An abridged version of this article can be found on the pages of The Irish Examiner
There was a
sure feeling in the thickening Manchester air that Pochettino’s Tottenham might
just give City a difficult time, that here was a team of talent and character
that might just stand toe to toe and offer us all some more ideas about just
how good City are. Pochettino himself, full of the bravado that a career spent
in Guardiola’s shadow in two different countries apparently brings, had been
widely quoted in the morning press: “We’ll also turn the volume up if we win”.
Wild words, confident people.
The rump of
City’s support, giddy and disbelieving, still assure themselves that “this will
be the one where we fall flat on our faces”. It happens for some of us on a
weekly basis, whether the trip is to Old Trafford or The Hawthorns. That old
belief that what we are seeing is still somehow so fragile that it might pop or
blister if we look at it too long.
As the
mists swirled around the ground and the news filtered through that David Silva
would be sitting this one out, the Typical City frowns deepened on the brows of
the faithful. Like a sign from above, this was surely the final confirmation
that City’s time was up.
What
transpired in the next 90 minutes can only be described as a complete slap in
the face to anyone, who had the nerve to harbour even the tiniest doubts. City are heading into uncharted territory.
Magnificent from start to finish. Spurs, usually a classy, ball playing side,
were reduced to leg breaking lunges from the likes of Harry Kane and Dele Alli
that should have been rewarded with red cards from the vague refereeing of
Craig Pawson..
Alli’s
challenge in particular, which in the slow motion replays showed impact curving
Kevin de Bruyne’s leg like a plastic straw, was the ugliest moment of a match liberally
decorated with balletic poise from the home side. The Belgian himself had the
perfect riposte to the assault, smacking an outstanding second goal a minute
after the horror tackle that had threatened to end his participation in this
game. Harry Kane too, had wiped his studs down Raheem Sterlings lower leg,
threatening serious injury.
Still,
dwelling on Tottenham’s sudden embracing of thuggish tactical fouling (where
have we heard that one before?) would be akin to watching the Royal Ballet and
complaining that one of the chorus had a rip in his tights.
As City
march on, we can only stand and admire the audacity of pass and move through
even the tightest of midfields and the most clogged of defences. Where simple
mortals see a forest of legs, these boys see a pass, possibly on the volley,
delivered at speed, with a bit of backspin for good measure.
Only
Everton, Ronald Koeman’s execrable early season Everton, have managed to get
anywhere near stopping this City side in 2017-18 and even that point was aided
and abetted by Michael Oliver’s ghost red card for Kyle Walker for an offence
that made Dele Alli’s lunge here look like attempted murder in comparison.
In Silva’s
sudden absence, Ilkay Gundogan filled in. The German offers less of the
mesmeric short passing and tricky little swivels, but he can head a corner in without leaving the ground when totally
unmarked by an entire opposition defence chasing after the moving hulk of
Mangala.
With City
off and running, we were treated to the Leroy Sane Show down the left. Kieran
Trippier, Tottenham fans are often keen to point out, is a clear upgrade on
Kyle Walker, but here he was in danger of being ,made to look like a clear
downgrade on Bacary Sagna, completely trampled underfoot as Sane danced the
fandango right through his territory. The space so tight, the down-the-lines passes
so sharp, even then he could get nowhere near the German’s twinkling feet.
Sane’s
bloodstock comes from the conjugation of a gymnast and a pro-footballer. The
result is an athlete, who glides in places of running, effortless and as hard
to pin down as the mists swirling around the stadium’s roof. He finds speed in
seconds, drifts in and out with the ball glued to his feet. A real sight for
sore eyes when in full flow, as he was here.
De Bruyne
too was on fire. Placing a pass badly, time seemed to stand still as everyone
took the spectacle in. A pass that had failed to find its target! What
wonderful novelty was this. Would the ground open up and swallow all who saw
it? Normal service resumed, the Belgian metronome dictated everything good that
City manufactured and there was plenty of that. He appeared left and right and
danced through the centre, with passes short and long.
One first
touch recovery left foot pass, sent raking in arc to Sane on the left wing was
a thing of such beauty, Aguero – on the
end of Sane’s first time ball in – could be forgiven for smacking his half
volley into the defender’s foot, on the grounds that he was till admiring the
pass. Difficult as it is to pick out single instances of excellence in such a
parade of the stuff, that was yet another of those hold your breath and shake
your head moments.
Plaudits
too for Eliaquim Mangala (HEAR THIS!), suddenly imbued with the confidence of a
man, who has discovered he has a right foot. Strolling about like he had been
in the first team for years, he did not put a foot, be it left or right, wrong.
Three games in a week he has lorded it over dangerous attackers. Outside him
Fabian Delph did a passable impersonation of Paolo Maldini to Mangala’s Baresi.
The whole world, you felt, was turning on its axis.
Behind them
Ederson was busy pinging the ball pitch length with the accuracy of Gary Player
wielding a three iron. One outrageous left footer to the right touchline
carried most of the length of the pitch and landed on Raheem Sterling’s instep.
Bored of watching his team-mates dance the foxtrot, the Brazilian keeper was
evidently keen to join in the party and showcase his ever-more evident skills.
Another slice down the middle, flicked on rapidly, ended with a shot on goal.
It was so quick even Dembele had not had time to kick anyone.
Can City
keep this up? It is unlikely. There will be - indeed have been – off days, when
the ball refuses to roll or the opposition lines are just too thick to
penetrate. Workaday Huddersfield, West Ham, Southampton and Manchester United
have already shut up shop and kept City to one-goal victories. There will be
others along the way.
Those days
are for the future, however. For now, Manchester City sit 14 points clear of
Manchester United and 21 ahead of Spurs. For those in need of a reminder, it is
only mid-December. They have wiped the floor with all five supposed title rivals. Maintain this coruscating spectacle and the sky is clearly the
limit. Fixtures are beginning to pile up ahead, with League Cup, FA Cup and
Champions League engagements all looming. Anyone in the business will tell you,
however, when the confidence is high and things are going this smoothly, players
cannot wait for the next match to come along.
That is most
surely a feeling shared by every City fan in the land right now.
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