Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
CITY WON’T STICK AT 21
There was a twist.. but Pep’s diamonds march on
ANOTHER win, another record for Manchester City.
Such is their brilliance that setting milestones has become pretty much commonplace for Pep Guardiola’s side.
But they had to work hard to extend their record winning streak to 21 in all competitions.
Wolves, who hardly got a kick in the first half, stunned City by equalising early in the second period and briefly threatened an upset before normal service was resumed.
The Blues are now 15 points clear at the top of the table and well on course to wrap up their third Premier League title in four years under Guardiola.
They are just two short of Bayern Munich’s record for Europe’s top five leagues of 23 straight wins, set last year.
They also equalled the club’s record unbeaten run of 28 games set in 2017.
Such is the constellation of stars in City’s squad, Guardiola was able to leave the talent of Ilkay Gundogan, John Stones, Sergio Aguero, Fernandinho and Phil Foden on the bench.
In came Raheem Sterling, Gabriel Jesus, Aymeric Laporte, Bernardo Silva and Joao Cancelo – City’s unmatched strength in depth is why they are coasting towards the title
Wolves have been a bit of a bogey side for City and did the double over them last season.
But Guardiola’s side are a very different beast this term and the game quickly became attack against defence.
In fact in the first half Wolves did not have a single touch in City’s box.
The opener was a thing of beauty, even if Leander Dendoncker got the final touch to prod it into his own net.
Riyad Mahrez controlled Rodri’s superb diagonal ball with the outside of his left foot before crossing with his right for Dendoncker, ahead of Sterling, to turn into his own goal.
City were utterly dominant and their work-rate was personified by Sterling, who tracked back into his own half to regain possession back from Pedro during a rare Wolves attack.
Wolves did get some respite when Laporte was denied a second goal by an offside armpit, which was upheld by VAR.
But the visitors were under relentless pressure
and they owed so much to keeper Rui Patricio, who denied City single-handedly.
He dived to his left to keep out Silva’s header before he made fine stops to frustrate Kevin De Bruyne and Mahrez.
Wolves equalised on 61 minutes through Conor Coady, totally against the run of play.
From a free-kick on the right flank, Joao Moutinho floated over a cross for Coady to head home his first club goal since April 2018.
But City quickly regained their grip on the game and won it in the last 10 minutes.
First, the Wolves defence failed to deal properly with Kyle Walker’s cross and Jesus fired home the loose ball.
Then Mahrez added a third with a low drive and Jesus rounded off the scoring in the third minute of injury time, VAR overruling the referee’s decision to rule it out for offside.
City are 15 points clear at the top – hand them the title now.
ON a Liverpool church billboard in the 1960s, a poster asked passers-by: “What will you do if the Lord comes?”
Beneath the question, someone had written: “Move St John to inside-right.”
On Merseyside, Ian St John was a footballing deity, his place in Anfield’s firmament secured by one of the most significant goals in the club’s history.
In fact, supporters of a certain generation, a generation who saw Liverpool in the second tier, will always consider the St John header from an Ian Callaghan cross that clinched the 1965 FA Cup as THE greatest goal.
It was an era when the FA Cup was a holy grail, when Liverpool were not sending out kids’ teams in the grand, old competition. It was the pinnacle of a player’s career, a supporter’s dream.
In the 1963-64 season, Liverpool had won their first Division One title in 17 years but had yet to win the FA Cup. Everton had won it twice.
“Ee-aye-adio, you’ll never win the cup,” was a familiar, taunting refrain.
Liverpool fans who saved up every year to go and see their team win at Wembley joked they would end up millionaires.
St John and Bill Shankly’s team changed all that and laid the foundations for the growth and success over the next half a century.
His manager would go on to describe St John as one of his most important signings but he was also one who nearly got away, only Shankly’s personal intervention heading off a move to Newcastle
United. “Hello, Bill Shankly, Liverpool Football Club. You’re coming to Liverpool,” announced the great man as a 22-year-old St John sat in his Motherwell dressing room in May of 1961. The transfer fee was £37,500, a