SEVENTH HEAVEN FOR CITY
...and De Bruyne has a hand in four, as Pep’s side score 29 goals to break record that has stood for 123 years
MANCHESTER CITY may end up in a close title race with Manchester United but their methods could not be more different.
As Jose Mourinho’s side were stifling Liverpool to a goalless draw at Anfield, Pep Guardiola let the handbrake off and destroyed Stoke with a brand of football not seen since he was in charge of Barcelona.
The goals were shared around between Gabriel Jesus (2), Raheem Sterling, David Silva, Fernandinho, Leroy Sane and Bernardo Silva but the name chanted loudest by supporters was Kevin De Bruyne — who had a hand in four of them.
Statistically, Guardiola’s team are entering new territory. Their 29 goals in eight Premier League games this season is the best start since Everton managed 30 at the start of the 1894-95 season.
Their last three league games at the Etihad have seen them score 17 times. This was their first seven-goal haul since beating Sheffield Wednesday in the League Cup in 2014.
‘I can’t deny that today was the best performance since I arrived here,’ said Guardiola. ‘We were able to play quickly because we played simple, everyone just wanted one or two passes. Big congratulations to the players because of the win and the way we won. I’m a spectator like everyone. I enjoyed it.’
Stoke manager Mark Hughes has to take some of the blame for their awful showing on his return to a club that sacked him in 2009.
He gave 18-year-old right-back Thomas Edwards his debut against Sane, one of the most in-form players in Europe. And by playing 4-3-3, he isolated his three most advanced players, while City hogged 80 per cent possession and dominated midfield.
The biggest surprise was that it took the home side 17 minutes to breach England goalkeeper Jack Butland. Like the other goals, it was a picture-perfect move.
De Bruyne’s pass picked out Sterling, who had timed his run behind marker Erik Pieters. Sterling showed composure to pull back for Jesus, who tapped in to follow up his two goals for Brazil against Chile on Wednesday.
After 19 minutes it was 2-0. De Bruyne looked one way and passed the other to Sane on the byline. His cutback was slotted in by Sterling — his seventh goal already this season having managed just 10 in the whole of the last campaign.
Manchester was revelling in the kind of performance Guardiola was brought in to deliver and the next goal was as good as it gets.
Jesus fed Sane, whose low cross went across the width of the 18-yard box to Sterling. His lay-off found David Silva arriving in the box and the Spaniard was able to take a touch at full stretch before firing in the third.
You have rarely seen a collection of more bedraggled players than Stoke’s set of red-and-white stripes and, in the circumstances, you had to admire the visitors for hitting back with a couple of unexpected strikes of their own.
Approaching half-time, Mame Biram Diouf played a one-two with Jese and fired in past goalkeeper Ederson via a deflection off Fabian Delph’s outstretched leg.
Hughes made two changes and, incredibly, they had scored a second quickly after the restart. In a neat role reversal, it was Edwards who got the better of Sane by the touchline and his cross into the box was met with a miscued header from Diouf, the ball bouncing off Kyle Walker’s chest and in.
It was tragic for Edwards that, in the very next attack, he had to be carried off on a stretcher after being caught by a sliding tackle from Delph.
But with the scoreline too close for comfort, the incredible De Bruyne moved up the gears. The Belgian powered down the right-hand touchline to cross for Jesus to fire into the roof of the net from close range.
His square ball then made its way to Delph, then Fernandinho who shot into the top corner from 25 yards for 5-2. As an encore, De Bruyne played the pass of the match, a beautiful arcing ball towards Sane from 30 yards away that invited the German to score.
De Bruyne was given a hero’s reception when he departed for Ilkay Gundogan to spare Stoke further punishment.
‘Kevin didn’t score but he is a guy that is so dynamic,’ said Guardiola. ‘He understands the game, to be aggressive with the ball and to play a pass with the right tempo and pace.
‘When he is in the dangerous areas, the strikers and wingers move because they know he can deliver the ball. He is a big talented player.’
Even without De Bruyne, City added a seventh, Sterling forcing the ball into Bernardo Silva’s path, the substitute controlling instantly, then insolently flicking the ball past the overworked Butland.
Afterwards, Guardiola insisted: ‘I am not here for entertainment. I am here to win.’
The difference between him and Mourinho is that he believes entertaining football can be winning football. It is going to be a fascinating battle between them.