City break Chelsea records on Toure’s farewell to Etihad
It was a night when Manchester City supporters gathered to bid an emotional goodbye to one of the club’s great players in Yaya Toure and a night, too, when Chelsea kissed goodbye to a hat-trick of Premier League records.
If Toure is a symbol of City’s recent golden past, Pep Guardiola’s young gunslingers, headed here by the outstanding Leroy Sane, represent their rich and vibrant future.
By the time Toure left the field in the 86th minute to a standing ovation from the Etihad faithful and hugs from team-mates, before being warmly greeted on the touchline by an ebullient Guardiola, City had rewritten the Premier League history books. This victory over Brighton saw City set a new record for points taken, goals scored and wins claimed in a season in the 23-year history of the Premier League and kept them on course for a remarkable century of points, which will be achieved if they beat Southampton at St Mary’s on Sunday.
As it stands, the win swept City to the 97-point mark, two more than Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea managed in their victorious 2004-05 campaign. There is simply no shelter from Guardiola for the Manchester United manager this season. It was also the champions’ 31st victory of the league campaign, one more than Antonio Conte’s Chelsea managed last term, and the three goals on the night took their tally for the season to 105, two more than Chelsea amassed under Carlo Ancelotti in 2009-10.
Guardiola made a point of listing all the best Premier League sides, from Sir Alex Ferguson’s United teams to Arsenal’s Invincibles and Mourinho’s Chelsea, and revelled in the knowledge that his City outfit had amassed a points total none of those could rival. “They deserve to be the best – you have to make more years to do that – but we were better than all of them in one single season,” a beaming City manager said. “We’ll try for 100 points and finish this almost perfect season.”
The only thing missing on the night was a goal for Toure, although no one could accuse him of a lack of trying. The veteran midfielder thought his moment had come shortly before his substitution when he surged into the Brighton penalty area and swapped passes with Sane, only to send his shot straight at Mathew Ryan.
The disappointment was shortlived because this was an evening for Toure to savour. Most of the crowd stayed back at the end to watch a montage on the big screens of his best moments and there was a loud cheer when he cited his winning strike in the FA Cup semi-final against United in 2011 – what many consider to be a watershed moment in the modern City story – as his best goal. Toure thanked the City owner, Sheikh Mansour, and chairman Khaldoon al-mubarak before his brother, Kolo, the former City defender, appeared on the pitch to present him with a framed shirt bearing the number 316 – his appearances for the club – a mosaic of him celebrating his 2011 Cup final goal against Stoke City and a lifetime season card.
City captain Vincent Kompany led the tributes. “If there is ever going to be a legend at this club, it is going to be this man,” Kompany said before reeling off all of Toure’s achievements.
As much as the night was about Toure, making his final home appearance for City, it was to Sane whom the eye kept being drawn. He set up all three of City’s goals and Guardiola underlined the PFA Young Player of the Year’s talent when he said afterwards: “What I like the most is seeing his outstanding performance but still having the feeling he can do better.”
It was Sane who was quickest to react to Ilkay Gundogan’s short corner and pull the ball back for Fernandinho to drill in a low shot and claim City’s third goal, and the Germany winger who also picked out Bernardo Silva for the second after Leonardo Ulloa had equalised for Brighton. Yet Sane’s brilliance was best encapsulated for the first goal. Exchanging a one-two with Fernandinho in his own half before gliding past the centre circle, Sane looked up, spotted Danilo making a dash for it and threading a fine pass for the Brazilian to race on to and coolly dispatch into the corner.
“At our party three days ago Leroy danced a lot, so I was scared about his level today, but he was excellent,” Guardiola said, laughing.
Brighton’s goal owed something to the eccentricities of goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, afforded his first start in the league this season.
Anthony Knockaert slipped a pass into the penalty area for Davy Propper. Bravo charged out but succeeded only in fisting the ball a yard from Propper, who swivelled and plonked a pinpoint cross on to the head of Ulloa to score. Bravo got himself into another spot of bother in the second half, when he fumbled Jose Izqueirdo’s shot and was relieved to see Knockaert fire over after Danilo’s attempted clearance from the loose ball had cannoned back off Pascal Gross’s head.
The night, though, was all about Toure and City’s record-breakers.