While Manchester City matches usually carry a sense of inevitability, indicating an anticipated victory, this assurance has been absent lately. City failed to secure wins in four of their last five Premier League matches before taking a break from league play to secure their first Club World Cup. Returning to face a surging Everton side at Goodison Park on Wednesday, it seemed that some uncertainties might persist for City, as they trailed at halftime due to a strike from their former player, Jack Harrison.
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However, they responded strongly to win 3-1, with Phil Foden scoring a wonder goal and Julian Alvarez converting a penalty to validate Pep Guardiola’s pre-match words. Bernardo Silva even added an insurance goal at the end, underscoring the point that until City are mathematically eliminated from the Premier League title race, they remain the team to beat.
“In the moment you don’t win, there are going to be doubts, “Guardiola said ahead of the match. “They all will say, ‘Crisis, disaster.’ As always. That is OK. Doubt us again. We’ll see what happens.”
Those doubts only grew as the first goal went in, but that’s where City’s confidence, specifically Foden’s, shines. After a give-and-go, Foden unleashed a shot from outside the box that most midfielders wouldn’t even consider taking, hitting it at the perfect angle to beat Jordan Pickford. This demonstrates that even when the opposition executes everything perfectly, City can still make them pay, potentially making the difference in the title race.
Liverpool, Arsenal, and Aston Villa have all been able to grind out wins, but there’s a notable distinction when the reigning Premier League champions come to town. Although still six points off the pace of Liverpool for the league lead, Guardiola’s men have work to do. With Kevin de Bruyne on the mend and Foden in top form, they will soon have more weapons than teams know how to deal with. The mental challenges of facing City are immense, and one missed chance can quickly lead to the game getting out of hand.
A few more matches like the one Wednesday against Everton and the fear of facing the Manchester City buzzsaw will return especially when the victory was accomplished without Erling Haaland featuring as he recovers from an injury. It isn’t far to climb to get back to the table and the odds are on Manchester City being the team celebrating on Matchday 38 until another club proves otherwise.
