossed low for the onrushing Silva, who arrived between two more Stoke defenders to side-foot into the net.
It also quickly set back Stoke’s plan to defend deep and try to counter aggressively, with Jese asked to take on the City centrehalves, while their best outlet was matching Xherdan Shaqiri against Oleksandr Zinchenko.
So would we have a contest after all? It seemed possible when Jack Butland, in front of the watching England manager Gareth Southgate, who announces his next squad on Thursday, launched a goal-kick which flew over Kompany’s head with Jese running through. Kyle Walker recovered but toed the ball over Ederson, who back-pedalled to tip it over the crossbar.
At the other end, though, City racked up chances. After Guardiola’s accusations that his team forgot to attack in the Champions League defeat at home to Basel last week this was a clear response, with Butland turning away a low Fernandinho shot and then watching, relieved, as Sane volleyed just wide. Stoke were, rightly, cheered off at half-time. No one could fault their effort. They had worked hard, they had bitten into tackles and tried to close down their opponents even if there was always the sense that City were a simple shift through the gears away from extending their advantage.
And they did just that. Sterling won the ball back and found Fernandinho, who played it in to Silva. The midfielder’s first touch deftly picked out Jesus, who lifted the ball across the area. Butland hesitated and Silva guided the ball past him.
There were further chances for Kevin De Bruyne, Sterling, Zinchenko, Sane and Walker but City were unable to score again.
The only late drama came when Sterling provoked an angry response as he whisked away possession, following a dropped ball after a clash of heads, and ran through on goal only to be tackled by a furious Badou Ndiaye. It led to some pushing and shoving. It was the only aggravation this imperious City side faced all evening.