Premier League title race: Manchester City's mental fortitude continues to drive them forward

The message from City is that psychology does have to count. That they do not worry too much about what Liverpool are doing because they only have to focus on themselves

Pep Guardiola joked at the end of his press conference that on the way back to Manchester last night he would listen to Liverpool’s game in one ear and the climax of the Masters in the other. But any hope that his great friend Maurizio Sarri and his team would do him a favour was blown away early in the second half when there was still plenty of time left in the golf.

In that sense it was a familiar feeling for Manchester City, seeing a game that could have gone either way seized decisively by Liverpool when it mattered most. Three times recently Liverpool have been staring down the barrel of a draw – against Fulham, Tottenham and Southampton – only to win it at the end. Three times before City have thought they would get a three-point cushion, a free hit, only to see it taken away. This time they did not even get close.

But then maybe Guardiola will not have been surprised. He predicted in his post-match press conference, before Liverpool had even kicked off, that City would have to win all five remaining games in order to win the title. “We think Liverpool is able to win all the games,” Guardiola said. “The Premier League is in our hands, we have to win all the games if we want to make back-to-back. But the players show me they want to do it, I don’t have any doubts about that.”

And as Liverpool tick off their harder games, leaving only easier ones left, it feels increasingly as if Guardiola’s pessimistic predictions will be right: City will have to win every single game in order to win the league. One slip and they will need Liverpool to do the same and that feels unlikely, even with the prospect of the massive distraction of a Champions League semi-final coming up for at least one of these two teams.

So can City do it? Can they play and win five separate finals against five motivated, dangerous opponents, knowing that this is now effectively a tightrope walk in which one error will kill them?

There has been a theory that eventually Liverpool’s momentum would break City’s spirit, that their relentlessness would force an error from a side who had grown tired of trying – but just failing – to put Liverpool away. Liverpool are leaders but they are still fundamentally challengers, and their hunger could eventually wear City down.

But the message from City is that psychology does have to count. That they do not worry too much about what Liverpool are doing because they only have to focus on themselves. And all they need to do is win their last five finals to win the title. Momentum, pressure and narrative do not have to come into it.

And watching City on Sunday afternoon was to see a team with the relentless focus of a side who did not care about anything other than winning the game in hand. It was the same message they conveyed with those recent wins against Fulham and Cardiff in the league, or Brighton in the cup.

That was obvious seeing Kevin de Bruyne, back to his best in midfield after a difficult season. He was City’s motor throughout, driving them forwards, setting up Raheem Sterling’s opener and then seizing control of the ragged game in the final minutes. At times this season City have let games drift but there is no prospect of that when De Bruyne is on the pitch.

Or Vincent Kompany, brought back into the team for a rare start, because Guardiola knew how many long balls Palace would play, and that City would need someone to cope with Christian Benteke. Kompany was immaculate and it was obvious watching him that he has won three Premier League titles already in his career and is desperate to make this his fourth.

The only mistake all game was Ederson being beaten by Luka Milivojevic’s late free-kick but over the course of the match it hardly looked as if City were at all flustered or ruffled by the high stakes they are playing with now. This teams looks as if they have their mentality in exactly the right place.

Kevin de Bruyne was back to his best against Palace (REUTERS)

So if City are to fall down and let Liverpool in then it would surely have to come from one brilliant piece of opposition play, or a little detail in a match going against them. Like the threat of Son Heung-Min on the break at the Etihad next Saturday. Or any of Manchester United’s brilliant forwards in the derby at Old Trafford the following week. Or the defensive discipline of Burnley or Brighton frustrating City until they lose patience.

Anyone can lose a football match and this City team is certainly not unbeatable. They have lost four times in the league already this season, three more than Liverpool. There is always a sizeable chance they will fail to win any of these last five ‘finals’ in the title chase. But if they do slip then it does not mean that it is mentality that did it.