How Savinho and his ‘glimpses of brilliance’ restored Man City’s strength | OneFootball

A summer of transfer market misjudgements may have sent Manchester City spiralling into decline but there are signs it will nevertheless yield one benefit. While City have suffered because of sales and because they neglected to buy where they needed players, while one summer recruit, Ilkay Gundogan, has been benched, the other has proved the catalyst who has spurred them out of the worst run of Pep Guardiola’s managerial career. They had a lone win in 13 games. Now they have two in two, each inspired by Savinho.

After a goal and an assist at Leicester came pivotal contributions to City’s first three strikes as West Ham were routed; somehow both unconvincingly and yet emphatically. “You cannot ask me if the old Manchester City is back,” Guardiola said. “If you saw the game, we are not. If you ask me the team is playing like it has played years ago, no, absolutely not. Our performance was not good.”

But Savinho’s was. He waited 23 games for his first City goal: he was denied a second in as many matches only because City’s deflected opener was instead debited to Vladimir Coufal. But he went on to set up each of Erling Haaland’s brace. After providing the Norwegian’s goal at the King Power Stadium, perhaps Savinho has restored Haaland to form, too.

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Savinho’s deflected strike opened the scoring and gave City the impetus to go on and win the game (Getty Images)

Or maybe West Ham did that. Even as many of the old certainties of City have been destroyed, two remain. Haaland scores against West Ham and City always beat them. This took his tally to nine in six matches at their expense, his fourth and fifth this season after an August hat-trick. Haaland’s first City goal came against West Ham; so, too, his record-breaking 35th league strike of the 2022-23 season. Now he has crashed through the 20 barrier in all competitions in the current campaign, in early January and when City have had a wretched run. “Being at 20 goals at this stage of the season is exceptional,” said Kevin De Bruyne. If it is predictable that Haaland is City’s top scorer, Savinho now leads the way for their assists.

And in the Brazilian, Haaland may have a new supply line. “The two assists are brilliant,” said Guardiola. “There were glimpses of brilliance.” He has been rewarded for switching Savinho to the left. “Having a left footer on the left side, like old-fashioned, vintage football,” added Guardiola, who has tended to favour inverted wingers.

This was a throwback tactic that allowed the kind of crosses Haaland headed in at Leicester and again for his first goal here. But a 20-year-old also brought the hunger of a newcomer. “Normally when you are many years here the players think they deserve something special for what they have done, and that is a big mistake,” said Guardiola. Savinho has no such credit in the bank. “He has everything to prove,” said Guardiola. He set about doing that.

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Pep Guardiola’s tweak of Savinho’s position to the left has been rewarded (Getty Images)

There is, of course, nothing old-fashioned in his route to the Etihad Stadium. City have benefited from their multi-club model, from the peculiarity that Savinho was owned by Troyes without ever playing for them. It gave City an advantage in signing an emerging talent; the real triumph in recruitment came in taking him to Troyes. His has been a mixed season, with an encouraging start, then caught up in a general malaise. Now he is flourishing. That may not be good news for Jack Grealish, who cost £100m, and Jeremy Doku, who arrived for £55m, as both left wingers remained on the bench. Even when Savinho went off, James McAtee came on instead. Grealish’s late cameo occurred when City could give Haaland a rare rest.

Perhaps it was Guardiola taking mercy on an old Barcelona teammate. This time the chants of “sacked in the morning” were directed not at the City manager but at Julen Lopetegui. His fortunes have nosedived in a week when West Ham have lost to Liverpool and City by an aggregate score of 9-1. Lopetegui, who has often seemed imperilled, was watched by his predecessor, David Moyes, a man who has twice been parachuted in before to rescue West Ham’s seasons.

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Erling Haaland was in the goals again with a confident brace at the Etihad Stadium (AFP via Getty Images)

Lopetegui wondered if this could have been different. “It is not easy to explain the 4-1,” he said. “I think it has been very strange.” West Ham had almost twice as many shots as City and a far higher xG. Yet none of their efforts before the break were on target; they could rue misses by Mohammed Kudus and Tomas Soucek at 0-0.

“In the first minutes, we deserve to be 0-1 and 0-2 [down],” admitted Guardiola. His side still had the jitters at the back. Mateo Kovacic was out of position and out of sorts as the supposed defensive midfielder. Josko Gvardiol felt unable to police Kudus. Yet West Ham did not score until they had conceded four, when Niclas Fullkrug swept in just his second goal for the club from Soucek’s low cross.

Lopetegui could argue that, whoever the manager, West Ham are doomed in this fixture. In Guardiola’s reign, the Hammers have taken two points from a possible 54 against City. Theirs was a ridiculously bad record. Predictably, it got worse.

City were arguably the inferior team in the first half and yet went in 2-0 up. Savinho’s cross-shot took a telling touch off Coufal before, as Alphonse Areola misjudged his deep cross, Haaland headed into an empty net.

They added two more after the break to score four in a league game for the first time since August. Haaland’s second was the pick of the goals, dinked over Areola after the initial incision came from Savinho, running from his own half, feeding the defence-splitting pass.

Another penetrative ball, albeit unintentional, came from Kudus when he contrived to pick out De Bruyne. He found Phil Foden, who scored his first home league goal since West Ham’s visit in May. Then City became champions. Now they will not. But at least, in Savinho, there is a ray of hope for their future.

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Phil Foden took his opportunity to add a fourth for City (EPA)