The sight of Pep Guardiola marching onto the pitch after the final whistle to lecture Leroy Sane said it all: the Manchester City manager wants more. This comfortable victory, earned through two sublime David Silva goals, was not enough in a campaign in which City can break all kinds of Premier League records. And, with the Champions League draw on Friday, still achieve even greater things.
City will be in Abu Dhabi when that draw takes place, as they enjoy a break before resuming their campaign against Everton at the end of this month. Win that and it means that they can claim the title in their next fixture – which just happens to be against Manchester United at home on April 7. The countdown is on.
Guardiola said that City will “come back stronger” from the Middle East and it sounded like a threat as much as a promise. Just how much stronger can this dazzling City side be? Stoke are no mugs under Paul Lambert and, as they should, they fought for their lives as they desperately try and beat relegation. But they did not even register a shot on target.
Interestingly, Guardiola chose to highlight the fact that this result meant City had achieved the double over Stoke for the first time since 1999-2000, and it shone a light on the fact that such records and achievements really do matter to him.
Guardiola does not want to just win this league but to achieve new landmarks in doing so. Already City have earned 81 points, the first team to achieve that after 30 games, and the highest-ever points total in the Premier League - Chelsea’s 95 under Jose Mourinho in 2004-05 - is in Guardiola’s sights. City can top 100 points and, with 85 goals already, can beat the record of 103 achieved by Carlo Ancelotti’s Chelsea in 2009-10. A double century - 100 points; 100 goals - is possible.
STOKE-ON-TRENT, KOMPAS.com - David Silva menjadi bintang kemenangan Manchester City atas Stoke City pada pertandingan pekan ke-30 Premier League - kasta teratas Liga Inggris - di Stadion Bet365, Senin (12/3/2018) atau Selasa dini hari WIB.
Manchester City menang 2-0 pada laga versus Stoke City. David Silva memborong dua gol kemenangan timnya yang dicetak pada menit ke-10 dan ke-50.
Kemenangan ini membuat Man City kian kokoh di puncak klasemen. Mereka mengumpulkan 81 poin dari 30 laga atau unggul 16 angka atas Manchester United yang berad di posisi kedua.
(Baca juga: Stoke City Vs Manchester City - Memori Performa Terbaik The Citizens bersama Pep Guardiola )
Manchester City memang pantas menang atas Stoke City. Statistik membuktikan bahwa pasukan Pep Guardiola itu amat mendominasi permainan.
Mereka memiliki 76 persen penguasaan bola. Hal itu dikonversi dengan keungulan menciptakan peluang.
Bermain tanpa Sergio Aguero, tim tamu memiliki 17 peluang dengan enam tembakan di antaranya tepat sasaran. Bandingkan dengan tuan rumah yang cuma punya tiga peluang tanpa satu pun tepat sasaran.
(Baca Juga: Akhirnya, Petr Cech Gagalkan Penalti Setelah 7 Tahun! )
Manchester City berhasil unggul cepat pada menit ke-10. Memanfaatkan umpan Raheem Sterling, David Silva menyontek bola di antara dua kawalan pemain bertahan Stoke City untuk menaklukkan Jack Butland.
Gol cepat juga terjadi pada babak kedua. Lima menit babak kedua berjalan, Silva untuk kali kedua menaklukkan Butland seusai melakukan kerja sama 1-2 dengan Gabriel Jesus.
Stoke City 0 - 2 Manchester City (David Silva 10', 50')
Stoke City: 1-Jack Butland, 15-Bruno Martins Indi, 21-Konstantinos Stafylidis, 6-Kurt Zouma, 2- Moritz Bauer, 20-Geoff Cameron (32-Ramadan Shobhi 88'), 4-Joe Allen, 27-Badou N'Diaye, 22-Xherdan Shaqiri, 10-Eric Choupo-Moting, 11-Jese Rodriguez (25-Peter Crouch 63')
Manchester City: 31-Ederson Moraes, 4-Vincent Kompany, 30-Nicolas Otamendi, 2-Kyle Walker, 35-Oleksandr Zinchenko, 25-Fernadinho, 21-David Silva, 17-Kevin De Bruyne, 7-Raheem Sterling (20-Bernardo Silva 85'), 19-Leroy Sane, 33-Gabriel Jesus (8-Ilkay Guendogan 90+1')
Manchester City beat Stoke City on Monday evening to go 16 points clear at the top of the Premier League.
The visitors ran out 2-0 victors courtesy of a brilliant brace from David Silva, who tormented the Stoke defence throughout the game at the Bet365 stadium.
Silva first latched onto the end of a wonderfully worked move up the pitch and fired past Jack Butland. Then he met a lofted through ball to volley home and wrap up the victory.
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