Manchester City have suddenly had to get used to struggling to earn three points, as for the third straight game they needed a late goal to secure victory against a well-drilled, organised defence with the intention of frustrating Pep Guardiola‘s men. After Huddersfield Town and Southampton, it was West Ham’s turn to attempt to keep City at bay.
In the end, City’s attacking players did just enough to earn another crucial victory, keeping their eight-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.
Here are Seven Deadly Stats from City’s hard-fought win.
WEST HAM’S UNLIKELY GOALSCORER
There was a stat going into the match that the odds for a 1-0 West Ham win were longer than an 8-0 City win. If that’s the case, the odds on Angelo Ogbonna being the first goalscorer must have been even longer – he’d never scored a top-flight goal before.
OTAMENDI PROLIFIC FROM THE BACK
This Manchester City side has some thrilling attackers, but it also does like to spread the goals around, and Nicolas Otamendi has been one of the biggest beneficiaries. The Argentine centre-back has discovered a scoring ability few knew he had.
JESUS KEEPS MAKING AN IMPACT
When City finalised the deal to bring Gabriel Jesus to Manchester, the question was, Gabriel who? Nobody’s asking that anymore, because the young striker has quickly become one of the side’s best players. His contribution to City’s attack has been phenomenal.
SILVA’S FAVOURITE OPPONENTS?
David Silva isn’t quite a prolific goalscorer, with his role more to create chances than finish them. But he does like scoring against West Ham, so it was no surprise he did it again.
THE ASSIST KING STRIKES AGAIN
Speaking of creating chances, the ball for Silva’s goal was exquisite. So it isn’t too difficult to figure out who played it. Ever since he arrived at Manchester City, Kevin de Bruyne has been finding the right pass time after time to set up a City goal.
CITY CLOSING IN ON WIN STREAK RECORD
Last year it was Chelsea, this year it’s City with the record-tying winning streak. They’re the fifth team to hit this mark of 13, but nobody’s gotten past that. Next week, City will go for the record-breaking win, at the home of their biggest rivals and closest title challengers. Manchester United would like nothing better than to stop City in their tracks.
Can City be stopped?
ARE CITY UNSTOPPABLE?
If City do set the new win streak record, they’ll also have an 11-point lead at the top of the table, and although no title has ever been won in December, it’s hard to see anyone making up that ground. Their current eight-point lead is already more than any team has had at this stage.