PEP the PERFECTIONIST Eight points clear, 38 goals scored, but Guardiola is still wanting more

EVEN by Pep Guardiola’s histrionic standards it was pretty animated, as animated as he got all afternoon.

Not in a happy way but in a furious way.

Scampering like only he can scamper, Raheem Sterling was in the clear, unaccompanied and unhindered as he shaped to send a formality Leroy Sane’s way. Only Sterling overhit the pass, to an almost unfathomable extent.

A chance to double a lead carved by the craft of Kevin De Bruyne had been clumsily cast aside and Guardiola was livid.

It did not matter in the end but this is Pep the perfectionist.

They had just knocked three past Arsenal and Guardiola spoke of not being clinical enough, of how they could have scored six.

For goodness sake, Bonfire Night had not been lit and City had rocketed to 52 goals in all competitions this season.

If you count the League Cup shootout victory over Wolves, that is now 15 consecutive wins. Yet you get the feeling Guardiola (below) believes there is an awful lot more to come from this City team.

An awful lot. And that is the frightening thought.

The frightening thought is that they were sloppy, Sterling-style sloppy, and this success still, for the most part, felt bloodless, routine.

The frightening thought is that Sergio Aguero might have cheekily converted a fortunately-won penalty to put City two up but otherwise looked a little off the pace.

The frightening thought is that when that happens, Guardiola can call on Gabriel Jesus to enter and tap in a clinching third after Alexandre Lacazette had given Arsenal genuine hope. Judged in the context of the majority of their performances so far, this was nothing exceptional. Arsenal had decent spells and Arsene Wenger had a more than valid point when lamenting the performances of the officials, particularly in the second half.

City, though, should, for a largely dominant first half, have had more to show than De Bruyne’s left-footed strike, diverted by Petr Cech but not significantly enough.

But as if a team like this needs any help, up stepped Michael Oliver, falling for Sterling falling over as he ran across Nacho Monreal’s perfectly reasonable path, allowing Aguero to impudently improve his record-breaking tally to 179 from 12 yards.

Lacazette, who really should have been on from the start if Wenger had any confidence, came on to provide a directness that had been sorely missing but, after his strike lifted Arsenal spirits, it took an assistant referee’s dormant flag less than 10 minutes to dampen them.

It turned out to be closer than most in the stadium first thought but David Silva just looked clearly offside when setting up the Jesus tap-in.

No one has more awareness of his own whereabouts on a football field and even Silva, with an almost apologetic assist, appeared to consider himself offside.

That Wenger was peeved was perfectly understandable but do not, for one moment, believe there is not a gulf between these two clubs. City, even allowing for the spells of slapdash, were the better team and, in De Bruyne and David Silva, have

the two most creative midfielders in the Premier League...by the distance of one of Raheem’s overcooked passes.

And in the match-ups with Big Six adversaries, there is a confidence about them, a detectable sureness, that was missing last season.

Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal have been disposed of, nine goals scored in the process and just one conceded.

It was a development noted by Guardiola but one he did not care to dwell on for too long.

Instead, he spoke of the challenges that lie ahead.

He enjoyed the significance of this win but, you suspected, not every element of the performance. For Pep the perfectionist, there is plenty more to come.