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Manchester City is only the second team in Football League history to win four consecutive home games by five or more goals against a single opponent in all competitions.
It says something about Manchester City’s scoring problems that despite scoring five against Burnley for the fourth straight home game with the Clarets, their tally of 15 in their first nine Premier League games is the worst at this stage since 2010. .
For a team that has found it so easy to score with Pep Guardiola (102, 95 and 106 goals in the last three Premier League seasons), some of the statistics surrounding City’s victory over Sean Dyche’s team are surprising.
It was the first time they had scored three goals in a Premier League match since the season opener, a stark contrast to 2019-20 when they did so five times in the same number of matches.
And it was the first time they scored three in the first half of a game, and the first time they scored five in a game, since July.
Surprisingly, heading into this weekend, City were 12th on the expected goals table, behind players like Fulham, West Ham and Brighton, meaning 11 teams have been creating better quality opportunities than they are. season.
Not surprisingly, Guardiola was somewhat dismissive when asked to put into context what the result meant, and specifically the size of the 5-0 victory.
“It’s a game,” he said. We have had occasions in all the parties. Today we take advantage of them.
Riyad Mahrez’s first goal for City was his participation in the 100th goal in the Premier League (59 goals, 41 assists) The Aguero factor
In a sense, figuring out why City, until Burnley’s arrival, had trouble finding the network relative to previous years is pretty easy.
Sergio Agüero is the club’s top scorer. His longest streak without a goal in four seasons with Guardiola is six games. Before the start of this campaign, he had scored 118 goals in 162 appearances for the former Barcelona manager.
So far this season, the 32-year-old has made just three starts in all competitions, scoring once, and was unavailable this weekend.
As BBC Radio Five Live summarizer Pat Nevin explained late in the game, the theory is that once Aguero returns, City’s scoring problems will be over.
“A lot of people have said there is a bit of a crisis at Manchester City, but I don’t really see it at all,” said the former Scottish international. “With Agüero there they will be absolutely fine. Yes, they are not where they were before, but they are not very far.”
The long-term problem
Few would argue with Nevin’s analysis. However, there is undoubtedly a problem.
First, Aguero has struggled to overcome the knee injury he suffered against Burnley in June.
Guardiola has never revealed the precise nature of the injury but has called it “complicated”.
The Argentine returned to action last month after a hiatus. But in his third game back, at West Ham, he compounded the problem and had to be replaced at halftime.
Aguero played the last 12 minutes of the Champions League win at Olympiakos on November 25, but three days later he was unavailable and, when asked when Aguero would be back in shape, Guardiola vaguely replied that he remembered his handling of Vincent Kompany in the Belgian’s last season at the club.
“With Sergio it depends on how he wakes up,” Guardiola said. “He had a good training session, but then he had some knee problems.
“It is day by day. Yesterday I decided that he was not going to be selected because he needs more training. This morning he woke up with a knee problem and couldn’t train.
“We know that the injury he had is not easy. We have to handle it as well as possible. When he is ready, he will start training with us.”
This uncertainty will surely be focusing the minds of both the club and the player when it comes to Agüero’s contractual situation.
His contract ends in June, the same month he celebrates his 33rd birthday. Guardiola has previously said that, after the service he has rendered to the club, the forward has earned the right to decide whether to stay or go.
But without him, City have had problems. Until Riyad Mahrez’s hat-trick against Burnley, no one had scored more than two goals in the league this season.
Obviously, it is not enough.
Manchester City Top Scorers PlayerGoalsAssistsPlaysRaheem Sterling5414Ferran Torres 5212Phil Foden4313Riyad Mahrez4113Gabriel Jesus 316
“Gabriel [Jesus] has to score goals, [Raheem] Sterling when he plays has to score goals, “Guardiola said.” They haven’t scored much. They have to score goals. That is the reason why they are here and they play in front. “
The implication is clear. If they don’t start scoring, you’ll find someone to do it.
After extending her contract for two more years, this should come as no surprise, and certainly not for Karen Carney, who feels the threads of the purse will be pulled apart to help Guardiola make City English’s dominant force again.
“Pep signed a new contract because he is going to have a war chest,” the former England international told BBC Sport’s Final Score. “He knows he has to bring in someone other than Agüero. He knows he needs someone to put the ball in the back of the net and take the pressure off the other City players.
“When they won the title in a row they spent £ 250 million net. I think they’ve only spent £ 50 million net in the last two seasons. That’s still a lot, but with the money they haven’t really added, everything I’ve done is replaced. I think they need to refresh that team. “
- This weekend, watch 13 matches from the FA Cup second round on BBC iPlayer, the BBC Sport website and app. Find out more here.
Source: bbc.com
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