At least the fans can be proud of the City players
BREAD and butter has never tasted so good.
Pep Guardiola’s City are back on a smooth course to the Premier League title, stretching their lead over secondplaced United to 11 points with five games to go after a tense win at Aston Villa.
And after an embarrassing U-turn from the club over the breakaway European Super League, it was heartening to see that at least the playing staff remain as committed as ever to giving the fans what they want.
Nights such as this, as the manager is only too happy to point out, is what it is all about.
Any half-decent side can win a cup, but it takes measured excellence over a slog of 38 matches to claim a league title.
Guardiola has specialised in it through his career and City, in touching distance of their third Premier League in four years, are no exception.
They have worked for it, and they can expect to see reward and success for their efforts, because that’s how football works.
City were deservedly criticised for bringing in so many players struggling for form in the game FA Cup defeat to Chelsea, and while the manager snapped back in his post-match press conference on Saturday, Gabriel Jesus was the only member of the XI against Villa who hadn’t lined up in Dortmund.
The European Super League wasn’t the only thing the club were trying to draw a line under.
Villa deserved no less, though - especially in the circumstances. Dean Smith’s side have been excellent this season yet have struggled since their Covid outbreak in the middle of the season and a nagging, niggling injury to Jack Grealish has further hampered them.
Defeat to Leeds coupled with their cup commitments and United’s form means City could not bank on sleepwalking their way to the 10 points needed from six games before last night. Had they lost, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team would have been able to close the gap to a nerve-jangling five points and the Blues have been done no favours by the schedulers in being dumped with a Saturday lunchtime trip to Palace next week when they are in Paris until Thursday.
Make no doubt about it either, the actions of the Big Six will not be forgiven or forgotten by their colleagues in the division and while the players were not involved, they will still have more of a target on their backs thanks to the sordid behaviour at executive level.
Simply put, Guardiola and his players had to shut out all the noise and try to find the quality that had brought them 16 consecutive away wins before last night a record in English football.
It wasn’t ideal to be losing inside 21 seconds then. A despairing lunge from John Stones could only divert a quick free-kick from the hosts into the feet of Ollie Watkins, whose square ball travelled through the legs of Ruben Dias for John McGinn to smartly steer past Ederson.
The Blues were as frazzled as their CEO had been 24 hours earlier, but calmed themselves and began to exert pressure in the Villa third.
Rodri heads in City’s second
Importantly, they showed more purpose than in the limp show at Wembley and Riyad Mahrez had drawn a decent save from Emi Martinez with a low drive from the edge of the box.
The Algerian looks a must-start in every big game at the moment and played a part in the equaliser shortly after. A wonderful sweeping move that began with an Ederson long ball saw Phil Foden drill the ball out to Mahrez before receiving it back to turn in from Bernardo Silva.
Five players, five passes, one great goal.
Foden, City’s matchwinner in Dortmund last week, was clearly in the mood and nearly added another moments later after an exquisite pirouette in the box.
Gareth Southgate was probably smiling at that under his mask at Villa Park as he weighs up his Euro squad.
Guardiola would soon be leaping in the air for joy after Rodri rose highest to nod the visitors ahead following more smart work from Mahrez and Bernardo.
Give those two time and space up the pitch and expect your goalkeeper to be very, very angry with you.
The news gods were not even done with the half, though, never mind the evening. Stones went in late and high on Jacob Ramsey just before the break and referee Peter Bankes upgraded his yellow card to a red after being invited to look at the monitor by his VAR colleagues.
Rodri was pushed back alongside Dias to see the half out, but Aymeric Laporte emerged after the break in place of Jesus, with Foden the furthest forward in a strikerless set up that is, in fairness, more familiar to City than any other side.
With Foden in this mood, it wasn’t long before the teams were evened up.
Matty Cash was booked for scything down the unstoppable England youngster twice in the opening 10 minutes of the half to make things easier for the Blues. After that, City simply saw the game out with their mastery in possession to earn a significant three points after a recent wobble.
It would be pithy to say that you could not get this drama in a European Super League, but the playing and coaching staff showed at Villa Park exactly why the Premier League should not be diluted.
This was a committed performance from a squad all pulling in the right direction towards a common goal that they have been striving twice a week for the last seven months to reach, showing the quality and dedication that has been sadly absent from their employers over the last few days.
It’s good to know the fans still have plenty to be proud of at their football club.
■ STONES SHOCKER
AFTER such a good season, John Stones has slid back into bad habits at just the wrong time for City.
He was at fault for Villa’s early goal and then put his team up against it with a wild, needless challenge which rightfully brought him a red card.
And after being at fault for Poland’s goal in the recent international fixture, memories of harder times for club and country will be nagging at him.
The dismissal means suspension, and that means Aymeric Laporte will move back alongside Ruben Dias for Sunday’s Carabao Cup final, the partnership which seemed a cert at the start of the campaign.
Laporte was possibly the only player who emerged from the Chelsea defeat with credit, and he could well secure his place.
■ DEFENSIVE WORRY
WITH Gareth Bale moving back into form, and Kylian Mbappe terrorising Champions League defences, City picked the wrong time to expose a defensive weak point.
Dortmund, Chelsea and now Villa have all got joy with passes down the side of the Blues’ centre-backs, with both Ruben Dias and John Stones being exposed.
Spurs and PSG will have both taken note ahead of meeting them in huge games in the next seven days.
■ SILVA LINING
THE absence of Kevin de Bruyne these days is simply a chance for one of the others to take centre stage for City.
Ilkay Gundogan did it in January, but Bernardo Silva awakened memories of his breathtaking form in the 2018-19 title season when he took on the injured De Bruyne’s mantle and was player of the season.
He came up with the two assists, worked his socks off and pressed Villa hard throughout.
■ SINGLE FIGURES
GOING into the game, City needed 11 points from six games, the same worryingly for nervous Blues - as United needed in 2012, when they blew it .
But United began the last six games of that run-in with a defeat at Wigan, while City responded perfectly with a victory last night.
Eight points from five games has a better feel to it, psychologically as well as mathematically.
WHAT WE LEARNED
STUART BRENNAN