Manchester City beat Chelsea 3-1 in a crucial Premier League match at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday, January 25.
Noni Madueke scored first to give Chelsea the lead, but Joško Gvardiol, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden scored in succession to ensure Manchester City’s victory.
With that win, the Cityzens have now overtaken Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea with 41 points in 23 matches.
Meanwhile, Liverpool won against Ipswich Town to maintain a 12-point lead over Pep Guardiola’s men.
Goal and Assist for Haaland
City had to withstand an early onslaught, with an early error from Abdukodir Khusanov leading to the Chelsea goal.
Khusanov was one of two debutants for Manchester City, with Omar Marmoush being the other.
Marmoush started on the left flank in Manchester City’s 4-3-3 and showed a tendency to swap positions with Haaland.
He also managed to put the ball into the net once, albeit from an offside position.
With Gvardiol a continuous attacking threat with his overlaps through the left, the Cityzens looked better in terms of their attack.
Haaland toiled more than he has the reputation of doing and reaped the rewards of it.
First, he had a neat finish to give Manchester City the lead after Gvardiol had equalized. Then his link-up play allowed Foden to score his 10th goal of the season to ensure the Cityzens’ win.
The extra effort on Haaland’s part to contribute to his team’s cause has been evident for some time now. Not to mention that he has now scored 24 goals this season, which is the highest among players playing in England.
In a season that has proved to be underwhelming for the all-conquering Manchester City side, Haaland has more or less been able to maintain his level.
If he can utilize his physique for better hold-up play and make it difficult for the opposition defenders, Manchester City will undoubtedly benefit from it.
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Top-Three Finish Still Possible for Manchester City
Sir Alex Ferguson had a very rare distinction of securing a top-three finish for his Manchester United side for more than two decades in succession.
Guardiola is into his ninth season as the Manchester City manager and his team has yet to finish outside the top-three.
Liverpool are already probably ahead by too many points, but City can still potentially overtake both Arsenal and Nottingham Forest.
Even finishing second to Liverpool will probably mean a lot to Guardiola after his team endured a regrettable couple of months in the middle of the ongoing season.
The improved form of both Haaland and Foden must have given Guardiola a lot of relief.
Foden has now scored six goals in his last four Premier League matches and looks like a different player altogether.
The defending champions will face Arsenal, Newcastle and Liverpool in their next three Premier League matches, which is a very challenging set of fixtures.
Prior to that, they will face Club Bridge in the UEFA Champions League, which will decide whether they will qualify for the next round of the competition.
Haaland’s form will continue to be pivotal for them for those matches.