Kevin De Bruyne and Leroy Sane strike as Man City ease past Cardiff to go top
Citizens struck twice in the first half and would have had more but for a heroic performance from Bluebirds stopper Neil Etheridge
MANCHESTER CITY back ahead by a point and now just six Premier League games to go.
Blimey this is getting stressful.
No wonder Pep Guardiola keeps rubbing his head and rocking back and forth on his seat.
Jurgen Klopp meanwhile will have that bottom row of teeth worn down by mid-May.
‘Ah Scheisse’ he might have said as Kevin De Bruyne smashed home the first after six minutes last night.
And again a minute before the break when Leroy Sane added the second, there would be no coming back from that for the visitors.
It was only down to some superb goalkeeping from Cardiff’s Neil Etheridge that many more were not added in the second half.
Guardiola himself admitted saying ‘Ah S***’ on Sunday when Liverpool plundered a late last gasp winner that had nudged them back ahead.
That was against Spurs though It was inevitable places would be swapped again after this fixture last night.
It really is an absolute classic of a title race.
With neither club playing at the same time until the final game of the season it has become like a stretched out penalty shoot-out.
Liverpool have the chance to go back ahead again on Friday night against Southampton with City playing an FA Cup-semi-final against Brighton the following day.
The added quest for a quadruple on City’s part and both still being in the Champions League simply adds to the mix.
Thank goodness internationals will not get in the way again this season.
At the bottom, meanwhile, the final relegation place have to be resolved and this result puts Cardiff firmly in the cart.
They are five points between them and Burnley in fourth bottom and Neil Warnock’s side have a vastly inferior goal difference.
The fixture between them this Saturday at Turf Moor was massive.
Not that Warnock sacrificed this game for that, making only change to his line-up from their defeat against Chelsea and that was enforced.
They were overrun but came away with a scoreline that was not as embarrassing as many expected.
For City this was their eighth straight Premier League win since that loss away to Newcastle United back on January 29. Their 19th in 21 matches in 2019 scoring 68 in the process.
With eyes on all the prizes and a juggling act to do Guardiola could make seven changes from the win at Fulham and still his side were imperious as they pinged the ball about the park.
They really needed to leave seven out to give Cardiff a chance.
The odds of 80/1 against the Welsh club winning given by one bookmaker ahead of the match were the highest in a Premier League game ever. It took just seconds to understand why.
After just 33 of them, Kevin De Bruyne crossed low to the far post and Gabriel Jesus just failing to reach it with a slide.
The deadlock was broken with a goal reminiscent of Aguero’s against Liverpool here in the New Year.
Slid in by Aymeric Laporte, De Bruyne shot from the narrowest of angles near the byline into the roof of the net.
The fact it took until the 44th minute to add a second was something of a moral victory for Cardiff, that was down to City and most notably Jesus spurning chances.
Jesus could have had a hat-trick most notably when he twice missed chances when stood two yards out in front of the post.
The second of which had De Bruyne fuming with him for not pulling the ball back after he had broke up field to feed him.
The second did arrive courtesy of a fine finish from Leroy Sane.
Riyad Mahrez supplied the cross, Jesus chested it back and Sane latched onto it with a low left foot shot which flashed through a crowd of players into the far bottom corner.
Guardiola looked to the sky and punched the air with both fists.
Etheridge made sure there was no more and was even winning applause from the City fans by the end.
Foden, Mahrez twice and Laporte were all denied.
Both Foden and Sane would also rattled the woodwork and a foul by Bruno Manga on Mahrez also warranted a penalty.
There was brief joy for Cardiff fans when Oumar Niasse wriggled his way through and almost scored but Ederson slid out and denied him.
Next for City the Cup then that double header against Tottenham in the Champions League with the Crystal Palace league game at Selhurst park sandwiched in between.
It really is mouthwatering stuff.
A fight to the finish in which neither side look ready to flinch.
So watch it, drink it in.