City on course to surpass last season’s record-breaking heroics, and Mendy believes there is nothing to stop them

THE frightening prospect for the rest of the Premier League is that Manchester City’s players feel they have not yet reached their peak under Pep Guardiola.

City underlined their status as the country’s dominant force with Sunday’s emphatic 3-1 derby win over Manchester United, capped by a sublime 44-pass build-up to the final goal involving all 10 outfield players.

Guardiola’s remarkable side produced a masterclass of the passing game, combining elegance on the ball with a ruthless efficiency.

Few thought City would be able to match last season’s heroics, when they won the title by a record-breaking margin of 19 points, with a record haul of 100 points, scoring 106 goals and conceding 27.

But after Sunday’s seismic derby win, City – if they can carry on at their current rate – are on course to surpass last season’s exploits with a massive 101 points, 114 goals scored and just 16 conceded.

No wonder Guardiola’s players feel there is another level they can reach, a depressing scenario for those trying to keep pace with them.

Asked if City can get even better, under Guardiola (below), defender Benjamin Mendy said: “Football has no limits. Every team can get better, so we’ll watch a video of this game to see what we didn’t do well.

“Pep knows what to do every time so we listen to him. It’s a new season and we need to stay at the front, win the title again and, I hope, win more trophies.

“Pep is the boss of the team and we listen. We trust the manager – he knows what he’s doing.”

City keeper Ederson, who produced the only blot on a perfect day for the Blues by conceding the penalty from which United scored, echoed team-mate

Mendy’s thoughts.

Asked if City can do even better than last season’s recordbreaking exploits, Ederson said: “Absolutely. Pep’s in his third season here and I can see the team has a deeper understanding of his ideas. “If we keep going like this, we can achieve a lot.”

Ederson also claimed United got off lightly with the 3-1 defeat and suggested they could have been humiliated by an even bigger scoreline.

“We played a great game and deserved a win,” said Ederson. “We were way better than United – if we had pushed we could have got a bigger win. I’m happy with this derby.” Bernardo Silva, who played a role in all three goals against United, said City’s players know they are not going to stroll to the title like they did last term, with Liverpool refusing to be shaken off. Against that backdrop, Silva said City want to build up as commanding a lead as possible at the top before the gruelling Christmas and New Year fixture schedule starts to take its toll.

“We know it won’t be easy this season,” said Silva. “Liverpool are having a fantastic Premier League as well.

“We want to try to have a bigger gap during the months of December and January, when you have a lot of games. We will work very hard for that.”

Asked if United were out of the title race after their derby defeat,

Silva said: “It won’t be easy for them.

They are behind not only us but are also 10 points from Liverpool, and a lot of points behind the other teams as well.

“They need to be almost perfect and wait for the other ones to lose a lot of points. It won’t be easy.”