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Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola possesses one of the sharpest minds in football. His style of play may not be easy to understand or accessible to everyone, but it has always been enthralling.
Guardiola, who started his coaching career at Barcelona, has won trophies everywhere he has managed. He won three La Liga titles, two Champions Leagues, and two Copas del Rey with the Blaugrana. He then moved to Bayern Munich in 2013 and helped the Bavarians to three consecutive league titles and two German Cups. Now at Manchester City, Guardiola has ruled the Premier League with an iron fist, winning three league titles in the last five seasons. This season, too, his City are sitting atop the league table and are the outright favorites to defend their title.
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Beating a team managed by the great Pep Guardiola is arguably the toughest job in club football, especially in league fixtures. Doing a league double over such a brilliant tactician is next to impossible. No team in Spain and Germany managed to beat a Pep Guardiola-managed side home and away in a single season. Yet, in the Premier League, there have already been four who have achieved the astonishing feat.
Here are four football clubs that have completed a league double over a Pep Guardiola-managed team:
#4 Chelsea (2016-17)
In the 2016-17 season, Chelsea were comfortably superior to any other Premier League team out there, including Pep Guardiola’s City. Their first meeting was at the Etihad Stadium, where the Blues came from behind to bag a solid 1-3 win.
After Gary Cahill’s own goal put the hosts ahead, Diego Costa restored parity with a neat strike in the 60th minute. Willian and Eden Hazard then joined the party and completed the turnaround. Sergio Aguero and Fernandinho saw red in injury time after being involved in late tussles with Chelsea players.
In the reverse fixture at Stamford Bridge, Hazard opened the scoring for the west London outfit. Aguero restored parity for the visitors in the 26th minute, but City’s joy was short-lived as Hazard added another in the 35th minute.
The Belgian’s strike sealed a 2-1 win for the Blues and practically knocked City out of the title race.
#3 Wolverhampton Wanderers (2019-20)
Unlike the other three clubs on this list, Wolverhampton Wanderers were not a team full of superstars when they beat Guardiola’s City. They simply stuck to their guns, played the brand of football they were known for, and got rewarded for it.
On matchday eight of the 2019-20 season, Wolves traveled to the home of the defending champions to get a respectable result. They held firm until the dying embers of the match and bagged a clean 0-2 win courtesy of an Adama Traore double.
The win at the Etihad marked their first away win over Manchester City since 1979.
In the return fixture, City keeper Ederson saw a red card early in the match, but a Raheem Sterling double put the visitors 0-2 up.
Unfortunately for the champions, Wolves still had life left in them and fashioned a comeback, courtesy of goals from Traore, Raul Jimenez, and Matthew Doherty.
#2 Manchester United (2019-20)
Having bagged a 1-4 win over Burnley in their previous match, Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City welcomed Manchester United on matchday 16 of the 2019-20 season.
Expectedly, the Sky Blues dominated possession from the get-go and were creating better chances. Unfortunately for the home supporters, it was the Red Devils who bagged the first goal of the derby that day.
Bernardo Silva fouled Marcus Rashford inside the area and the VAR promptly nudged the referee to point to the spot. Rashford clinically converted the resulting spot-kick.
The second goal came just six minutes later when Anthony Martial beat Ederson at his near post. Pep Guardiola’s side did pull one back in the 85th minute, but it only served as a consolation.
The two teams clashed again in the return leg at Old Trafford on matchday 29. This time, Anthony Martial opened the scoring for the visitors, converting from Bruno Fernandes's chipped free-kick. Manchester City kept pushing for the equalizer but could not force their way through.
Six minutes into injury time, United put the final nail in City’s coffin when Scott McTominay scored a long-range curler to seal the game.
The 2-0 win at Old Trafford marked the Red Devils’ first league double over their crosstown rivals in a decade.
#1 Tottenham Hotspur (2021-22)
Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City are currently leading the 2021-22 Premier League race. However, Tottenham Hotspur’s heroic win over them on Saturday proved that second-placed Liverpool might still have a shot.
Spurs and City locked horns on the opening weekend of the Premier League 2021-22 season. Playing away from home, Guardiola’s Citizens dominated proceedings, but could not apply the finishing touch.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s Spurs, on the other hand, were taking a more cautious approach and refrained from committing too many men forward.
Their strategy paid off in the 55th minute when Son Heung-min curled a low drive past Ederson to put the hosts ahead. The Lilywhites maintained their shape for the rest of the match to secure a narrow 1-0 win.
In the reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium, City were expected to exert revenge on Spurs. Now managed by Antonio Conte, the job was always going to be easier said than done.
Dejan Kulusevski opened the scoring for the north London outfit just four minutes into the game. Ilkay Gundogan equalized for Manchester City just past the half-hour mark to spark life at the Etihad.
City target Harry Kane restored Spurs’ advantage with a sumptuous strike in the 59th minute, but Riyad Mahrez canceled it out in injury time.
Finally, Tottenham star Kane struck again five minutes into added time to seal a famous win for the Lilywhites.
