Manchester City Fan View: Citizens pass test of mentality

Manchester City left Wembley with a very satisfying three points after beating Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. All eyes were on the Blues after the most trying week of their season. If this was a test of character, they passed it with flying colours.

In the previous three games, City came up short in the Champions League quarter final against Liverpool; the Reds won both legs to send Pep Guardiola’s side heading out of Europe prematurely. Sandwiched between those fixtures was a gut-wrenching loss to Manchester United. Having been presented with a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to seal a record breaking title win against their favourite enemy, the Blues squandered a 2-0 lead and left with nothing.

It hardly threw the title into doubt; City still held a 13-point lead over United with just six games to play. What was thrown into question was the mentality of the team. They crumbled at Anfield to virtually hand the tie to Jürgen Klopp’s men within 30 minutes of the first leg. Frustration about unfavourable refereeing decisions possibly affected the players, but they have to be better than that.

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In an ideal world, the tie following those disappointments wouldn’t be away from home against an excellent side who were undefeated in the Premier League since December. But, such is the way of things, that’s exactly what the fixture list had presented City with.

The victory was resounding. Gabriel Jesus gave City the lead and Ilkay Gündogan doubled it with a beautifully executed penalty after Raheem Sterling was fouled; This time City had got the rub of the green – replays showed Sterling was clearly outside of the box when he was impeded.

They were dominating the game, but the real test came when Christian Eriksen pulled a goal back for the home side. To win this one, and thus take a gigantic leap towards wrapping up the league, City would have to stand up in the face of pressure. They did it perfectly. Spurs had a period where they posed a real threat either side of half-time, but a defence marshalled by Vincent Kompany refused to wilt.

Raheem Sterling’s goal was just reward for a fine performance and confirmed the win that City deserved. A magnificent team performance had the away end bouncing as the Spurs fans deserted Wembley and sulked off into the London night. Guardiola came over to us, using one finger to indicate the one victory needed to cement the Premier League title. The players were beaming; They know the job is nearly done.

In fact, the title could even be City’s by the time you read this. If Manchester United lose to either West Brom or Bournemouth before the Blues host Swansea on Sunday, Pep’s men will be Champions of England. If United pick up maximum points, City will need to win to seal the deal.

Whilst we’d all love to win it at the Etihad Stadium, to have a title-winning moment to add to the memory banks, the truth is it’s actually incidental. Manchester City’s name will be engraved on the trophy regardless of how it comes.

The last fortnight has proven that this team is not infallible. City are, by some distance, the best team in England. One only needs to look at the table to see that. But bad results happen and difficult spells come along. If you want to know the real quality of this team, watch the Tottenham game back and see how they dominated an excellent opponent, right on the back of that disappointing week.

The coronation is imminent and it’s going to be sweet to bask in the glory of this extraordinary team.