[ad_1]
Pep Guardiola was pleased with his team’s extensive Boxing Day victory over Newcastle as the championship race entered a crucial phase.
Manchester City appear to be returning to their best in time for a Premier League title challenge in 2021.
Pep Guardiola’s team have quietly climbed to fifth in the table, and five points behind leaders Liverpool, on the back of a six-game unbeaten streak.
The City boss now believes his team is starting to show the old arrogance that saw them record back-to-back Premier League titles during his reign.
There was nothing surprising in beating Newcastle on Boxing Day (the Magpies have not beaten City in the league for over 20 years), however Guardiola saw something about his team’s graceful and controlled performance that has him excited for the rest of the campaign. .
“It was the best performance of the season,” he said after the 2-0 victory. “Our football has to be played at a pace. We can’t play up and down that fast. We have to make a tempo and a billion passes at the right time.
“To do this, everyone has to be in their position and everyone has to do their job – today was a great example.”
City dominated the ball, as they usually do, with more than three-quarters of the possession against a team suffering injuries and illnesses.
What got Guardiola so excited was the purpose and intent of his team. They taunted and probed against Newcastle’s black and white defensive wall, but still had the ability to open them.
The city is usually more dangerous when you break out of tight defenses and shoot low crosses that are almost impossible to defend. Both goals against Newcastle were classic examples.
Raheem Sterling’s clever move created an angle for Joao Cancelo to slide through a pass towards him and the England international slashed the ball for Ilkay Gundogan to sweep the first goal.
The second came when Cancelo drilled a low center that deviated in the path of Ferran Torres to score.
They should have had more. Sterling missed another from two yards and Karl Darlow made a wonderful save to knock out Sergio Aguero.
The wellness factor is slowly starting to make its way back to the city after a rocky start. The lack of preseason and a grueling schedule saw them abandoned in the middle of the table.
Confidence also suffered after the disappointments of last season and, in particular, after the shocking departure from the Champions League to Lyon, just five weeks before the start of the new campaign.
The return to form has been built on the foundation of a strong defense, with only one goal wide conceded in the last 565 minutes of play. Now the rest of the squad begins to show its quality.
Against Newcastle, Sterling and Bernardo Silva put the full-backs in awkward positions, Cancelo attacked with threat and Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne patiently selected perfect passes.
Goals remain the only frustration and while the emphatic scores that have marred Guardiola’s time at the club have yet to return, there is growing optimism.
While Gabriel Jesus is ready for a few days after a positive Covid-19 test, Sergio Agüero looked sharper than he had all season with a spirited 13-minute cameo as he tries to put behind the injury problems that have plagued him for the last time. . six months.
Guardiola now wants his team to spend the rest of the season with the same confidence. The city has a large double header on both sides of the New Year celebrations; a trip to second-placed Everton on Monday followed by Chelsea on January 3.
“The guys did very well and I am very happy,” Guardiola added after the victory at Newcastle. “We have a victory, we claim some positions and now we have to be calm because it is non-stop.
“In less than 44 hours we have another game and we are going to Goodison Park to try to play well. The result is always a consequence of the way you played. This was our success in the past and we will continue for years to come.”
It’s a critical week that could see City emerge from the group of pursuers as the biggest threat to Liverpool’s title defense.
If City really are back to their old rhythm, it will be very difficult to get them out again.
