Pep Guardiola was agitated. He stalked the touchline, hands on hips, brooding. He gestured at Bernardo Silva and, during a break for an injury, gave him lengthy instructions. Manchester City were 1-0 up and creating chances, but Guardiola often serves as his own canary in the mine, his agitation indicating long before it becomes apparent in concrete actions that something is amiss.
When Ilkay Gündogan put City ahead in the fifth minute, the assumption was that Eddie Howe was on his way to an 11th defeat in 11 games against Guardiola. Everybody knows the drill: Guardiola praises Howe for the football his side plays, all that passing and so little of that nasty tackling, all that space and so little of that closing down, and then helps himself to a comfortable win: the cumulative goal-difference between the two before kick-off was 31-4 in Guardiola’s favour.
