Pep Guardiola makes ambitious Man City trophy statement in Fulham win – Simon Bajkowski

Come the tip of the season, this chilly evening in West London could also be seen as a pivotal second for Manchester Metropolis.

The Blues might not have been in the very best kind in current weeks however they may see the end line, with simply three matches to go earlier than the worldwide break and 6 Premier League wins wanted to say the title.

Fulham might have been a sport to get by means of and regroup, however as an alternative Pep Guardiola pressed the nuclear possibility.

There have been so many calls at Fulham that completely blew up the established order it was laborious to clock all of them however here is a couple of of the most important: bringing in Benjamin Mendy for his first league begin since December; benching each Ilkay Gundogan and Kevin De Bruyne and reverting to a 3-4-3; dropping his two Southampton matchwinners in Phil Foden and Riyad Mahrez; taking part in Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus up entrance collectively; leaving Raheem Sterling out of the squad fully after deciding towards utilizing him in midweek.

The Metropolis supervisor merely can not help himself.

It’s calls like this that look impressed once they win and blow up his face once they flunk a Champions League quarter-final towards Lyon, as an illustration. It’s also calls like this, recognizing and attending to issues earlier than they develop, is why Guardiola is among the finest managers in world soccer.

Carrying on as that they had been might have been sufficient to win the league with their factors benefit, however the warning indicators have been showing forward of upcoming fixtures in three knockout competitions.

Guardiola had clearly determined Metropolis had sufficient of a cushion that they did not essentially want three factors towards Fulham, but they obtained them anyway.

There have been a couple of indicators of clunkiness because the gamers obtained used to a brand new, three-man backline however – with the encouragement of the backroom workers booming directions out – they nonetheless bossed possession early on to quiet down.

Whereas the ultimate ball allow them to down too typically in a primary half of few probabilities, Ferran Torres and Bernardo Silva nonetheless labored the goalkeeper and Ederson did not have a save to make on the different finish.

And for anybody fretting concerning the lack of incision, John Stones headed from a Joao Cancelo free-kick inside 90 seconds of the restart to place Metropolis firmly within the driving seat. Usually the autumn man with defensive rotation given Ruben Dias’s consistency, Stones confirmed as soon as once more as soon as an impressive marketing campaign he’s having; solely six teammates have extra objectives than him this season.

Shortly afterwards, Fulham gifted their opponents a second, giving the ball away cheaply earlier than Joachim Anderson solely succeeded in whacking it towards his personal teammate and watching it rebound previous him into the trail of Jesus, who rounded the goalkeeper and thumped dwelling.

Earlier than the hour mark, Metropolis have a 3rd. Torres was introduced down on the fitting facet of the field and up stepped captain Aguero to search out the again of the web from the spot. That objective particularly can have been doubly satisfying for Guardiola, watching the membership file scorer bag his first within the league since January 2020 after a 12 months of damage issues and having fun with the unusual spectacle of his facet scoring a penalty.

These first quarter-hour of the second half ensured the supervisor’s selections wouldn’t be the main focus of any post-match inquests and in addition achieved the objective of boxing off one other Premier League win.

The fixture record has meant that even with the frustration of dropping the derby final week they’re now 17 factors forward of United – the place they might have been with a win on Sunday. Their nearest challengers do after all have video games in hand however it’s nonetheless factors on the board with fewer than 10 video games to go within the marketing campaign; they will afford to lose each match in April and nonetheless high the league.

In the end although, this was about greater than the league – and the reward of these dangers might be larger.

When Eric Garcia comes on – making his first look since Burnley in November – and when he comes on for Dias as he did with quarter-hour to go right here, that tells you every little thing that you must find out about how completed Metropolis’s supervisor felt the one sport was achieved however there may be a lot extra to play for going ahead.

Metropolis will want their entire squad if they’re to have a hope of successful all 4 trophies nonetheless on provide and due to this 90 minutes the Blues look to be in a far stronger place for upcoming knockout video games with Gladbach and Everton after which past.

Mendy, Aguero, Torres, Laporte, and Garcia are all gamers that have not featured recurrently to now have extra minutes beneath their belt and extra rhythm, whereas the likes of Sterling, De Bruyne and Foden are amongst people who know they should play even higher if they’re to get again into the group.

It simply obtained tougher for opposition groups to work Metropolis out as effectively. Making an attempt to work out how one can neutralise the Cancelo innovation was laborious sufficient however now there are extra shapes and formations to consider together with Aguero and Jesus on the pitch on the similar time.

Guardiola has continuously underplayed his affect this season however nights resembling this present why such claims needs to be taken with a number of pinches of salt. He did not need to make these performs on this sport, however selected to gamble from a place of power to maximise rewards in a while on this and it appears to have labored a deal with.

If Metropolis can look good and win their two video games within the subsequent week earlier than the worldwide break, this night at Fulham can have already achieved its job.