Chapter 595: Manchester City Sets Record-Breaking Winning Streak!
In October, Manchester City continued their unstoppable form in both the Premier League and Champions League. In the 8th round, they crushed Stoke City 7-1, followed by a 3-0 win against Burnley in the 9th round, 3-0 against West Brom in the 10th round, 3-1 against Arsenal in the 11th round, and 2-0 against Leicester City in the 12th round...
Before anyone realized it, City had racked up a 10-game winning streak. Judging by their momentum, this winning run seemed far from over.
Nobody knew where Manchester City's limits were!
However, their neighbors, Manchester United, had started to fall behind.
In the 8th round, in the latest edition of the North-West Derby, Manchester United fought Liverpool to a 0-0 draw at Anfield. Neither team gained much from the match.
After the game, Liverpool dropped to 8th place in the league, trailing Manchester City by nearly 10 points.
As for United, the draw left them 2 points behind City.
What started as a slight disadvantage in goal difference now became a gap in points.
And the gap kept widening!
In the 9th round, United suffered a shock 2-1 defeat away to newly-promoted Huddersfield, widening the gap with City to 5 points!
In the 11th round, in their visit to Stamford Bridge for a showdown with Chelsea, United lost again, increasing their deficit to 8 points!
With only 11 rounds played, being 8 points behind was a daunting gap, almost hopeless!
With less than half the season gone, it looked like United were already out of the title race.
This left countless United fans disappointed. Since Ferguson's retirement, this was now the fifth consecutive year without a league title.
A few years ago, the fans had believed with all their hearts that United was the best team on the planet. But as the years passed and United's struggles continued, their confidence was slowly eroded.
Some fans were even starting to accept that United was no longer a top-tier team.
However, United fans didn't need to be too pessimistic—United's position in the table was not that bad.
Although they were 8 points behind Manchester City, United were still firmly holding onto second place in the Premier League.
In the 12th and 13th rounds, United secured two home victories, beating Newcastle 4-1 and Brighton 1-0, further solidifying their position and widening the gap with third-place Chelsea to 3 points.
Unfortunately for United, City won again that round, meaning United couldn't close the gap between them.
Because of City's blistering form this season, and their dominant performances in recent seasons, many felt that this year's Premier League title was already a foregone conclusion.
Instead of wondering who would win the league, people were more curious about how long City's winning streak would continue.
By the 13th round, City's winning streak had reached 11 games, already entering the top 10 longest winning streaks in Premier League history.
But this wasn't City's limit—they now had a chance to break Arsenal's record of 14 consecutive wins set in the 2002-03 season.
Last season, Chelsea had come close to breaking that record but fell short, stopping at 13 wins, which was unfortunate.
Now, Manchester City was only 4 wins away from breaking that record.
In the 14th round, City defeated Southampton 2-1 at home, extending their streak to 12 games.
In the 15th round, City beat West Ham by the same score, matching Chelsea's record of 13 consecutive wins from the previous season!
At this point, almost all Premier League fans were focused on City's next match—the Manchester Derby!
If City won the next game, they would surpass Chelsea's record and tie Arsenal's.
But Manchester United wouldn't go down without a fight. Old Trafford was their fortress, and they certainly wouldn't let their bitter rivals win on their home turf!
United, on a four-game winning streak, were still 8 points behind City, but if they could beat City in this match, the gap would shrink to 5 points.
This would reignite United's hopes of winning the title and would surely deal a huge blow to City's morale, possibly derailing their season.
Given the significance of this match, the media went into overdrive, publishing countless reports on the upcoming derby.
Even before the match kicked off, it had already captivated the entire footballing world.
It wasn't just British fans paying attention—fans and teams across Europe were keenly following the result of this game.
United were second in the Premier League, and City were first—this top-of-the-table clash was expected to showcase the highest level of Premier League football.
Both Manchester clubs were also unbeaten in the Champions League, making them favorites to win the competition this season.
This meant that many of Europe's top clubs, especially those with ambitions in the Champions League, were closely watching City and United's league performances.
City, in particular, had been in extraordinary form this season, far stronger than they had been the previous year.
Their dominance was so intimidating that every team they faced trembled.
With City unbeaten across multiple competitions, everyone was eager to see if anyone could find a way to defeat them and end their unbeaten run.
Among the many interested observers, Real Madrid was the most concerned, as they were the reigning Champions League holders.
On December 11th, Old Trafford was packed to the rafters half an hour before kick-off.
With United's resurgence in form this season, coupled with the confidence boost from last season's domestic treble, ticket sales at Old Trafford had seen a noticeable improvement.
For the past several home games, the stadium had been nearly full for each match.
Old Trafford, being the largest stadium in the Premier League with a seating capacity of 76,000, was difficult to fill, especially with Manchester not being a large city, and having to compete with Manchester City for local fans.
United had always relied on their international appeal, building a global fanbase through their successes in both the Premier League and the Champions League, and promoting their brand internationally to attract fans from all over the world.
Old Trafford boasted the largest number of international fans among Premier League stadiums, with many tourists traveling to the UK specifically to watch a United match.
However, since Ferguson's retirement and the decline of United's dominance, the number of international fans had dropped sharply.
Especially with City's rise to power, winning three titles in three years, many international fans were drawn to the Etihad Stadium.
After all, compared to United, who had struggled in recent years, City was now a new powerhouse, excelling in every area, and naturally attracting more support.
Most people tend to support the stronger team, and for the past four years, City had clearly been the stronger side, so it was only natural that United's ticket sales had been affected.
However, for this game, both City and United fans had to come to Old Trafford, making tickets incredibly hard to come by. Scalpers had driven prices through the roof, but that didn't stop diehard fans from eagerly buying tickets!
Out of respect for their opponents, or perhaps because City's last two wins had been narrow escapes, Guardiola didn't opt for his usual 3-1-4-2 formation for this match. Instead, he went with a traditional 4-3-3 formation.
Mourinho, on the other hand, stuck to his trusted 4-2-3-1 system.
It was hard to keep track of how many times these two managers had faced off. Back when they weren't even in the same league, their duels took place in the Champions League.
When Mourinho joined Real Madrid, their rivalry extended to both La Liga and the Champions League.
Many thought their frequent clashes would end when they both left Spain, but fate had other plans—they ended up in the same league again, managing two bitter rivals.
Before the match, Mourinho had a stern expression, showing no emotion as he walked over to shake hands with Guardiola.
Guardiola's face mirrored Mourinho's, and after a quick handshake, they both turned away without exchanging any pleasantries, heading back to their respective benches.
With the referee's whistle, this highly anticipated clash officially began.
United launched an aggressive attack from the start.
Their wingers charged down the flanks, launching frequent attacks to create chances for striker Romelu Lukaku in the box.
But City's defense was solid, and Lukaku was completely shut down, unable to find any opportunities to receive the ball.
Seeing their forward wasn't working, United quickly switched tactics, focusing on building play through the central areas, with midfielders making late runs into the box to take shots.
This strategy proved somewhat effective, with Rashford and Matić both getting shooting chances.
Unfortunately, they seemed to have forgotten their shooting boots, as their attempts were well off target.
During this wave of attacks, City's right-back Kyle Walker received a yellow card for a tactical foul, which could have a lasting impact on the game.
The Red Devils fans in the stadium were deafening, creating a thunderous atmosphere to push their team forward in wave after wave of attack.
It was clear that Mourinho had studied City's previous matches carefully. His strategy of attacking down the wings effectively neutralized City's full-backs, preventing them from joining the attack.
This limited City's counterattacks, as they lacked the numbers on the flanks to launch effective breaks.
In the middle, United's high-pressure tactics were also successful.
Through constant fouling and intense physical battles, they disrupted City's passing and prevented them from building their usual fluid attacks.
United knew they couldn't afford to let City's lightning-fast winger, Mbappé, get a single chance to counter.
If they gave him just one opportunity, they could end up conceding a goal.
Real Madrid had already demonstrated this in the Champions League final.
That's why United were so aggressive in defending the middle, making sure to contain Mbappé and prevent him from getting up to speed.
For the first time, Mbappé experienced the treatment reserved for football's biggest stars—but this wasn't the kind of attention he wanted.
Once Guardiola saw through Mourinho's plan, he quickly made adjustments.
He swapped Lin Quan and David Silva, pushing the stronger Lin Quan further forward while pulling Silva back to avoid the pressure and allow him more space to pass and organize the attack.
With age catching up to Silva, his burst of speed had further declined, making him increasingly ineffective as a winger.
So, Guardiola tweaked his position and role, often pulling him deeper to reduce the pressure on him and allow him to showcase his strength in passing.
Similarly, De Bruyne's position was adjusted, allowing Kanté to push higher up, with the three forming a triangular setup.
De Bruyne and Silva were two different types of passers. De Bruyne was brilliant at both short and long passes, often delivering unexpected, incisive balls.
Silva excelled at short passes and ball retention, capable of driving the ball forward and playing quick one-twos with teammates. His long-passing wasn't as good, though—that had been Toni Kroos' specialty.
But since Kroos' departure, City had moved away from relying on long passes to find the forwards, adjusting their playing style.
After Guardiola's adjustments, United's high-pressure tactics in the middle became less effective.
City's playmakers were now positioned deeper, and United couldn't afford to commit too many players forward to press, as this would leave their defense vulnerable, especially with Lin Quan and Mbappé lurking in their own half.
Reducing the pressure on De Bruyne and Silva allowed them to play more freely, putting United's defense under increasing strain.
It was hard to say whether Mourinho's choices were right or wrong, but from his perspective, his decisions made sense.
However, the game was slowly shifting in City's favor. After the 30th minute, City began to dominate, launching attack after attack that threatened United's goal. Stones even had a powerful header that forced a brilliant save from De Gea.
If not for De Gea's heroics, United would have been trailing already.
But what was coming was inevitable. You can't hide from it.
In the 43rd minute, De Bruyne swung in a corner from the right. Van Dijk rose above Lukaku to nod the ball across goal, and the unmarked David Silva volleyed it past De Gea from close range!
Manchester City 1-0 Manchester United! (End of Chapter)
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