Manchester City have had a frustrating start to life under Pep Guardiola this season, although their campaign has been far from disastrous so far.
Seven points behind league leaders Chelsea, they’re on the cusp of being cut adrift from the title race. They’re still in the mix though and have been keeping pace with the Stamford Bridge side over the last few weeks.
Many tipped Guardiola to come in and work wonders at City, but it hasn’t quite been smooth sailing with unhappy squad members, poor results in key matches and defensive calamities littering good spells of high performance.
Still, there’s plenty of hope to carry into 2017 for City fans and they’ll be buoyed by the fact that the team are bouncing back rather than hitting an extended slump when results don’t go their way.
With knockout European football to look forward to and plenty still to play for in the league, 2017 could be the making of Guardiola.
Here are TEN photos that sum up Manchester City’s season so far.
A winning start… just
Pep Guardiola’s reign as Man City boss almost got off to a very poor start indeed. On paper, it looked like an easy opening day victory but David Moyes’ Sunderland side showed up at the Etihad in fighting spirit.
Only a Paddy McNair own goal in the closing minutes of the match delivered the three points after Jermain Defoe had cancelled out Sergio Aguero’s penalty opener.
Still, it was to be the start of a fantastic run for the Citizens.
European dreams begin
City’s first thumping win of the season came away in the UEFA Champions League playoff round. Steaua Bucharest fell victim to a 5-0 home defeat after a Sergio Aguero hat-trick and goals from Nolito and David Silva.
It was an impressive first leg victory that all but guaranteed City would be competing in the Group Stages once again, where they’d draw some iconic European names.
Perfect August
City’s win over West Ham United at the end of August ensured that Guardiola had the perfect start to life in Manchester.
Five wins from five in August meant that pundits were already tipping City for the title. The Spanish boss had rejuvenated the Citizens and they were looking unstoppable.
Players like Raheem Sterling, who scored twice against the Hammers, were given a new lease of life. The Guardiola appointment was working.
Derby delight
The hype around Manchester City only picked up when they went to Old Trafford and picked up three points on a memorable derby day for City fans everywhere.
Two first half goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Kelechi Iheanacho were enough to give them a 2-1 victory, holding on in the second half after Claudio Bravo made a now-trademark error to allow Zlatan Ibrahimovic to peg one back.
It was a personal victory for Guardiola too – another chapter written in his long rivalry with Jose Mourinho.
Ten in a row
Guardiola made it 10 wins from his first 10 games with a second trip to Swansea City in three days.
Raheem Sterling was on the scoresheet again, highlighting how important he was becoming to Manchester City under the guidance of the Spaniard.
The 3-1 win moved them 4 points clear of Spurs in second place and it looked like no team would be able to get at the Citizens, much in the same way as Chelsea’s current run of form.
Unstuck
City’s unbeaten run came to a crashing end at White Hart Lane when Spurs dominated them for 90 minutes and picked up a 2-0 win to move within a point at the top.
Guardiola’s side had played in a pulsating Champions League encounter at Celtic Park that week, which ended in a 3-3 draw. Celtic were the first side to not be defeated by City under the Spanish manager.
The hangover from Europe was certainly felt with City never really looking like themselves up against Pochettino’s men. It was the beginning of a rough spell for the Citizens.
Reality check
Pep Guardiola was given a massive wake up call by his old team when City went to the Nou Camp in October.
Barcelona were in exceptional form but a number of key errors littered City’s performance and when Claudio Bravo was sent off early in the second half for handling outside the box, there was only going to be one winner.
Messi had already rounded the goalkeeper in the first half to give Barca the lead and he completed a hat-trick in the second half, helping rack up a 4-0 scoreline. It was a hard night for the Sky Blues.
Revenge
City fans may have been justified in fearing the worst when Barcelona came calling to the Etihad just two weeks after the 4-0 drubbing.
Guardiola’s side had hit the buffers and picked up only one win in October, away to West Brom. Outside of the Spurs and Barcelona results, they crashed out of the League Cup to city rivals United and drew at home with Everton and Southampton.
It was all going pear shaped.
Step forward Ilkay Gundogan. The German international inspired his team to a massive 3-1 victory over Barca at the Etihad to the delight of City fans around the world. It was a win that put them in a great position to qualify for the Last 16, which they went on to do in subsequent matches.
Title blow
Despite that victory over Barcelona, the bad form continued in the Premier League, dropping points at home to Middlesbrough and squeaking out victories over Burnley and Palace.
When Chelsea came to the Etihad in early December, it was a chance for Guardiola’s side to show that they were the team to beat in the Premier League. A victory would have put them top of the table and sent a message to their title rivals.
That turned out to be nothing but a dream. Chelsea performed superbly, coming back from a goal down to win 3-1 and strike a major blow to City’s Premier League ambitions.
Back on track
A draw at home to Celtic and a humiliating 4-2 defeat to Leicester followed the Chelsea result and suddenly Guardiola was under real pressure to turn things around.
A routine win against Watford stemmed the tide but it was the Arsenal game at the Etihad everyone had their eyes one.
Slipping behind to a Theo Walcott goal in the fifth minute, it looked like things were about to get a whole lot worse for City. Half-time intervention from Guardiola inspired his side to mount a fight back and a Raheem Sterling strike gave them the victory in the end.
They’ve followed that up with another victory, making it 3 in a row in the Premier League for the first time since that run at the start of the season.
Are City back on track? 2017 has the answer.