It’s 20 Wins In A Row For Guardiola’s Manchester City
Pep Guardiola took a further step towards what seems like an inevitable third Premier League title on Saturday morning, with Manchester City defeating West Ham courtesy of goals from their two central defenders.
Ruben Dias and John Stones have been pillars of strength at the back for the entirety of the 2020/21 season, yet they turned into goalscorers for the visit of David Moyes’ side.
The victory was one which brought upon numerous milestones, with Guardiola himself recording his 500th victory as a professional coach, and it was City’s 20th straight win in all competitions.
City conceded 11 goals in the first eight matches of the season, but in the following 18 they have only conceded five.
Dias and Stones have forged a strong partnership and are one of the key reasons why City have still been able to succeed, even without the injured Sergio Aguero and the departed David Silva.
Guardiola rotated the rest of his side due to fixture congestion, but he insisted on keeping the defensive pairing together, highlighting their importance to the team’s success in the second half of the season.
In truth, West Ham never had the resources to compete with the Sky Blues and should be credited with staying in the game for so long, although it could be argued they had the better of the first half, having seven shots to City’s two.
Dias and Michail Antonio both scored in the first half, however Stones’ winning goal came deep into the second half, when the English central defender fired a low shot into the back of the net past Darren Randolph.
