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
The Young Lions, together with players from the Home United Football Club will be here at the Home of the LIONS to engage fans and inspire the younger generations as they share their journey to becoming professional football players. Fans can also look forward to two Singapore Premier League matches to be held at the National
JBSA Randolph Youth Programs - govserv.org
Synonyms for High stakes gambler in Free Thesaurus. Antonyms for High stakes gambler. 1 synonym for high roller: big spender. What are synonyms for High stakes gambler?
Gambling stakes -- Crossword clue | Crossword Nexus
Teenage sensation Moise Kean scored the winner to put Juventus one step away from an eighth consecutive Serie A title on Saturday as a 2-1 comeback win over AC Milan pushed the champions 21 points
Kean winner puts Juventus on brink of Serie A title
LONDON • Brendan Rodgers will soon make his return to managing in the Premier League, as Celtic "very reluctantly" granted him permission to talk to Leicester City.. Read more at straitstimes.com.
Rodgers closing in on EPL return with Leicester
LONDON: Tottenham Hotspur manager Mauricio Pochettino described Christian Eriksen's contract talks as a "special situation" on Tuesday after the Dane scored a crucial late goal to give his side a
Paul Cox: Mansfield Town boss demands strong finish - bbc.com
The metropolis is extremely well-liked by fanatics and it's Mexico's most widely used place for game doing some fishing. Surrounding wild animals refuge hosts over 300 kinds of birds, 50 species of animals and amphibians and most 30 types of creatures -- species which a visitor to your site may not normally visit in such an enchanting placing.
Online Shopping: Shop the Official HSN Site | HSN
Everton ride luck for 2-0 home victory over Bournemouth (Reuters) - Everton avoided a third consecutive Premier League home defeat as Kurt Zouma's header and a late goal by Dominic Calvert-Lewin earned them a flattering 2-0 victory over Bournemouth at a rainy Goodison Park on Sunday.
Everton ride luck for 2-0 home victory over Bournemouth
West Ham beat Fulham 2-0 to post fourth win in a row December 15, 2018 Huffington News Huffington News Soccer Football - Premier League - Fulham v West Ham United - Craven Cottage, London, Britain - December 15, 2018 Fulham's Neeskens Kebano in action with West Ham's Arthur Masuaku REUTERS/Dylan Martinez EDITORIAL USE ONLY.
West Ham beat Fulham 2-0 to post fourth win in a row
Ambitious Hougang show title promise, Football News & Top
Singapore Football needs a logo for their website, Twitter and the Facebook Fanpage. Send your logo in .jpg format to singaporeleague@live.com We will then use the winner logo and use it as the Singapore Football very own logo. But one bad news is that there will be no prizes given to the winner.
Tilt top of can in to position cutting blade inside rim of can. Push down top of cutting assembly to start the cutting action. To remove the can, hold the can and push backwards on front of cutting assembly again. To remove the cutting assembly for washing, twist release button on front of can opener clockwise and lift out cutting assembly.
Is It Forcing? - Hamilton Bridge
Sacked Puel says an 'honour' to manage Leicester. to work for the late and much-loved Khun Vichai, who gave me the fantastic opportunity to manage his club and share some great moments
Sacked Puel says an 'honour' to manage Leicester - Nairalovers
Buchanan goal hands Canada slender 1-0 win over Cameroon a winning start to the women's World Cup as they edged Cameroon 1-0 at a rainy Stade de La Mosson on Monday. post just before
Buchanan goal hands Canada slender 1-0 win over Cameroon
Mourinho says 'United is the past' but will coach again LONDON • Jose Mourinho, sacked as manager of Manchester United on Tuesday, has confirmed that he would return to management. He also insisted that his United career was a closed chapter in his first remarks since his removal.
Manchester United news: Jose Mourinho was living in the past
0 Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen