BEVERLY HILLS, May 14, (THEWILL) – The 21-year-old Ferran Torres of the newly-crowned English Premier League champions, Manchester United, produced a five-star performance for Pep Guardiola’s side with his first hat-trick for the club in a seven-goal thriller that ended 4-3 at St James’ Park in City’s favour on Friday and led to the fall of old records.
City set a new English record of 12 consecutive away victories with the win was it was their 12th consecutive away victory in the league. On the one hand, no Premier League side ever managed that, and on the other, it had never been done in the history of the English Football League.
It was a run that began in December last year, when City rocked up to St Mary’s Stadium and beat Southampton. In that time, they 32 goals and conceding just four before the three conceded in the chaotic Newcastle game took it up to seven.
It was City’s first fixture since being confirmed as champions for the 2020/21 season and it was obvious that both sides were going at it with the recognisable flair that was free from pressure but big on entertainment, especially as Newcastle too had established their stay in the Premiership.
Once again, Guardiola tweaked his team selection after the last squad lost to Chelsea. The most glaring absentees were the pair of Sergio Aguero and Kevin de Bruyne. The manager handed a City debut to goalkeeper Scott Carson, a full decade after his initial first match in the EPL in May 2011, before joining City two years ago.
Although, Steve Bruce’s charges were hospitable enough to give the champions a guard of honour at the start of the match, they proved less generous on the pitch, taking the lead midway through the first half when Emil Krafth headed past Carson.
The visitors powered back through quickfire goals from Joao Cancelo and Torres, although Joelinton Lira levelled the scores again from the spot before the interval. The hosts edged ahead again when Arsenal loanee, Joe Willock, netted the rebound after Carson initially saved his penalty but Torres added two more goals to complete the thriller for the City win.
The performance of the Magpies was unlike anything they had produced all season long. They went toe to toe with the men from the Etihad and were threatening with every advance forward, counterattacking with purpose and nerve. Allan Saint-Maximin and Joelinton were too rampant for the City backline. If they played this way all this season, their fortunes could have been much different.
For City, it was another day, another victory with Torres the standout performer, with a terrific demonstration of his scoring instincts for his hattrick. He broke one of Lionel Messi’s lesser known records, becoming the youngest player to score a hat-trick under Guardiola. Messi was 22 when his treble against Tenerife in January 2010 won him the record.
Torres also entered the City youngster EPL hattrick list, in third place, after Mario Balotelli, who was 20yrs, 138 days at the time, and Raheem Sterling, who was 20 yrs, 313 days.
The Etihad side will hope to make it 13 straight wins on their travels when they head to the AMEX Stadium to face Brighton and Hove Albion in their final away game of the season on Tuesday, before they conclude their season against Everton at the Etihad.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
