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Gabriel Jesus has arrived, and Manchester City are officially terrifying
Manchester City’s newest striker looks like just the player their attack was missing.
Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images
Ever since Pep Guardiola arrived at Manchester City at the start of the season, there’s been something missing in their attack. As gifted as Sergio Aguero is as a player, he’s not quite the kind of player Guardiola wants up top in terms of how he plays, and that’s hampered City a bit at times. In January, though, City signed young Brazilian star Gabriel Jesus — and now that missing piece is in place.
Jesus made his debut a little over two weeks ago and has already had a profound effect on Guardiola’s side, scoring three goals in his first two league starts for City, including both strikes in a 2-1 win over Swansea City on Sunday. He brings those missing elements in spades: he’s willing to drive on the ball or hold it up, and plays in his fellow attackers extremely well when the situation calls for it, while being equally capable of scoring excellent goals on his own.
Now, Manchester City’s attack looks more complete and balanced than it has all season. If they can just find a way to avoid being plagued by the injury bug as they’ve been at times this year, they might just be able to mount a dangerous challenge in the Premier League title race.
Goal of the Day
In the news
Sergio Aguero doesn’t sound committed to staying with Manchester City past this season. (BBC)
Antonio Conte isn’t happy about the first half of Chelsea’s season. (ESPNFC)
Borussia Dortmund have said that they “deeply regret” a series of violent attacks by Dortmund fans against RB Leipzig fans at their match this weekend. (Guardian)
Serious storm damage to Celta Vigo’s stadium forced a postponement of their match against Real Madrid from this weekend. (MARCA)
Inter Milan striker Mauro Icardi could be in trouble after kicking a ball at a Serie A referee after Inter’s loss to Juventus this weekend. (Football Italia)
Cameroon’s manager spent time taunting the players who refused to play for him after his side won AFCON on Sunday. (Daily Mail)
You should be reading
Paul Doyle thinks that Mauricio Pochettino is finally building a strong base at Tottenham Hotspur. (Guardian)
Jamie Carragher, Gary Neville, and Niall Quinn debate whether Arsene Wenger’s time at Arsenal is up. (Sky Sports)
What happened this weekend
Chelsea dominated en route to a huge win over Arsenal. (We Ain’t Got No History)
Everton put up six goals on Bournemouth in a big win. (Royal Blue Mersey)
Liverpool’s title chances are sinking after a frustrating loss to Hull City. (Liverpool Offside)
Juventus won the Derby d’Italita over Inter Milan. (Black & White & Read All Over)
Napoli dominated Bologna thanks to Marek Hamsik’s first Serie A hat trick for the team. (The Siren’s Song)
Bayern Munich dropped two big points in draw against Schalke. (Bavarian Football Works)
What to watch on Monday (click for listings, all times ET)
La Liga: Granada vs. Las Palmas (2:45 p.m.): The day’s only notable action should still be interesting with in-form Las Palmas looking to climb back up the table in Spain.
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