The Daily Telegraph - Sport

City shift the boundaries with 100-point milestone

The wild celebratio­ns by club’s entire entourage show just what it means to be best of the best

- At St Mary’s Stadium

CHIEF SPORTS WRITER

The deluge of records set by Manchester City may have numbed you to their 100 points in a league campaign. But it was the way they reached the ‘ton’ that confirmed its value. Last kick of the game, after a mediocre display, and with pandemoniu­m on the bench to almost match the Sergio Aguero title-winning goal of six years ago.

When Gabriel Jesus beat Alex Mccarthy in the Southampto­n goal moments before the end of added time, City’s coaches, subs and support staff burst out of their zone as if electrocut­ed. They ran in all directions before converging and surging towards the City end of the ground. The nervous nineties had City in their grip until their final kick of a campaign that set an indecent number of records.

Incredibly, Mark Hughes was the losing manager six years ago, too, when his Queens Park Rangers side conceded twice in stoppage time (to Edin Dzeko and Aguero) as City ripped the trophy from Manchester United’s hands. That first English championsh­ip for 44 years carried a bit more lustre than the statistica­l landmark reached in Hampshire, but nobody should downplay this moving of the boundaries. The previous high of 98 points was set over 42 games by the great Liverpool team of 1978-79.

No team in the top flight of the English game had made it to 100 points.

City also set a new high of 32 wins – beating Tottenham’s haul of 57 years ago – as well as a new winning points differenti­al of 19, and a best away wins tally of 16. Their 106 goals came with a record goal difference of plus-79. And yet, like a batsman dreaming of the Lord’s honours board, game No38 against Southampto­n, who finished 64 points behind the champions, they made hard work of a game described by Guardiola as “so complicate­d, so tough and hot.”

City played like a side who wanted those 100 points, but had slackened off. Teams who do this struggle to switch back on. Even Kevin De Bruyne’s passing was wonky. Southampto­n were tenacious after midweek results had virtually guaranteed their survival. They certainly played well enough to leave City stranded on 98 points, until a long chip by De Bruyne found Jesus on the edge of Southampto­n’s six-yard box.

You saw what these numbers meant when the entire travelling party rushed to celebrate with the away supporters. The aptly-named Claudio Bravo ran the length of the pitch to join in. Prominent among the revellers were Phil Foden and Brahim Diaz – two youngsters sent on to seal their entitlemen­t to a championsh­ip medal (the threshold is five appearance­s). This was a notable gesture by Guardiola: a nod to dressing-room solidarity over statistics, and to the future, in No Premier League team have recorded as many points. No PL team have had a better goal difference. City have set a record for goals scored. The biggesteve­r points gap between first and second place in PL. No team have won more away games. which City’s youth academy products surely must feature.

“One hundred points? Premier League 100 points?” Guardiola asked as he joined us in the press room. “That’s a massive achievemen­t.” City’s manager admitted his team had trained “not so much” last week “because in our mind it was already over”, but insisted his side were “focused on the game”.

A game, we should say, with a changed dynamic, because Southampto­n’s win at Swansea on Tuesday night had virtually guaranteed their ‘survival’ – the standard term now for not going down. But even with the goaldiffer­ence numbers in their favour, Hughes’s team were determined to leave a good impression in the minds of their fans. The last four matches is leaving it late to start a surge: a fact that intensifie­s doubts about their attitude in the previous 34 fixtures.

No reservatio­ns could be attached to City, beyond their heavy Champions League quarterfin­al defeat to Liverpool. In the domestic league, they played with beauty, spirit, enterprise. Theirs was not a victory only of money. It was a triumph of coaching and management – a victory for a grand idea, imposed by players bought for their creativity. Plenty of clubs have thrown money around without making self-expression such an article of faith.

Most of Guardiola’s players will have to rouse themselves again for a World Cup campaign. Many will be tired from the intensity of their manager’s methods. But each can thank him for making them a better player.

Which record, we asked, was Guardiola’s favourite? “The favourite is the way we play,” he said. “The numbers are a consequenc­e of what we’ve done in terms of the way we’ve played and the mentality. You cannot achieve 100 points if you drop games. So that’s why our consistenc­y once again showed up today. A lot goals and a lot of points. Wins at home, wins away.

“Everything was perfect this season. And we finished the way we deserved to finish.”

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