‘Tough to watch’- Man City star sends Arsenal ‘message’ as title race takes another twist
Rico Lewis thinks that Manchester City has made a statement to other teams with their remarkable performances this week. The team won 7-0 against RB Leipzig and 6-0 against Burnley at the Etihad, with Erling Haaland scoring eight of the 13 goals in just five days.
Despite not being consistent since coming back from the World Cup, City has been on an impressive winning streak, having won eight out of their last 10 matches, and drawing the other two.
During this period, Manchester City has scored a total of 31 goals and only conceded five, managing to keep five clean sheets. This impressive attacking force and defensive strength may be concerning for other teams, including Arsenal, who have recently moved eight points ahead of City in the Premier League standings after their victory against Crystal Palace on Sunday.
Despite being behind in the Premier League standings, Rico Lewis and his teammates have complete faith that they can close the gap in points when the final stretch of the season starts in April.
Lewis believes that City’s current form will be a challenging sight for their rivals to watch.
“It was quite similar to last week – a big scoreline and no goals conceded,” the defender said on the club’s incredible week. “It definitely sends a message out to everyone else that we are a threat at both ends.
“We’re not going to concede easily – it’s going to take a lot to score and also, we are going to create a lot of chances. For other teams it’s tough to watch but for us it’s a good message to send out to everyone else.”
Although Manchester City won convincingly over Burnley on the weekend, they did not perform at their best during the first 30 minutes of the match. However, a double by Erling Haaland gave them the momentum they needed to score four additional goals in the second half.
Haaland completed his hat-trick, Julian Alvarez scored twice, and Cole Palmer also managed to score during the game.
“It’s tough to go from that big high [in midweek] to then focus again,” Lewis said, when asked about Saturday’s performance. “The team in the dressing room is so professional and they’ve done it year in, year out, so for them it’s quite simple. I’ve just got to follow what they do.
“We’ve shown today how professional we are and taking every game seriously and as a challenge. It was a mature performance. Burnley are a great team and are doing so well in the Championship.
“We approached the game in the right way and showed our level. We had control the whole game and when we have that much control, we are going to create so many chances and score goals.
“Any team can cause problems,” he added. “We just took a step back and stayed calm and carried on with our game plan that we worked on in the week. We were patient and the chances came, and we took them.
“They play similar to us and it’s always tough to play against teams that replicate you. The game plan is playing our game like we have all season – staying patient, waiting for the moments and taking those moments.”
‘Tough to watch’- Man City star sends Arsenal ‘message’ as title race takes another twist
