Six down, one to go
Leroy Sane turns away after scoring the sixth in Manchester City’s 7-2 romp over Stoke City yesterday.
MANCHESTER CITY had already managed five and six-goal hauls this season. This time, they produced a magnificent seven.
Stoke became the latest victims of Pep Guardiola’s side as they were blitzed by a mesmerising display of attacking football, which the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager acknowledged as the best performance of his City reign.
Their defence was breached for the first time since the end of August, but it did not matter when they were in this sort of mood at the other end.
And thanks to Manchester United’s goalless draw at Liverpool at lunchtime, City opened up a two-point cushion over their neighbours at the top of the table.
They picked up exactly where they left off before the international break for a ninth straight win in all competitions and became the first team in Premier League history to score 29 goals in the first eight games in a season.
There were six different goalscorers, but the conductor-in-chief was Kevin De Bruyne.
The midfielder did not score, but the talented Belgian was the player pulling the strings, and both managers were singing his praises afterwards.
“We talk about Kevin again,” smiled Guardiola. “He was so dynamic.
“When he has the ball in positions close to their area, our wingers, strikers and attacking midfielders know to move because the ball is coming.
“He is a very talented player and he made a very good performance. But you cannot score seven goals without everyone playing well.”
Despite watching his team receive a hiding, Stoke boss Mark Hughes went even further in his acclaim for De Bruyne.
He said: “We have been found wanting against a team that have genuine world-class players.
“But Kevin De Bruyne is head and shoulders above any other player in the Premier League with his level of performance and how he can dictate the game.
“At 3-2 we were back in it, but players like De Bruyne grab the initiative and take it away from you.”
Leroy Sane had already missed a sitter before City grabbed three goals in 10 minutes to set them on their way.
De Bruyne found the overlapping Kyle Walker down the right, and the full-back looked up before presenting striker Gabriel Jesus with a tap-in. Then, barely two minutes later, the second goal arrived. Sane laid it back to De Bruyne on the edge of the box and everyone expected the Belgian playmaker to shoot.
He had other ideas and played a sublime reverse pass back to Sane, which caught the Stoke defence off guard and allowed for Sane to square for teammate Raheem Sterling to finish it off.
It was simple, but brilliant and it brought Guardiola to his feet.
“I am a spectator as well as a manager,” he enthused. “In that moment you expect Kevin to shoot, you don’t expect that.
“The crowd enjoyed it and I enjoyed it, too!”
The third was another team effort as City toyed with their opponents.
Jesus, Sane and Sterling were all involved again before David Silva steered his shot beyond a bewildered Jack Butland in goal.
However, having been on the ropes, the visitors scored two quick goals either side of half-time to grab themselves a short-lived lifeline.
Mame Biram Diouf scored via the aid of a Fabian Delph deflection for the first and then headed against Walker for the second, which went down as an own goal for the former Tottenham man.
That had come from an excellent cross by 18-year-old debutant Thomas Edwards. Sadly, the teenager’s afternoon ended minutes later as he was carried off with an ankle injury after a hefty challenge by Delph.
But if the visitors thought they were back in it, they were mistaken as City plundered a further three more goals in the space of seven minutes.
De Bruyne – who else – set up two of them with exquisite passes which Jesus and Sane gleefully fired home.
While in between those, Fernandinho took aim from more than 25 yards and found the top corner with a thunderous strike.
De Bruyne was then taken off to a richly deserve standing ovation after 66 minutes, but there was still time for a seventh for rampant City.
More neat football allowed Bernardo Silva to poke home his first goal for the club and round off a memorable display.