JESUS AT DOUBLE AFTER FAMILY GOES HOME
MANCHESTER City manager Pep Guardiola is keeping a close eye on Gabriel Jesus now the striker’s family are no longer with him in England.
Maintaining his hot streak in front of goal should keep the Brazilian’s spirits high.
The 21-year-old scored twice in City’s 3-0 win over 10-man Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League yesterday, extending his spree to seven goals across three competitions in the past nine days.
Whether he can retain City’s sole striker spot ahead of Sergio Aguero, who started on the bench after a recent illness, remains to be seen but Jesus cannot be doing any more to impress Guardiola.
“I know Sergio Aguero is an amazing player and helps me a lot,” Jesus said.
“When Sergio plays he helps the team, and when I play I want to help as well.
“I play better and to score goals is important to me.”
And having two in-form strikers can only boost City’s chances of reeling in Liverpool in the title race.
Liverpool’s lead was trimmed to four points by City’s win over Wolves, for whom the match was a damage-limitation exercise after centre back Willy Boly was handed a straight red card for a tackle on Bernardo Silva in the 19th minute.
By then, Jesus had tapped in a cross from Leroy Sane to put City in front in the 10th minute.
Jesus added his second from the penalty spot in the 39th after Raheem Sterling was fouled by Ryan Bennett.
City piled on the pressure in the second half — it finished the game with 76 per cent possession — but had only one more goal to show for it, with Conor Coady glancing a header into his own net from substitute Kevin De Bruyne’s cross.
Since losing back-to-back league games around the Christmas holiday to drop out of the lead, City has been in relentless form — winning five straight matches in all competitions and scoring 24 goals in the process.
Guardiola spoke before the game about the club needing to rally around Jesus because he might start to find life hard after his mother, two older brothers and nephew returned to Brazil following an extended stay in Manchester to help Jesus acclimatise. And teammates Sane and Sterling could not have handed him easier opportunities to continue his scoring run.
Wolves were potentially tricky opponents for City, but Boly’s red card put paid to any chance of an upset at Etihad Stadium.
The victory moved the champion five points clear of third-placed Tottenham.
Liverpool will also be wary of City’s improved form.
“All we can do is win our own games,” Guardiola said. “We cannot control what they do. We can control what we do. The only way to do that is by being there.”