Manchester City’s Premier League title ambitions were dealt a significant blow as Pep Guardiola’s side were held to a 1-1 draw at West Ham as Arsenal moved nine points clear
For the second game in succession Manchester City dropped points against a side fighting relegation.
The Blues have surrendered leads three times across those matches with Nottingham Forest and West Ham United. It has surely extinguished the title hopes. Arsenal are nine clear and although City have a game in hand and the Gunners have to come to the Etihad, the gap looks ominous and the Blues don’t quite look capable of reeling off victory after victory to capitalise if Mikel Arteta’s side do slip up.
City still have plenty to play for, even if glory in the Premier League and Champions League now looks set to elude them. The Blues are a week out from a Carabao Cup final that could yield silverware as well as offering a glimmer in the title race given the psychological questions a Wembley win would ask of Arsenal. Liverpool then visit in the FA Cup early next month. So plenty to still play for.
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But for Guardiola, he must now accept that this City side is not quite yet capable of scaling the heights of versions past. The incredibly high standards set during four title wins in a row are a barometer few can be judged by and to measure this new-look City against such incredible feats is understandable but perhaps unfair.
The progress from last season is clear; twelve months ago City would have snapped your hand off for the position they are now in. The Blues boss said on Friday that if his side dropped points against the Hammers then the title race would be over. He rowed back on that after the game, reiterating his belief and the desire within the squad to fight to the end.
But Guardiola’s side are not consistent enough to go the distance on four fronts, they are not slick enough to put teams to bed, and they are not quite all on the same page on the pitch to play with a freedom and a confidence that the door will be battered down if the knocking continues.
Make no mistake this City side is a very good outfit – but it’s not the outfit of old. As Rodri said after the game at the London Stadium: “The mistake we can make is to think we are the unbelievable team that we used to be. We are in a moment that we are in a process to come back.”
City might yet come back against Madrid, they might yet come back in the title race, but both feel a step too far just now.
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The Carabao Cup Final will see Arsenal v Manchester City at London’s Wembley Stadium this March.