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WE’RE EVEN BETTER THAN LAST SEASON
KEVIN DE BRUYNE had a unique but appropriate way of putting it. Bournemouth, he said, just wanted to ‘keep the nil’.
It has become a familiar sight at Premier League grounds when Manchester City visit. And while a home team sitting behind the ball does not make for a great contest, it does present Pep Guardiola and his players with challenges.
Here on the south coast, City faced fatigue, an increasingly blustery wind and opponents that were nothing if not organised.
Once again Guardiola’s team came through and afterwards the City manager went so far as to suggest that this team are on their way to outstripping last season’s achievements, regardless of whether they win the title.
‘In the way we play, we are much better,’ said Guardiola. ‘We have 71 points and that is incredible, whatever happens.
‘you always think today may be the day it doesn’t happen, you don’t win. Maybe this is the day the players will be tired and that today may not be our day.
‘But then it turns out the opposite. Time and time again the players are there. We won everything in January and February and now we start again and the feeling is there again.
‘Every player knows what we have to do, everybody is there for each other. If we have that we can compete. We may lose but if we do we have no regrets.’
Losing does not seem be an option for City at the moment. This was their third win without conceding a goal in seven days.
It was a strange game. Bournemouth — normally so welded to manager Eddie Howe’s attacking philosophy — did not have a single shot on or off target and didn’t have any corners. It always seemed City would win and once riyad Mahrez beat Artur Boruc too easily in the 55th minute, the game looked up.
Howe had no regrets about how his team had played and how he had asked them to play. Guardiola’s celebrations, meanwhile, spoke volumes.
After a one-goal win over West Ham in midweek, here was another to keep the pressure on title rivals Liverpool.
‘I know that in our society only the first one is a winner and the second is seen as an absolute loser but it’s impossible to feel that about my players,’ said Guardiola. ‘I don’t know what will happen but it’s impossible not to think they are good players, athletes, competitors, everything.
‘We want to win the league and will be disappointed if that doesn’t happen but we must not forget who we are against. Without Liverpool we would be champions.
‘We have played nine or 10 more games than Liverpool and that’s a lot of minutes in our legs. But we are still there.
‘I would prefer to be in last season’s position, 12 points in front, but it could have been 10 points behind if Liverpool had beaten us and now we are pushing them.
‘Let them feel we are there, let them know that we are pushing them, just round the corner. That’s all we can do. When they miss one shot we must take it.’
City do have injuries to contend with. de Bruyne came off with a tight groin while John Stones was also withdrawn. Fernandinho and Aymeric Laporte are already out.
So Liverpool have fewer miles in their legs than City, but also less experience at winning titles. ‘For me there is no stress, it’s nice to be there,’ said Guardiola.
‘Two titles in our pocket already this season and being there with Liverpool, the best Liverpool in their history in terms of points in the Premier League. Even in their history of winning leagues, they didn’t have these results.
‘When you have won 100 points you can get complacent but we are there again. We are in the last 16 of the Champions League and one game from a Wembley