| R E V I S I O N E D E L L A D I S C U S S I O N E |
| seestyle |
Inviata - 16/02/2023 : 06:08:58
Kevin De Bruyne's first-half hat-trick had the game as good as done after just 25 minutes, despite an equaliser by his compatriot and Wolves midfielder, Leander Dendoncker.De Bruyne then went on to bag a fourth after the half-time break, before Raheem Sterling wrapped things up late on in the match by tapping home a Joao Cancelo cro s.The victory sees Manchester City regain their three-point lead over Liverpool, but this time with a significant goal difference advantage that could mean Pep Guardiola's side win the title even if they lose one of their remaining two games.Here's what we learned as the Premier League title race draws to a close... Kevin De Bruyne's demolition job26 games, 16 goals, 12 a sists.These frankly Lionel Me si-esque numbers are Kevin De Bruyne's statistics since the 7-0 win over Leeds in mid-December. The Belgian is quite simply the greatest player ever to pull on a Manchester City shirt, and he's proven it again in the second half of this season with a title-winning vein of form.The Belgian's first ever Manchester City hat-trick (plus one, which puts him on an impre sive 22 goal contributions in just 23 league starts this campaign) was quite comfortably the highlight of the match.First he linked up with fellow supernatural genius Bernardo Silva to [url=https://www.promapleleafs.com/jason-spezza-men-jersey]Jason Spezza Men Jersey[/url] open the scoring. When Wolves equalised, De Bruyne decided he couldn't have any of that nonsense and almost immediately put his team back in front.The third goal was the pick of the bunch, rifling home from well outside the box to give Manchester City a vital cushion. He pounced on another rebound to make it four and wrap up one of the best individual performances of the season in any league.Did I mention that all of [url=https://www.promapleleafs.com/nic-petan-women-jersey]Nic Petan Women Jersey[/url] the first three goals were scored with his weaker foot? The man is unbelievable. He stepped up in the most emphatic way po sible against Wolves and had his name on the Man of the Match award after a quarter of the game. Erling Haaland can't come soon enoughAll the Manchester City talk this week has been about Erling Haaland, of course, who was confirmed on Tuesday to be joining the club next season. Right away, we got to see a City performance that highlighted exactly where he'll make the difference for Pep Guardiola's men.Against Wolves, Manchester City swung multiple cro ses into the home side's box only to see them cleared fairly comfortably. Erling Haaland is no world-cla s header (at least not yet), but it's easy to see how a 6'4" giant could transform City's aerial threat altogether. For all the brilliance of Phil Foden and Raheem Sterling, they're the players you want balls into the area, not getting on the end of them.Kevin De Bruyne bailed out a fairly tepid Manchester City attack at Molineux, so fans will be hoping that Erling Haaland - and fellow young striker Julin lvarez - will bring back the fear factor that Sergio Agero struck acro s the Premier League and let the creators get back to creating. Oleksandr Zinchenko should be startingThis probably isn't a popular opinion, but hear me out: I think Oleksandr Zinchenko's pre s-resistance and ability on the ball is so valuable that it outweighs Joao Cancelo's a sist factor, and the Ukrainian should be starting over the immensely talented [url=https://www.promapleleafs.com/connor-brown-women-jersey]Connor Brown Women Jersey[/url] Portugal international when Kyle Walker is back from injury.The man barely ever loses the ball, his pa sing is always crisp and intelligent, and he works as hard as anyone on the pitch when he needs to. His doubters will argue that he's not as good defensively as you'd want a top-level full-back to be, to which I'd argue that Joao Cancelo isn't either and Manchester City have never cared much about that anyway.It's quite remarkable that, after spending over 200 million on full-backs in the Pep Guardiola era, one of the best we've seen is a skinny midfielder who signed for a tiny transfer fee and was probably never expected to join the senior squad.Few of our players can boast a more impre sive story than that... The jury is still out on our makeshift defenceIn losing Ruben Dias, Kyle Walker and John Stones to injury, Manchester City are mi sing at least two - many would argue three - of their best back-line for the final three games of the season.Such a deficiency could cripple a team, but Pep Guardiola and his squad are more than used to coping without key players. This is, after all, a team that won the league with Fabian Delph filling in at left-back.Of course, Manchester City weren't at their best defensively: Joao Cancelo has never been a top defender, Fernandinho is a veteran midfielder, and Oleksandr Zinchenko hasn't played as much this season as he perhaps should have.They were sliced open for the equaliser; a fast counter that left Kyle Walker's absence feeling painfully obvious. But we don't need them to keep clean sheets as long as we can outscore the opposition, and it was looking like Aymeric Laporte might just hold this quartet together long enough to get Manchester City over the line. His superb early tackle on Chiquinho was a good example of the quality we needed him to show in the final two games to secure the title, but it was [url=https://www.promapleleafs.com/kris-versteeg-women-jersey]Kris Versteeg Women Jersey[/url] very concerning to see him substituted off with an injury. Goal difference could be decisiveJust as in the Newcastle game, it feels like Manchester City's players are well aware that goal difference could be the deciding factor come the end of the season.Scroll to ContinueOver the last five league matches, Pep Guardiola's [url=https://www.promapleleafs.com/darryl-sittler-men-jersey]Darryl Sittler Men Jersey[/url] side have enjoyed a goal difference swing of no le s than 20 - seeing them comfortably overtake Liverpool to hold a significant advantage in points, goal difference and goals scored.As we discu sed after the Newcastle game, it's exactly a decade on Friday since Sergio Agero's late winner saw Manchester City awarded the title on goal difference, and if the Blues lose either of their remaining games, it could come down to the wire again.The team have responded accordingly, and we're seeing a marked change in the way Manchester City play.Generally, at this stage of the season, Pep Guardiola prioritises resting players and conserving energy once a game is won. But now, the team is going for the throat in every match, including late goals for Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden in the last two victories.If it comes down to goal difference, Manchester City can rest easy knowing that they hold all the cards now - thanks in no small part to Kevin De Bruyne's mastercla s against Wolves.Follow City Xtra on social media:||| |
|
|
