The sight of a beaming Pep Guardiola pumping his fists to all sides of Etihad Stadium then telling his players to indulge in cocktails demonstrated the magnitude of this Manchester City victory.
On a night of nerves and tension, City overcame Newcastle United to secure a 2-1 win that sent a loud and ominous message: “Over to you, Arsenal.”
Guardiola was so satisfied with the win that he announced his players could have three days off, telling them to “enjoy life” with “caipirinhas and daiquiris”.
Whether they take his advice literally remains to be seen, but the celebrations were significant in the afterglow of victory.
City’s win leaves them only two points behind the Gunners, who showed signs of creaking under pressure as they cast aside a two-goal lead to draw with relegation certainties Wolverhampton Wanderers in midweek.
And Guardiola’s animated, emotional reaction at the final whistle on Saturday was mirrored around the stadium on a night when he said: “The connection we had with our fans was the best of the season. We had the best vibes and we need those vibes between now and the end of the season.
“It wasn’t the ideal game, but we were a team and this is what we have to do at this stage of the season.”
This may not be the same City side, when it comes to personnel, that made a habit of stringing together unstoppable sequences of results to break the hearts of Liverpool and Arsenal in title races of the past.
City still, however, have the manager and winner in Guardiola who knows how to navigate the course and distance – and this win has cranked up the pressure on Arsenal ahead of the north London derby at Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
He believes 70% of his current squad have not been down this title road, but there are still plenty who have, such as Ruben Dias and Rodri to name two, and most importantly Guardiola himself.
Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal must now respond against their arch-rivals, who will have new interim manager Igor Tudor in the dug-out.
This may not be the fluent City of recent past, but they showed steel to dig deep as Newcastle made light of their 5,000-mile round trip to Azerbaijan to face Qarabag in the Champions League play-off, pushing them all the way.
Leading by example was the giant figure of Erling Haaland, not by dealing in his usual currency of goals, but with lung-busting work-rate, intense pressing, towering defensive headers, and a perfect cross for what turned out to be the winner from Nico O’Reilly as he headed in the second of his two goals.
Guardiola acknowledged Haaland’s contribution as he said: “He was man of the match. Without Erling it would not have been possible.”
O’Reilly was another stellar contributor, with those two goals and an outstanding display of versatility playing behind City’s attackers that will make intriguing viewing for England head coach Thomas Tuchel.
He is viewed as a left-back, but this showed he has other strings to his bow, while Newcastle United‘s Lewis Hall also got on the scoresheet and showed enough to suggest he is another viable defensive World Cup option for Tuchel.
City may not have the machine-like fluency and relentless winning style of the Guardiola teams that won four straight Premier League titles, but those memories can still kick in for plenty who will play their part in coming weeks.
One of the newer faces is giant Italian keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, a Champions League winner with Paris St-Germain last season, who is now chasing new honours and horizons with Manchester City.
In some respects he is a flawed keeper, especially under crosses, but has that uncanny, priceless habit of making stunning match-winning saves that makes up for other failings.
He did it with an astonishing stoppage time save from Alexis Mac Allister in a City win at Liverpool that may yet be regarded as the pivotal moment in their season, and he did it again here.
As the final seconds ticked on with Newcastle pressing for a point, Donnarumma employed that giant wingspan to stretch away low to his right to turn away Harvey Barnes’ goal-bound shot.
Seconds later, the final whistle went and Etihad Stadium was awash with celebration.
Time will tell just how important those saves – those wins – will be, but City are now in a position from which they have flourished before.
Win all their games. Win the Premier League.
Now the scenery shifts to north London – along with the pressure – as Arsenal face that dangerous trip to Spurs.
Source: BBC
