Kami menganalisa kunci kemenangan keenam beruntun atas The Hammers...
1. ‘S’ Faktor
Adalah ‘Trio S’ yang menjadi berita utama di laga kemarin, David Silva, Raheem Sterling dan Leroy Sane semuanya mencetak gol.
Dengan dua gol dan sebuah asis, Sane terpilih sebagai Man of the Match dengan Sterling berada di posisi kedua usai memberikan asis kepada kompatriotnya.
Dengan empat gol di empat laga untuk klub dan negara, Sane menunjukkan kualitas, ketenangan dan penyelesaian akhir yang apik.
Sterling saat ini menjadi pemain yang paling banyak terlibat dalam gol di kandang The Hammers di Premier League dengan satu gol dan lima asis.
Rekor Silva melawan West Ham juga sama impresifnya. Eks gelandang Spanyol ini menjadi pemain yang paling banyak terlibat dalam gol melawan West Ham di semua kompetisi ketimbang lawan City lainnya, dengan enam gol dan empat asis.
2 Ibu Kota
Perjalanan ke London
Another trip to London, another triumph!
The capital has become a very happy hunting ground for the Blues, who now stand as only the second team from outside London in English top-flight history to have won six consecutive games there, after Portsmouth achieved the success in the 1950/51 campaign!
Visits to the London Stadium alone have produced four victories with a remarkable aggregate score of 17-1 in the Blues’ favour. I’d say that warrants the title of an ‘ecstatic’ hunting ground!
03Bursting bubbles
With an astonishing eight shut-outs, City top the ‘clean sheet’ charts, having conceded just five goals in the Premier League this season, alongside Liverpool.
Pep Guardiola was dissatisfied with the number of opportunities West Ham were able to fashion: nine – the same number we created against them – but a combination of solid defending and a little bit of luck preserved our impressive record.
Former City boss Manuel Pellegrini (facing the Blues for the first time) had vowed to attack the Champions – and he kept that promise, but only one of the Hammers’ efforts was on target, in contrast to the visitors’ six.
The Blues are now only the second team to have scored four or more goals in three consecutive Premier League away games against the same opponent, after Chelsea’s hat-trick against Bolton between 2009 and 2011.
Guardiola’s assertion that the Blues can still improve on a 4-0 triumph away from home is nothing short of frightening (for everyone else!)
04A month to November
Without tempting fate(!) ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League clash, November has heralded a fantastic run of results for the Blues so far.
With 21 goals scored and just two conceded, City have secured five victories – three in the Premier League, one in the Champions League and one in the Carabao Cup.
Following Chelsea’s defeat to Tottenham, the Champions and Liverpool are the only remaining unbeaten teams but Guardiola’s side sit top of the table with a two-point advantage.
We have now built a winning run of eight successive games and 13 unbeaten. Upon recent form, the Blues look simply unstoppable (again, without tempting fate!)
5Deep Blue
With three key men sidelined through injury –Kevin De Bruyne,Bernardo Silva andBenjamin Mendy – Guardiola was forced to ring the changes, but any fears of struggle in our teriffic trio’s absences were eliminated inside the first 34 minutes.
Fabian Delph,Ilkay Gundogan and Sane stepped into the breach, while the Blues boss also restedRiyad Mahrez andJohn Stones, who was replaced byNicolas Otamendi.
The Argentine made his first start since returning from injury with a trademark performance. City have now conceded just one goal in the seven games the defender has started in.
Guardiola hailed his side’s consistency as the most pleasing aspect of this campaign and with each player in the knowledge they must remain on top form to keep their place, the Blues are certainly benefiting from the squad competition as a collective unit.
