LONDON • For a team with Manchester City's ambitions, Huddersfield were obliging opponents.
Pep Guardiola's team duly took advantage of a side whose toes seem tagged for the relegation morgue and, in the process, renewed their threat in the Premier League title race after a comfortable 3-0 away victory yesterday.
The gap at the top of the table is back to four points and the message for Liverpool is loud and clear - it is going to be a heck of a job to shake City off.
Not that this was the most devastating performance the league champions will deliver this season.
Indeed, they might reflect it was a missed opportunity to add even more sheen to their goal difference.
Yet it is difficult to be too critical when the truth was Guardiola's men could win with something to spare despite a performance, by their high standards, that seldom got above six out of 10.
Since Liverpool's Roberto Firmino became the last player to score against them on Jan 3, City have now scored 23 times in all competitions without a single one coming back the other way.
NOTHING MORE THAN WE DESERVED
The way we played we didn't deserve more than three goals. We will improve in the future. We have to demand more from ourselves in every game and do our best.
PEP GUARDIOLA, Man City manager, on a relentless drive to better his side.
It works out at a goal, on average, every 17 minutes and, if anything, it was probably a surprise they did not add more goals against a Huddersfield side put together by caretaker manager Mark Hudson.
City were also denied a clear penalty when referee Andre Marriner missed Terence Kongolo's foul on Raheem Sterling and, to Guardiola's irritation, they might have allowed a touch of complacency to creep in once Danilo got lucky for the opening goal. Christopher Schindler inadvertently diverted the City defender's shot into his own net for their opener.
Maybe it was too straightforward for the away side. Too easy, even. Perhaps it was a direct consequence of neither David Silva nor Bernardo Silva starting the match.
Yet City did have Kevin de Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan at the John Smith's Stadium-and it would have been reasonable to think Sergio Aguero's focus might have been sharpened by the fact he had been chosen ahead of Gabriel Jesus, the scorer of seven goals in his last three matches.
Whatever the reason, it was certainly unusual to see the reigning champions take the lead, then drop their tempo rather than pour forward again, in the way that is expected of such a team.
Guardiola, one imagines, had a thing or two to say about it at half-time and City quickly put that right after the break, with goals from Sterling (54th minute) and Leroy Sane (56th) to wrap up the contest.
The scorers admitted that Guardiola had given his team an earful at the break for not going for the Terriers' jugular, with Sane revealing he "woke us up a little bit at half-time".
The German said: "We played quicker in the second half and were better positionally.
"He always tries to give us the solution, what we can do better, and he did it again."
And there can certainly be no slackening of standards with the Reds stretching their unbeaten home league run to 32 games after beating Crystal Palace 4-3 on Saturday.
Jurgen Klopp's men, in the process, set a club record of 60 league points from 23 matches, topping their previous best tally by one, and the German praised his side, calling the mark "crazy".
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, THE GUARDIAN
Premier League investigates Man City over FFP allegations. Reuters. 8 March 2019. Reblog. Share. Tweet. Share. Soccer Football - Premier League - AFC Bournemouth v Manchester City - Vitality
Pep Guardiola on Juventus, Man City FFP allegations, Antoine
ABU DHABI (Reuters) - Three-times champions Iran came through an early scare before marching confidently into the Asian Cup quarter-finals for the 13th time in 14 attempts with a 2-0 victory over a spirited Oman team on Sunday. Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand saved an Oman penalty in the opening
Jahanbakhsh on target as Iran ease past Oman into last eight
Former Chelsea boss Antonio Conte is set to be appointed as the new Inter Milan manager. Italian Conte, 49, has been out of the game since he was sacked by Chelsea last July, ending a
Ex-Chelsea boss Antonio Conte confirmed as new Inter Milan
Claude Puel has spoken of his "honour" at being given the opportunity to manage Leicester following his sacking at the weekend. The 57-year-old Frenchman's 16-month reign came to an end after Saturday's 4-1 home defeat to Crystal Palace, Leicester's sixth defeat in seven matches.
Sacked Puel says an 'honour' to manage Leicester
England captain Harry Kane wants to end career as NFL kicker Harry Kane is a fan of New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and was at the Super Bowl this year, watching from the stands as the
England captain Kane wants to end career as NFL kicker
Moving to Norway is a desire that many people share. This post shows how to move to Norway and 30 things to know before starting your new life in Norway.The post will also give details on the various Norwegian visas that are available and how to apply for them as a citizen of various countries.
Norway - Wikipedia
Klopp not falling for title talk trap LONDON • Jurgen Klopp refused to get carried away with the growing expectation that Liverpool can win the league title for the first time in 29 years, saying his players must stay focused after they thrashed Arsenal 5-1 on Saturday.
Latest JURGEN KLOPP | The Straits Times
Arsenal legend Ian Wright says Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should drop error-prone goalkeeper David de Gea for the remaining two Premier League games. The Spaniard has made several costly errors in recent matches including Sunday's game which saw Chelsea claim a point at Old Trafford.
Paul Parker backs Solskjaer to be next long - talksport.com
Football: Man City end Newport's FA Cup dream to reach
Liverpool were unable to get their front three operating at their best, but could easily have taken a point at the end with City keeper Ederson making a fine save to keep out Mohamed Salah's
Man City end Liverpool's unbeaten run, cut lead to four
Mata would be open to returning to Spain but knows a move to Barca is unlikely. He could choose to stay at United, with negotiations for a new deal still ongoing and improved terms being offered
Best places to visit in Spain and when to go | CNN Travel
Atletico Madrid left it late to see off Girona 2-0 at home on Tuesday as strikes from Diego Godin and Antoine Griezmann kept up their faint hopes of catching La Liga leaders Barcelona, trimming
Late Godin and Griezmann goals keep Atletico in title chase
Football: Liverpool seal Christmas top spot as Salah and Van
Bayern Munich reach German Cup final to keep Double in sight Bundesliga leaders Bayern Munich beat Werder Bremen 3-2 with two goals from Robert Lewandowski on Wednesday to advance to the German
Guardiola coy over quadruple bid after City reach FA Cup final City can win the quadruple after his side reached the FA Cup final with a 1-0 win over Brighton on Saturday. but City manager
Guardiola coy over quadruple bid after City reach FA Cup final
0 comments:
Post a Comment