PEP Guardiola said its Manchester City players were “fighting like animals” after Premier League leaders beat bottom club Sheffield United to record a 12th consecutive victory for the club’s record.
Aside from Gabriel Jesus ‘near strike from Ferran Torres’ cross, Bernardo Silva’s instinctive header – created by Oliver Norwood’s stray header – was City’s only effort on target until Aaron Ramsdale denied Oleksandr Zinchenko and then Aymeric Laporte from that corner follow.
But the Blues’ defensive strength was yet to be seen. The Guardiola side have now kept five consecutive clean sheets in the Premier League, and an impressive 11 out of 13.
The last team in England’s best flight to register 12 consecutive wins in all competitions was Arsenal, which did so between August and October 2007.
“In December and January to show this consistency is amazing,” Guardiola told BBC Sport. “In this league every game is so difficult.
“It was an amazing performance. We played incredibly well in many areas. We surrendered a few chances. We didn’t create much, but enough to win the game.
“We will drop points; it’s about how we overcome it. Hopefully we respond well in the bad moments, which are definitely coming. ”
It was certainly far too strong for a team to visit. who never looked like emulating their victory at Manchester United three days ago. and stayed rooted to the foot of the table, 10 points against Brighton from fourth bottom.
For Guardiola, this was a stunning 500th win of a management career of 673 games. (BBC Sport)