The numbers surrounding Manchester City’s season are frankly absurd; it’s now a record-breaking 16 wins in a row after humbling Tottenham Hotspur 4-1 at Etihad Stadium on Saturday evening. With the win over Spurs, it’s 16 wins from 17 league games this season for City and they are just flying.
Spurs started brightly as they pressed the table-toppers, but quickly faded as Ilkay Gundogan was gifted the opening goal after he lost Harry Winks during a corner routine.
Sergio Aguero went close to doubling City’s lead in the 24th minute, but his low strike from distance was turned away by Hugo Lloris. Spurs, meanwhile, were happy to sit back and soak up the pressure, with the hope of catching City on the counter.
Harry Kane saw a shot whistle past Ederson’s post just after the half-hour mark, and the visitors went into the dressing room 1-0 down.
After the break, City looked dangerous every time they went forward with the ball. Ederson was called into action as he produced a stunning save to deny Kane from close range. Pep Guardiola freshened things up by bringing on Gabriel Jesus for Aguero. Soon, the hosts doubled their lead after 70 minutes, as Kevin De Bruyne registered his name on the score-sheet with a thumping effort into the roof of the net.
Five minutes later, City were awarded a penalty, which Jesus hit the upright and Sterling missed on the follow-up. But a trademark counter-attack saw the latter get his goal in the 80th minute – before adding another with a minute to go – to round off the game in style.
Christian Eriksen scored a consolation goal in the added time as City ran out as comfortable winners and extended their lead to 14 points over Manchester United and Chelsea.
With the latest defeat, we stay in the 7th place with 31 points, with any hopes of challenging for the title all but extinguished.
Having said that, the fans were left furious with the result and this is how they reacted on Twitter:
Done it again pic.twitter.com/u8rHorYJrh
— H. (@EfficientEden) December 16, 2017
— jordan (@jord_1230) December 16, 2017
— Ben (@Pochspur) December 16, 2017
— Luke (@FosuMadness) December 16, 2017
So Spursy. No passion. I have no idea why Kane would stay. He really should leave and go to RM. This team will not finish in top 6.
— jerry (@INDsoulman41) December 16, 2017
How did trippier stay on the whole game! I said 15 mins into it he needed to change, Sane took it past him every time!!
— James (@James_THFC1) December 16, 2017
Poch cost spurs that game with his team selection a few of those players don’t deserve a shirt
— jason lingard (@LingardJason) December 16, 2017
Shocking, dier needs to be benched. He is just that. The heart and passion has gone from this team. Pathetic
— Joel bailey (@BaileyJoel712) December 16, 2017
Our defence were useless. Passing back to the keeper all the time and trying to play the ball out from defence! Just get the ball down the pitch. And Dembele is unbelievably slow… Poch should have made some changes a lot earlier. #outclassed
— Matt Abdullah (@mafuabd) December 16, 2017
Me waiting for Poch’s excuse “I’m very disappointed. We are not good enough” pic.twitter.com/ZI4itOb1K7
— Captain Havoc (@_ahmadfathi_) December 16, 2017
Shame on you Poch, too negative from kick off, shocking team selection, embarrassing performance, Dier is not a CB, Dembele too slow, Eriksen asleep for 85 minutes, no pace or confidence, shame on you, shame on you
— Nick Spalding (@nickjdspalding) December 16, 2017
Watching Tripper v Sane was as embarrassing as watching Davies v Mané last season. Lambs to the slaughter yet again.
— Grumpy Yid (@AngryGrumpyYid) December 16, 2017
Sell that starting 11 and buy players that want to play for the shirt. To many just walk around an pick up they pay each week.
Embarrassing. I don’t care how good City were, the Spurs from the last two seasons would not have suffered like that today. What has happened to us since the Liverpool and Real Madrid results?! Further back, what’s happened to the best PL team (overall win/lose stats and goals for/against stats) during the past two seasons? OK, it was inevitable that the petrolmoney club had to get better, and then even better (a lesser extent the Old Trafford Globetrotters too), but some of our players’ progress (eg Dier and Alli) since the distractions of the summer, has not just stalled, it’s gone into rapid reverse! Dembele looks like a busted flush, and sadly that realisation has been growing since the summer with all his injury problems too. Rose has burned his bridges with Spurs and doesn’t look the same player he was over a year ago anyway (why couldn’t HE have gone instead of Walker?). Losing two KEY central defenders through injury and suspension at a critical time hasn’t helped either, but why did Poch go with a flat back four for this match? On paper it looked brave and adventurous playing Son up front with Kane, and I’ve always believed Dembele can play with Winks, but not in this flat back four system today when Verts has been looking knackered and missing his old chum. Not against THAT team! Without a proper DM like the Dier of old, or Wanyama (I never thought I’d miss that guy so much) it gave City even MORE time to press us out of the game. Why couldn’t Davies have stepped in to a central back 3, because apart from taking pressure off Dier and Verts, that would have helped Rose and Trippier on the flanks, and given more midfield space to Winks/Dembele in their link up with just Eriksen/Alli and Kane up front? Son could have been kept for later impact off the bench. We’d have probably still lost, but not in the hopeless way we did. We looked like a bunch of strangers playing together. The signs were evident in the Brighton game of our lost communication on the pitch. Today we had none at all, a result of vanity (our own Tower of Babel) destroying the real togetherness and communication this squad had from 2015 on. I thought this (still young) squad was the one that would crack it for us finally, but with the message the sale of Walker sent out (along with losing a world class right/wing back), the loss of form of others, critical injuries and stupid suspensions, and so many awful distractions happening off the pitch, plus the inevitable rise of the two ultra rich Manchester clubs, it just means that we have it all to do once again ..ie to get within touching distance of that Everest peak once more, after being within fingertips of it in the past two seasons. What a waste it would all be if, yet again, we slid further down that mountain without reaching the summit ..although I guess at least we have some damn good ‘Glory’ memories, even without trophies, from this recent period, with hopefully more to come before the best of this squad has run its course.