IT’S GABRIEL JESUUUUUS!
City go mad after they conjure another ‘Aguero moment’ to amass 100 points
THE title was in the bag long ago but for Manchester City records matter too.
And just how much they wanted to become the topflight’s first ever centurions was summed up by the delirium that greeted Gabriel Jesus’s injury-time winner at St Mary’s.
A fist-pumping Pep Guardiola and his coaching staff ran onto the pitch in wild celebration. Unused subs Ederson, Vincent Kompany and Kyle Walker raced down the touchline to join their team-mates, led by a shirtless Jesus, who bundled in with the City fans.
Ederson tossed his gloves into the away end and Walker lost his flip flops as he tried to sprint in them on the grass.
Six years to the day since Sergio Aguero’s title-winning goal against QPR, the City celebrations at Southampton were not too dissimilar.
They were certainly a match for those that followed other key late goals this term, such as against Bournemouth, Huddersfield and at home to Saints.
Sub Jesus’s lob – scored like Aguero in 2012 on the 90+4 minutes mark – was of course nowhere near as significant.
But for perfectionist Pep and his players it meant another entry in the history books to support their claim of being the greatest Premier League side ever.
Having won the league a month ago, trying to become the first top-flight team to rack up 100 league points was one of the targets that kept them going. Other milestones which are now theirs are the most goals (106) and victories, which they stretched to 32 yesterday.
That new landmarks for the most away wins (16), away points (50), goal difference (79) and the biggest gap to second place (19 points) are footnotes underlines just how incredible their campaign has been.
The scowl on Guardiola’s face as his team toiled for much of the game showed how much he wanted to hit the 100 mark too.
When Jesus converted Kevin de Bruyne’s pass with the last meaningful kick of the game the Spaniard’s scowl was replaced by a beaming smile.
While City confirmed they are simply the best, Saints are simply safe, which looked far from certain a few weeks ago. Survival was effectively secured by a 1-0 win at Swansea in midweek, which left the Welsh club needing a final-day win and an unlikely 10-goal swing.
With both teams’ main objectives all but sorted this
was becoming little more than a leisurely stroll in the South Coast sun. But the game livened up following Jesus’s arrival on the hour. Raheem Sterling had an effort deflected onto a post before, at the other end, Dusan Tadic toyed with a scrambling Claudio Bravo then had his shot cleared off the line by Fernandinho. John Stones also kept Bravo busy with an overhit back-pass that for a second threatened to become a comedy own goal. It was Jesus who eventually found the net – and how City enjoyed it.