SWR: Chapter 698: The Devil’s Three Consecutive Victories

On the afternoon of December 26, at St. James' Park, Newcastle.

In the 19th round of the Premier League, Manchester City traveled away to challenge Newcastle.

Less than a minute into the match, Gao Shen was already certain of victory.

By the fourth minute, he had essentially concluded that the win was in the bag.

Alan Pardew set up with a strict defensive strategy at home, deploying five midfielders in an effort to stifle Manchester City’s attack. Gao Shen, however, stuck with his 4-3-3 formation and launched an aggressive offensive right from the start.

In City’s first attack, they broke into Newcastle’s penalty area. Though the ball was initially collected by the Magpies’ goalkeeper Krul, he attempted to distribute it to midfielder Joey Barton, only for it to be intercepted by the lurking Suarez.

After stealing the ball, the Uruguayan striker drove into the penalty area. Instead of passing to Gareth Bale advancing on the left, he played it back to the left side of the penalty spot. David Silva followed up and calmly struck the ball with his left foot into the back of the net, giving Manchester City the lead.

City then pressed Newcastle relentlessly.

The home side struggled to adapt to the intensity of the Blue Moon’s pressing game and made another costly passing error in the fourth minute. Suarez again intercepted the ball and laid it off to Rakitic, who delivered a quick low pass into the box without even taking a touch. Suarez charged forward and easily slotted it home to double the lead.

Standing on the touchline in front of the visitors' bench, Gao Shen was already certain of the result.

…

This season's winter break was different from the past.

On December 26, 28, and January 1, the Premier League scheduled three matchdays within a week. The intensity was clearly a notch higher than last season. Manchester City’s opponents for this brutal stretch were Newcastle, Aston Villa, and Blackpool—high pressure, high stakes.

As soon as the fixtures were released at the start of the season, Gao Shen and his coaching staff began analyzing them in detail.

In December, learning from the lessons of last season, they began making thorough preparations for the Christmas and winter break period. Thanks to that, Manchester City had significantly improved in both squad depth and rotation strategies.

Just in terms of rotation alone, City now had 21 regular players—more than any other Premier League team. Including reserves and youth players, their squad was the deepest and strongest in the league.

That gave Gao Shen great confidence that they could dominate this demanding winter stretch and avoid the slump that plagued them during the same period last season.

The away trip to Newcastle was just the beginning.

…

Less than five minutes in and already two goals up, Manchester City settled into a composed rhythm.

Newcastle tried to mount a few counterattacks, but none posed a real threat. Instead, in the 37th minute, David Silva received the ball with his back to goal and, without turning, lobbed a pass behind him. It was as if he had eyes on the back of his head. The ball landed perfectly in the left side of the penalty area. Gareth Bale ran onto it and struck it with his left foot into the bottom right corner of the net—the area he was most comfortable with.

Three-nil!

In the second half, Bale opened up with a goal from a tight angle.

But City couldn’t extend the score further for a while.

It wasn’t until the 81st minute that substitute Giroud received a pass from Rakitic, used his strength to turn past a defender, played a lovely one-two with Robben, and sent the ball into the right side of the box.

Robben surged in, stopped abruptly, dribbled inside with his left foot, and curled a beautiful shot into the net.

Four-nil!

That score held until the final whistle.

…

This Boxing Day round of the Premier League was a tough one.

However, both Manchester United and Liverpool secured wins—United won 2-0 and Liverpool triumphed 2-1.

The biggest surprise came from the clash between Arsenal and Chelsea at the Emirates. The Gunners pulled off a shock 3-1 victory at home.

Ancelotti's side had looked strong in the opening ten rounds but their form fell off a cliff afterward.

They lost 0-2 to Liverpool, then 0-3 to Sunderland. Although they managed a 2-1 win over Manchester United at home, in the following nine league games, Ancelotti’s side only recorded two wins, three draws, and four defeats.

That run was a complete failure for a team that had started the season so strongly.

The root of Chelsea’s sudden collapse, according to some reports, was the abrupt dismissal of assistant coach Ray Wilkins by the club’s management. Ancelotti allegedly wasn’t informed in advance, causing unrest in the squad.

Whatever the reason, after the 1-3 loss to Arsenal, Chelsea slipped to sixth place in the league table, behind both Tottenham and Arsenal.

Arsenal, on the other hand, were showing signs of returning to form and pushing back into the top four.

Tottenham were holding steady, thanks to the consistent performances of Džeko, Van der Vaart, and Modrić. They were now fourth in the Premier League and looked capable of maintaining their spot.

…

On December 28, the 20th round of the Premier League, Manchester City hosted Aston Villa.

For this match, Gao Shen heavily rotated the squad and opted for a 4-4-2 formation, with Fernandinho and Yaya Touré pairing up in central midfield.

Just eight minutes in, Van Persie received a diagonal ball from Hazard on the left. He controlled the ball beautifully to shake off the defender, but was tripped in the penalty area. The referee immediately pointed to the spot.

Van Persie stepped up and calmly converted, giving City the lead.

Shortly after, Manchester City capitalized on a corner. Jerome Boateng rose to head the ball home, scoring his first Premier League goal since joining the club.

In the 27th minute, Van Persie and Yaya Touré combined with a quick one-two on the edge of the box. Touré unleashed a powerful volley that flew into the net. Three-nil.

City then created several more chances but failed to finish them off.

It wasn’t until the 55th minute that Robinho broke down the right wing, dribbled into the box, and squared the ball to the front of the goal. Van Persie tapped it in, extending the lead to 4-0.

In the end, Manchester City secured another emphatic home victory.

…

This round of the league was very different from Boxing Day.

Manchester City, Tottenham, Chelsea, and Liverpool all picked up wins.

Chelsea, after their loss to Arsenal, bounced back with a narrow 1-0 win over Bolton.

Meanwhile, Manchester United and Arsenal both dropped points with draws.

This further widened City’s lead at the top, bringing the title closer within reach.

However, Ferguson didn’t hesitate to stir the pot. He claimed that Manchester City weren’t much better than last season.

Several British media outlets echoed the sentiment, saying Gao Shen’s squad owed their results to their deep bench. Whether they could truly survive the congested Christmas and winter fixture list remained to be seen.

…

January 1, noon.

Manchester United traveled to face West Bromwich Albion. Although they took the lead, West Brom equalized.

Ultimately, it was thanks to Van der Sar’s crucial penalty save and Hernandez’s goal that United escaped with a 2-1 win and secured three valuable points.

Liverpool came from behind to beat Bolton 2-1, with Torres and Joe Cole scoring.

Tottenham edged Fulham 1-0 at home, while Chelsea were held to a thrilling 3-3 draw by Aston Villa at Stamford Bridge.

Arsenal crushed Birmingham 3-0 away from home.

…

Manchester City’s match kicked off at 3 p.m.

Only 21 seconds into the game, Blackpool midfielder Charlie Adam made a mistake with a back pass. Suarez seized the opportunity, broke into the right side of the box, and fired from a tight angle to open the scoring for City.

After that, Manchester City missed several good chances. But in the 20th minute, Suarez drifted to the left, linked up with Bale, and sent a pass across the face of the goal. David Silva arrived and swept the ball in.

Two-nil!

In the 34th minute, City won a corner. Although the initial clearance was made, Robben collected the ball on the right side of the box and curled a beautiful left-footed shot into the top left corner.

Three-nil!

Just two minutes later, Suarez laid the ball off to Rakitic, who charged into the right side of the box and was brought down by Valnilla while cutting inside. The referee didn’t hesitate to award a penalty.

Rakitic stepped up and converted with ease, sealing the victory.

Four-nil by halftime.

In the second half, Manchester City wasted a string of clear chances.

Rakitic played a perfect through ball to Suarez, who went one-on-one with the goalkeeper. After dribbling past him, Suarez failed to reset his balance quickly enough and couldn’t shoot in time. His delayed attempt was blocked.

Just four minutes later, Bale broke from the left and sent in a low cross. Suarez met it near the penalty spot with no defenders in sight, but his shot went wide.

Although City won 4-0, it was clear they were not quite at their best.

Their dominance came largely from the squad’s overall strength.

At the post-match press conference, Gao Shen admitted City could have scored at least seven.

“I can’t ask for more from the players, but I don’t think this was the best Manchester City performance. We had chances to score more, but we only got four.”

Even so, Gao Shen was pleased with the outcome.

Manchester City had survived the dreaded Christmas schedule with three straight wins.

“I know a lot of people expected us to stumble during Christmas and the winter break, but we didn’t give them the chance.”

“On the contrary, we’ve turned this period into a powerful weapon to widen our lead!”

Gao Shen praised the players’ commitment and performance post-holiday, saying City had become a mature and formidable team. “We have the strength to get the results we want on all fronts, including the upcoming FA Cup!”

“Of course, that’s only if we all continue to work together and give it our all!”

(To be continued.)