Perfect 10? We’ve just got started
PEP GUARDIOLA sent out an ominous warning to Manchester City’s title rivals by insisting his side are nowhere near hitting their peak.
City made it 10 wins from 10 under the Catalan thanks to this win and they already hold a four-point lead over nearest challengers Tottenham.
It has silenced those who predicted Guardiola would struggle to adapt his philosophy to the rigorous demands of the English top-flight.
City have already racked up 18 goals, conceding just five despite the continuing injury problems faced by Vincent Kompany.
But Guardiola says his team are still a work in progress.
“We are far away from where we want to be,” said the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich boss. “If we were close, I could just go back home. You always have to keep going. It never ends in football.
“You can always create different things and that’s why the game is nice.”
Those words were underlined by Swansea’s Leon Britton, who believes City are the Premier League’s new pass masters. The midfielder has been at the heart of the Welsh club’s passing philosophy for over a decade and has nothing but admiration for what Guardiola has achieved.
The home side proved stern opponents but were undone by a Sergio Aguero brace and a lovely Raheem Sterling strike as Guardiola became only the second manager to win his first six Premier League matches. Carlo Ancelotti was the first to achieve that feat as he led Chelsea to the title in 2010.
“I have been playing in the Premier League for five or six seasons and I don’t think I have played against a team that treats the ball as well as they do with their rotation and movement,” said Britton.
“Even the keeper is like an extra player. He comes to the edge of the box, drops a shoulder, beats a player and moves it on.
“You think you’ve got them, you press them right up the pitch, they beat that press and suddenly you are chasing back 50 or 60 yards. That makes it very hard to play against them.” SWANSEA (4-2-3-1): Fabianski 7; Rangel 6, Amat 6, Van der Hoorn 7, Naughton 7; Fer 6, Britton 7 (Baston 79, 5); Routledge 6 (Barrow 73, 6), Cork 6 (Ki 73, 5), Sigurdsson 6; Llorente 7.
Booked: Van der Hoorn, Amat. Goal: Llorente 13.
NEXT UP: Liverpool (h), Sat PL. MANCHESTER CITY (4-2-3-1): Bravo 6; Sagna 6 (Zabaleta 78, 6), Ottamendi 6, Stones 7, Kolarov 7; Gundogan 7 (Fernando 69, 7), Fernandinho 7; De Bruyne 7 (Navas 81, 6), Silva 7, Sterling 8; Aguero 8. Booked: Sagna. Sterling, Fernandinho, Kolarov. Goals: Aguero 9, 65 pen, Sterling 77. NEXT UP: Celtic (a), Wed CL. Referee: N Swarbrick (Lancs).
CITY’S dominance has extended to their women’s team, who secured their first Super League title yesterday with a 2-0 victory over defending champions Chelsea.
Needing only a point to dethrone the Blues, City took the lead with a Katie Chapman own-goal before Toni Duggan secured the win with a penalty.