Manchester City thrashed Fulham 4-0 at Craven Cottage in the Premier League last Saturday. Following that up with a 2-0 win away to Tottenham on Tuesday, it saw them go top of the league table with 88 points from 37 matches. Joško Gvardiol scored a brace for the Cityzens, as Phil Foden and Julián Álvarez scored a goal each to complete the rout in Saturday’s match.
Pep Guardiola’s side remains the favourites to win their fourth league title in a row, which, should it happen, is going to be a monumental achievement. Moreover, the English champions have another reason to celebrate, as one of their new signings is now scoring goals for fun.
Gvardiol Keeps Scoring for Manchester City
We are talking
about Gvardiol here, who was signed by Manchester City at the start of the current season. He has scored five goals for the Cityzens already, with most of them coming in the past couple of months. That is a good return for a defender, who has had to play out of his preferred position.
Gvardiol is a centre-back, but has played as the left-back for the Cityzens. With people like Rúben Dias, John Stones and Manuel Akanji already there to play as centre-backs, the young Croat has had to play as a full-back.
He has a tendency to cut inside from the left flank and then take shots at the opposition goal from the edge of the box. He scored one of his goals against Fulham that way. He also scored a goal against Real Madrid
in the quarterfinal of UEFA Champions League last month. Guardiola should be happy about it, as there is an addition to his team’s probable list of goal-scorers.
With the expeditious Kyle Walker playing as the right-back, Manchester City often plays with
a lop-sided 2-2-6 formation. Gvardiol does not usually contribute much in terms of delivering crosses from the flank, but seems to have found a way to justify his inclusion in the playing XI.
Gvardiol’s form has side-lined Nathan Aké, as the latter finds it difficult to make it to the starting XI these days. Manchester City, however, should not be complaining about that, as such healthy competition is beneficial for the side. It is quite an achievement of Guardiola to extract the best out of yet another of his new signings.
The Cityzens Have Two Matches to Play
The Cityzens will play West Ham United in their last league match before playing in the FA Cup final in June against Manchester United. They remain the favourites to win the domestic double. While West Ham could potentially turn out to be a tricky opponens, the Cityzens’ class and overall quality should see them through.
Should they be able to win the league title, it will be their sixth one under Guardiola. The 53-year-old Spaniard is into his eighth season as the Manchester City manager and keeps on building his legacy at the Etihad Stadium. Manchester City’s recruitment and ability to improve young players have been the primary reason behind their unmatched success. Their supporters will hope that the trend keeps going on for them.
