Ilkay Gundogan believes stylish Man City's winning run will continue
Ilkay Gundogan says Manchester City are proving they have the substance to match their style and believes they will carry on their record breaking winning run if they continue to combine the two so well.
City became the first team to win 14 successive English top-flight games in a single season with Sunday’s 2-1 victory over Manchester United at Old Trafford to move 11 points clear of their rivals at the top of the table.
Pep Guardiola’s side dealt comfortably with United’s long ball and height advantage and scored twice from set-pieces as well as dominating possession and playing the better football.
Gundogan insisted that no one at City would be lulled into thinking they already have one hand on the title but says they have shown they have the physicality to match their poise and panache.
“We knew that it is going to be difficult because they have very quick players up front, strong players, so we expected a lot of long balls,” the City midfielder said. “But the way we defend, especially our back four defending these kind of balls, was amazing.
“It’s definitely not easy to come here, to play the way we’ve played and especially to win that game. It about a lot of mentality, a lot of heart and bravery to do these kind of things.
“We were brave enough to play, or to play our game. It's not about expecting something, it’s just about doing what we are able to do. We know that this is completely the right way and we know if we do it well, we have all the chances to win every game.”
Guardiola has mounting defensive concerns, though. Left back Benjamin Mendy is not certain to play again this season after suffering a ruptured cruciate in September, centre-half John Stones is out for another two to three weeks with a hamstring injury and now Guardiola has lost captain Vincent Kompany to yet another injury that raised fresh questions about his future at the club.
The Belgium defender was substituted at half time against United and Guardiola admitted he can no longer rely on the player’s fitness after two injury plagued years. Kompany has 18 months left on his contract but his future is up in the air. Guardiola must decide whether to play Eliaquim Mangala at centre-half with Nicolas Otamendi against Swansea tomorrow (WED) or draft midfielder Fernandinho into defence.
“Kompany is injured,” the City manager said. “We wait and see. Vinny is always like this – unfortunately we can’t count on him for a long time.”
