Timeless Guardiola shows magic remains as Man City sparkle in the rain

MANCHESTER :It felt a long way from Barcelona as a rain-soaked Pep Guardiola stood under an autumnal Manchester downpour on Sunday but there was no place he would rather be as the 1,000th game of his managerial career underlined that the magic still remains.

They said last season the Catalan, who made his name as a player and then set about becoming one of the world's most decorated coaches in the city next to the Mediterranean, had lost his sparkle as Manchester City were dethroned.

But a 3-0 win over an outclassed Liverpool - the club which has been his biggest rival since arriving in England in 2016 and last season ended City's Premier League dominance - proved talk of his demise was premature.

Arsenal still lead the table by four points but their manager Mikel Arteta, Guardiola's former assistant at City, might not be sitting quite as comfortably now.

With the likes of serial title trophy winners Kevin De Bruyne, Kyle Walker and Ilkay Gundogan gone and newcomers struggling to find their feet, it has felt like City have been stuck in transition since winning the last of their six Premier League titles under Guardiola in 2023-24.

Even this season they lost two of their opening three league games but since then City have won 11 of their last 14 games in all competitions, the only setback a defeat by Aston Villa.

It was not just the scoreline on Sunday as Guardiola enjoyed a 716th victory as a manager.

It was the way they did it, the control they enjoyed against the reigning champions. Erling Haaland looked frighteningly good, Phil Foden showed the spark is back and Jeremy Doku was devastating at times, lighting up a damp afternoon with a majestic third goal to seal the points.

City did it all without midfield maestro Rodri who