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While Manchester City’s struggles in front of goal continued in victory against Southampton, their hopes of mounting a Premier League title challenge remain intact thanks to an airtight defense.
Following their 1-0 win at St Mary’s on Saturday afternoon, no team has conceded fewer goals in the competition than Pep Guardiola’s 12 after 13 matches.
Although West Brom’s tie in a frustrating 1-1 draw in the middle of the week ended a 608-minute winless streak in all competitions, leaving them ninth in the table, their last shutout was their eighth clean sheet in their final nine.
Marked by the £ 65m signing Ruben Dias and England international John Stones once again against Southampton, the latter absent on Tuesday, City’s sixth clean sheet in 2020-21 is also the best in the Premier League.
Days proving worth
Against a Southampton side that had scored at least twice in each of their last seven Premier League home games, 23-year-old Portuguese international Dias and 26-year-old Stones stood firm under pressure to ensure their team got back on the winning track and narrowed the gap to the top four.
Only in the last few seasons, City won the title, in 2017-18 and 2018-19, they have conceded fewer goals and kept more clean sheets at this stage of the season with Guardiola, having conceded 14 after 13 games and finished 18 points behind champion Liverpool last season.
“Defensively we were excellent,” Guardiola told BBC Sport. “Last season we fought a lot. Rubén [Dias] it has helped us a lot. John [Stones] the last few games have been exceptional. “
The arrival of Dias from Benfica on a six-year contract in September, after an exposed City were beaten 5-2 by Leicester, completed Guardiola’s long search for a right central defender.
Brought in as a direct replacement for club legend Vincent Kompany, who left Etihad Stadium following City’s latest win, Dias quickly helped transform his team’s defensive fortunes: a 2-0 loss to Tottenham, the only loss in his young career at City.
With Dias on the wing, the average number of goals conceded by City per Premier League game in 2020 has nearly halved from 0.9 to 0.5, conceding six times in his 11 appearances compared to 18 in 20 without him.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, former England forward Karen Carney said: “As poor as Manchester City’s decision-making has been in the attacking third, I must congratulate the bottom line. John Stones has been excellent, Ruben Dias has been really, really clever and Kyle Walker and Joao Cancelo have been consistent as well. “
Stones rebuilding the case of England
The Stones, meanwhile, have quietly re-established themselves as Guardiola’s favorite option alongside Dias, with four consecutive clean sheets in the league due to his absence for the West Brom draw.
In fact, City have not conceded in the Stones’ last nine appearances this season, the only problem in their record in their first Premier League game, a 3-1 win against Wolves in September.
Sidelined by injuries four times last season and managing just 16 starts in all competitions out of 59 games played by City in 2019-20, Stones currently ranks first in minutes played per team goal conceded in the English top flight. season, with one awarded in 450 minutes of action.
And, indicative of why he was hired for £ 47.5 million from Everton in Guardiola’s first transfer window in 2016, the Stones’ passing accuracy of 95.1% is the highest of any defender in the Premier League.
He is no longer the first choice for the club or the country, as he was left out of seven league matches before his return against Burnley in November and appeared only once in the Three Lions’ Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, The Stones have now started six of City’s last eight games in all competitions and their stock appears on the rise once again.
Attack deficiencies continue
City registered 25 shots but failed to beat West Brom on Tuesday and, although they left the South Coast with all three points on Saturday, the narrow margin of victory was the latest reminder of their struggle to turn their dominance into goals.
With Brazilian striker Gabriel Jesús unfit and striker Sergio Agüero as an unused substitute, Ferran Torres failed to affect play and took a shot before being replaced by Riyad Mahrez in the 72nd minute.
Their 19 goals after 13 games are well below the standards set by City during Guardiola’s tenure, amounting to just over half of the 37 they achieved at the same stage last season when they finished second.
The Citizens have never averaged less than two goals per league game with the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich manager, but they are currently averaging 1.5.
Guardiola answered “absolutely not” when asked if he was considering a move for a forward in the January transfer window, instead relying on the eventual long-awaited return of Agüero to full fitness and Jesus to improve his record of four. shots on goal in 630 minutes. of Premier League football this period.
Until then, City must rely on a tough defense to ensure they remain in the title race.
Speaking full time, Carney added: “John Stones and Ruben Dias are absolutely delighted, but the Manchester City forwards look miserable!
“It was really a case of excellent City defense today, but the decision-making from the front line was really poor. The credit goes to City’s defensive display because it was spot on.”
