In the 17th week of the Premier League, Manchester City appeared superior to their guest, Leeds United. Unmitigated, Pep Guardiola’s troops created 7 goals without reply at the City of Manchester Stadium. This victory reinforces the strength of Man City over Leeds United. Also, this strengthens Man City’s place at the top of the Premier League standings.
Although the competition for the top three is very tight because the margin of points is so thin, Man City’s performance gives a warning to Chelsea (2nd place) and Liverpool (3rd place). Without bringing out the best in their abilities, it is very difficult for other teams to replace Man City. Man City, Liverpool and Chelsea are the three teams that are competing to be at the top of the Premier League standings.
Man City’s big win puts pressure on Chelsea and Liverpool. These two teams must get full points so that their points distance does not slowly widen. Man City is getting stronger. They continue to maintain consistency in the last five matches with wins. Yes, in order to maintain the trophy this season, Man City must maintain consistency because Liverpool and Chelsea are also temporarily at the best level.
What’s interesting about Man City’s superiority over Leeds United is the division of tasks in scoring goals. Only Kevin De Bruyne has scored twice. The other 5 goals were scored by 5 different players. Even 2 goals were made by defenders, John Stone and N. Ake.
This division of goalscoring tasks can benefit the team in general. That is, the team does not only depend on 1 or 2 players alone to break the deadlock against the opponent’s goal. However, each player can create chances or score goals against the opponent.
This situation emphasizes the might of Man City. Each player not only fills certain lines in the team formation, but also contributes in creating goals. Behind the rain of goals against Leeds United, Pep listed himself as the Premier League coach who has scored 801 goals in 320 matches. Average goals per game is 2.5 goals.
At Premier League level, Pep became the first coach to score more than 500 goals in 207 games. This nick also replaced Jurgen Klopp (500 goals from 234 matches) and Alex Ferguson (500 goals from 265 matches).
The Tika-taka style or Pep’s foot-to-foot game is not something boring. Games that emphasize on short and fast passes from foot to foot remain one of the solutions in building team productivity. Even Pep’s productivity is not supported by a single striker. Since Man City was abandoned by Sergio Aguero, Pep has relied on his midfielders to break into the opponent’s goal.
The result did not disappoint because the midfielders seemed to play a double role. In addition to building a team game, they are also a goal scorer against the opponent’s goal. Pep Guardiola continues to list his name as an influential coach in the Premier League.
