If the victory over Arsenal opens up an opportunity for Manchester City to break through, then the away trip to Burnley only helps them take a small step further in the championship race.
The tense 1-0 victory at Turf Moor not only pushed Burnley down, but also brought Pep Guardiola's team back to the top of the table. However, the gap between them and Arsenal almost did not exist, as the two teams were tied in points, in goal difference and only determined by the number of goals scored.
The Citizens had a perfect start when Erling Haaland scored in the 5th minute after an assist from Jeremy Doku. Before that, Rayan Cherki also had a shot that hit the crossbar, signaling an overwhelming game of the away team.
It seemed that this would be a match to help Man City improve goal difference, but the reality was completely the opposite. A series of missed opportunities made the match tense until the last minutes.
About how we played? Or about the goals that were not scored? Opportunities are there, we created a lot. It was a great match. The whole team did everything they could after a tense match 3 days ago. Therefore, this is clearly not an easy challenge. We just lacked goals.
Of course, we could have done better and scored more goals. The players did everything, just couldn't score more goals. No victory is obvious, but we played really well" - Guardiola shared.
The atmosphere in the stands shifted from joyful to worried. Antoine Semenyo shot inaccurately, Haaland shot hitting the post, Savinho could not beat Dubravka, and Nico O'Reilly missed a golden opportunity in injury time.
Man City finished the match with 28 shots and a xG of 3.5, but only got a single goal.
Speaking after the match, Guardiola admitted that his team lacked sharpness in the final touches. He emphasized that winning is still the top priority, especially in the context of a tight schedule and players' fitness being eroded after the match against Arsenal.
Meanwhile, Declan Rice once affirmed "not finished yet", and Man City's performance partly shows that there is a basis for that. If they continue to waste opportunities, they may completely pay the price in the decisive stage.
The schedule also does not favor Man City. They have to alternate between the FA Cup and the Premier League, while Arsenal can play first and put pressure on points. The possibility of Guardiola's team having to push up the schedule in the late season is very high.
In the opposite direction, Arsenal is also not easy to breathe when they have to strain themselves for the Champions League. However, the fact that the race is still close to each goal shows that any scenario can happen.
Man City has returned to the top spot, but has not been able to create a turning point. The championship race is still breathtaking.
There are 5 more matches. That's reality. And on Saturday, we will enter an extremely difficult semi-final in the FA Cup. This is a great opportunity for us to participate in 4 consecutive finals.
We will see how tired the players are. We may have to make some changes because they have played for too many minutes. At the end of the match, the whole team was somewhat exhausted, but we were ready" - Guardiola added.
