David Silva brought up 300 games in a City shirt. Sergio Aguero scored their 100th goal under Pep Guardiola. A manager hired to win the Champions League should at least qualify for it.
Guardiola admitted City faced a battle to stay in the top four after losing at Chelsea. Now they are seven points clear of fifth place.
They enjoyed a stroll in the sunshine against Hull. They had gone four league games without a win for the first time since 2009.
Mark Hughes was sacked then. The same fate does not await Guardiola. His side are back on track.
“It was important for us to win after many days without a win,” he said. He saw his team turn on the style. He watched them bring up their ton in his dream fashion.
“The second goal is the big example of what we would like to be,” he said.
A move involved all 11 players, sharing 20 passes from one penalty area to the other. Slick, quick passing allowed Silva to release Raheem Sterling. He found Aguero, whose shot went in off Michael Dawson for his 10th goal in 10 games. Aguero did not celebrate.
“I promise you, he is happy,” insisted Guardiola. “He is playing unbelievable, scoring a goal a game.”
After that, Fabian Delph thumped in just his second goal of the season after an inviting pass from the in-form Sterling. The deadlock had been broken when one right-back, Jesus Navas, crossed.
The other, Ahmed Elmohamady, found his own net. He was put off by Dawson in front of him, worried about Leroy Sane behind him.
But he still made a mess of it. There was almost a second own goal, Eldin Jakupovic sparing Dawson’s blushes.
“Our team was a bit tired,” said Hull boss Marco Silva. “We didn’t have a good performance.” One man did. Jakupovic made a series of saves, denying Sane, Silva, Yaya Toure and Delph.
But it was a tale of two goalkeepers, one terrific, the other terrible. Claudio Bravo was recalled by Guardiola. He remains a liability.
He let Hull’s consolation goal, scored by Andrea Ranocchia, slip under his body. He has conceded from each of his last seven shots on target in the Premier League. He has not saved an effort in the division since January 2.
Guardiola said: “Six players forgot to defend and we conceded a goal.” But Hull striker Oumar Niasse, who got in the way of an effort from team-mate Evandro, saved more shots than Bravo.
Post a Comment