Pep hails return to passing game
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Manchester City needed to rediscover itself quickly after a run of games in which it looked to have lost its way and Pep Guardiola鈥檚 champions re-emerged on a chilly Tuesday night at Burnley鈥檚 Turf Moor.
Their 4-1 win over a modestly equipped home side was not in itself an indication that City is capable of overturning Liverpool鈥檚 lead, which stands at eight points ahead of yesterday鈥檚 Merseyside derby against Everton at Anfield.
But what was crucial was that City looked like a Guardiola team again.
In its recent performances, including Saturday鈥檚 2-2 stalemate at Newcastle United and the midweek UEFA Champions League draw with Shakhtar Donetsk, City struggled to create the kind of dominance of possession for which it is known.
Even in its 2-1 home win over Chelsea the previous Saturday, City did not impress and registered only 46.74 percent possession 鈥 the lowest of any side managed by Guardiola.
At Burnley that number was back up to 76 percent and the Spaniard, not surprisingly, sees his side鈥檚 return to a dominant passing game as essential.
鈥淚 am glad we pass more,鈥 he said, noting that that had been behind the team鈥檚 dip in form.
鈥淭he lack of more passes... we are built to have the ball and pass. You have to move the ball more as it鈥檚 the only way, to pass the ball, we did it really well.鈥
With City zipping the ball around, with its old swagger back, some of the players who had been questioned in recent weeks showed their value.
Brazil striker Gabriel Jesus, deputizing for the injured Sergio Aguero, scored twice and looked sharp throughout, while Spain midfielder Rodri showed his pedigree, with a thundering strike for the third goal capping a fine all-round display.
鈥淲e need (Jesus) to score these goals, they will help him and the team. We鈥檝e lost an incredible striker in Sergio,鈥 said Guardiola. 鈥淩odri was incredible for his physicality. The way he trains, he wants to learn, it鈥檚 nice to talk to him about tactics.
鈥淚n the right moment he helped us, he adjusted and he鈥檚 perfect for this league, and I think Manchester City bought an incredible player for the next years,鈥 he noted.
A happy Guardiola at last then, but one who would not speculate about catching Liverpool and winning a third straight league title.
鈥淥ur team is stable and that鈥檚 what we want. For the distance we have with Liverpool it would be crazy to think about the title, we have to think about the (weekend Manchester) derby, the other competitions, and take this rhythm,鈥 he said.
In Tuesday鈥檚 other game, substitute Jeffrey Schlupp scored in the 76th minute as 10-man Crystal Palace beat Bournemouth 1-0 to provisionally rise to fifth.
Roy Hodgson鈥檚 side played a man down for 71 minutes after Mamadou Sakho was sent off for a rash tackle.
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