City only failed to win six games all season in the Premier League.
Six games...
That’s 32 wins out of 38 and a new Premier League record.
Chelsea had beat their own record of 29 wins set in 2004/05 by recording 30 victories last season – stunning in itself – but City equalled that with a 4-1 win at West Ham and then added two more for good measure.
The Blues previous bests were 28 victories in 2011/12 and 27 in 2013/14 – both title-winning campaigns.
On average, it seems 23 games is usually enough to secure a Champions League spot with 26 wins more often that not enough to win the Premier League.
Manchester United won 28 of their 38 games in 2011/12 to finish on 89 points – a total that would have won the title in a canter in most other seasons- but were, of course, pipped by the Blues on goal difference on the final day.
City also beat all 19 teams at some stage during the 2017/18 campaign, but it is fascinating to think of what could have been given the points that actually were dropped.
The Blues scintillating form means that, with no disrespect to any other club, it is realistic to assume that on another day, certain games might have gone City’s way.
That said, there were a number of games won with almost the last kick of the game that the same could be said of. (Southampton twice, Bournemouth and Huddersfield away spring to mind).
The first points were dropped at home to Everton way back in August, with City reduced to 10-men and only equalising through a late goal.
In the next game, the Blues had trailed to Bournemouth and had to wait until deep into added time to take all three points – again thanks to Sterling’s late goal – who knows how important that goal eventually proved?
City then went on a run that virtually tied up the title before Christmas with 18 wins in a row.
Again, it was a side struggling at the wrong end of the table that ended the winning streak, with Crystal Palace holding the Blues to a 0-0 draw – and it could have been worse, with the Eagles missing a last-minute penalty.
Two games later, the long unbeaten run ended with a 4-3 loss away to Liverpool. In that contest, City were on the ropes and 4-1 down at one stage, before a late rally almost produced an unlikely draw.
Of all the games Pep’s men did drop points against, the Anfield defeat was not entirely a surprise, given our wretched form there over the years – plus the fact that Jurgen Klopp’s side are a force to be reckoned with on their own turf.
Three matches later and the Blues dropped another couple of points, this time following a 1-1 draw with Burnley.
The Clarets were organised and deserved a draw on the day, though City had chances to have wrapped the points up long before.
The dropped points tally moved into double figures – somehow – with a 3-2 home defeat to United.
It’s no exaggeration that the Blues could and should have been four or five goals clear by the break instead of the 2-0 score-line we did leave the field with.
On a day when the title could have been secured, United produced a blistering spell early in the second-half to win 3-2 and ensure the champagne at the Etihad remained on ice - at least for one more week!
City were held by Huddersfield Town on matchday 36 – a 0-0 draw at the Etihad when everyone had already written off the Terriers.
Those were where the points were dropped and given four of the games were against sides that finished outside the top six, this is perhaps why Pep says the team can improve.
So, despite scoring more than 100 goals, winning 32 matches, gathering 100 points and playing a thrilling brand of football that this country has never witnessed before, the boss believes we can get even better.
A frightening thought!
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