Manchester City scored their 500th Premier League goal under Pep Guardiola as they beat Leeds United 7-0.
They actually scored their 500th, 501st, 502nd, 503rd, 504th, 505th and 506th as they inflicted Leeds heaviest-ever defeat in the Premier League and became the first side to stick seven goals on Marcelo Bielsa.
But that opening goal from Phil Foden was their 500th with Guardiola in charge, and City have reached that obscene number in just 207 Premier League games. That’s a record, and by some distance.
No manager has seen their side score 500 Premier League goals faster than Guardiola’s City. Jurgen Klopp was the record holder and his Liverpool side did it in 234 games. Pep’s City broke that record by almost an entire season’s worth of games which is astonishing.
After the game Guardiola declined to accept praise, insisting: “we were patient with the ball, the quality of the players did the rest,” adding: “I didn’t score one goal, the staff didn’t score one goal. It depends on the quality of the players.”
And he also had a word of praise for the fans, saying: “the vibes of the stadium was nice today, [it] was sold out, the supporters incredible,” even though most of the noise was generated by the visiting Leeds fans.
Guardiola even made excuses for Leeds, saying “maybe they were tired,” after their exertions at the weekend against Chelsea.
Finally, he praised his man of the match and two-goal hero Kevin De Bruyne: “Kevin in these type of games, open up and down, he’s devastating. He can do what he wants.”
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