Despite having Rodri sent off in a heated match against Nottingham Forest on Saturday, Manchester City prevailed 2-0 and went five points ahead of second-place Nottingham Forest in the Premier League standings.
The goals scored by Phil Foden and Erling Haaland in the first 15 minutes of play allowed City to extend their unbeaten streak in the Premier League to six games.
Rodri’s moment of insanity caused the players coached by Pep Guardiola to have to work considerably harder, despite the fact that they have already won 20 straight matches at home across all competitions.
The Spaniard grabbed Morgan Gibbs-White around the neck less than one minute into the second half, and he might face a hefty punishment as a result of his action. If he is suspended for three games, he would miss his team’s Premier League match against Arsenal the following month.
Early on in the match, City displayed a level of ruthlessness that seemed to put an end to the contest.
Foden opened the goal with a sublime volley that he took off of a cushioned cross that was provided by Kyle Walker.
After suffering an injury to Bernardo Silva during his team’s 3-1 victory against Red Star Belgrade, Guardiola said that his squad was “in trouble” owing to the quantity of injuries that had occurred.
Jack Grealish was only healthy enough to come off the bench, while Mateo Kovacic and John Stones are still unable to play because of their injuries.
Matheus Nunes, however, was given the opportunity to make his first league start since joining the club from Wolves because of the unavailability of other players, and he made a significant contribution by setting up the second goal.
Haaland pushed the ball in for his ninth goal of the season after the Portuguese played a nice one-two with Foden and then chipped the ball across the field for Foden.
Julian Alvarez’s shot from point-blank range to add to City’s lead was stopped from behind. If it had gone in, City would have had a bigger advantage.
However, it did not seem like the European champions would be in any danger until Rodri lost his temper.
When the in-form Nigerian lifted the ball over under pressure from Ederson, Taiwo Awoniyi of Forest had the finest opportunity for his team to come back into the game.
As Awoniyi and the Brazilian goalie went head-to-head in a heated argument, both players were very fortunate not to get a red card for their actions.
However, City was able to regain control as Guardiola shifted to a back five formation in order to resist an aerial assault from the away team.
Haaland should have had his second when he spooned over with the goal gaping when he was presented with an opportunity to score from Nathan Ake’s cross late in the game.
The pressure is on for Man United.
In other news, Luton earned their very first point in Premier League history but were held to a 1-1 draw at home by Wolves. This was a tremendous missed chance for Luton.
After 39 minutes, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde was shown the red card, which resulted in the visitors at Kenilworth Road being reduced to 10 men.
Even though Pedro Neto scored for Wolves to put them in the lead early in the second half, Luton was able to salvage a draw thanks to Carlton Morris’ penalty.
After playing to a scoreless draw at Selhurst Park, both Crystal Palace and Fulham maintained their places in the top half of the table.
When Manchester United makes their way to Burnley later on Saturday, they will be looking to avoid falling to loss for the fourth game in a row.
The Red Devils’ chances of winning the championship look to be finished, since they are now behind City by 12 points after they were defeated by Bayern Munich 4-3 in their first Champions League match earlier this week.
Burnley have not yet earned their first victory since returning to the Premier League, and Erik ten Hag would be under a significant amount of pressure if United were to suffer another loss.
On Sunday, every team that is currently within striking distance of City at the top of the standings will be competing.
In the north London derby, Arsenal will play home to Tottenham, while Liverpool will play host to West Ham and Brighton will play host to Bournemouth.