Sunday began and ended as a celebration of Pep Guardiola as Manchester City beat Liverpool 3-0 at the Etihad, giving their manager his 716th win in his landmark 1,000th match in management. Home fans broke into ‘We’ve got, Guardiola…’ to the tune of Glad All Over, recognising a coach who seems to have laid fresh foundations for a new chapter and another push for a seventh Premier League title.
After a draining campaign in which injuries took their toll following a fourth successive title, Guardiola and his players looked depleted. The arrival of new faces and a visible lift in energy, however, point to a revitalisation. City sit second, four points behind leaders Arsenal, and Guardiola says the squad is improving month by month — the kind of progression that fuels title challenges. He added he feels the energy is back and that the team is returning to many of the things that defined them.
The smile on Guardiola’s face as he walked onto the pitch said it all: the pleasure of coaching has returned. Since joining from Bayern Munich in 2016 he has reshaped English football, but last season was a rare trophy-less blip that prompted questions about whether he could spark the side again. Sunday’s display against a club he has long respected as a benchmark answered many of those doubts.
Guardiola has spoken of a ‘good vibe’ around the squad since the Club World Cup, and it showed. City still prize their trademark passing, but this version can vary its approach and play long when required to a dominant centre-forward. Matheus Nunes’ cross for Erling Haaland’s opener was a reminder that classic methods still work; Haaland now has 14 league goals in 11 Premier League matches this season.
City’s work-rate has been notable too. They have covered more ground than any other Premier League side this season, totalling 1,268.7 km and averaging 115.3 km per game, an increase of 5.5 km from last term. Guardiola welcomed the unpredictability of his team, saying they are more varied in how they attack and defend, which keeps opponents guessing.
Former City defender Nedum Onuoha observed that Guardiola in recent matches looks almost like a different man than in earlier 100-game spells, praising his adaptation as football changes. Ex-midfielder Michael Brown highlighted a more pragmatic edge: City are managing games differently, holding the ball in corners and occasionally going direct to Haaland when under pressure — tactics earlier teams under Guardiola might not have favoured.
City have slipped up this season — defeats to Brighton, Tottenham and Aston Villa — but two of those came in August, and they have lost only once in 14 matches since. The summer departures of long-serving names such as Kevin de Bruyne, Kyle Walker, Jack Grealish, Ilkay Gundogan and Ederson marked a new era, yet the team looks to have reclaimed the consistency that delivered six titles in eight years and the long-sought Champions League.
Haaland remains central: his goals take him to 28 for club and country in 18 appearances this season. Guardiola had urged midfielders and wingers to contribute offensively and on Sunday Nico Gonzalez and Jeremy Doku answered. With Rodri absent, Gonzalez has adapted into the number six role and recorded the most touches of any City player. Young Nico O’Reilly limited Mohamed Salah effectively, winning five tackles — the most in the match.
Guardiola singled out O’Reilly and Bernardo Silva for praise, calling O’Reilly’s display amazing and describing Silva as an incredible signing and a master in the way City played against Liverpool. Silva and Phil Foden both covered more than 12.5 km in the game, a remarkable workload.
Former striker Dion Dublin said Guardiola has his team where he wants them again, calling it the City of old — dominant and controlling games. Liverpool, by contrast, slipped to eighth, eight points behind Arsenal. Manager Arne Slot conceded five defeats were ‘too many’ and cautioned against thinking about the title race for now.
Guardiola and City, however, will be thinking precisely about that: building momentum, sharpening their unpredictability and sustaining the renewed energy Sunday suggested is back at the Etihad.
Additional reporting by Chris Collinson
