When Pep Guardiola was appointed City boss in the summer of 2016, the dawning of a new age began.
A serial winner, the Catalan’s pedigree needed no introduction and his unrivalled genius has scripted an astonishing and historic chapter of the Club’s illustrious history.
City’s recent dominance in English football has been a joy to behold: trophy-laden, record-breaking and accomplished with a brand of scintillating attack-minded beautiful possession-based football that has transformed the sport.
The Centurions, the Fourmidables; the final day dramas… It’s been an incredible and unforgettable period (so far!) and in celebration of the journey, we dive into the stats that have made it all possible…
Points make prizes
Having hit a remarkable and unprecedented 100 points in Guardiola’s first title win, City still hold the record for the all-time highest points tally gained in a Premier League season.
That achievement also marked the biggest title-winning margin with 19 points separating the Champions and second-placed Manchester United.
Retaining the crown with 98 points the following year has been the closest we have come to matching our Centurions’ glory with the 2020/21 trophy secured with 86 and last season’s success clinched with 93.
During Guardiola’s tenure, we have accumulated 536 points from 228 games, averaging 2.82 points per game. In January of this year, the City boss became the fastest manager in Premier League history to earn 500 points.
Goals, goals, goals
City’s attacking prowess has naturally been a key component in our recent successes and in December of this season, we broke yet another record thanks to our goalscoring exploits.
Phil Foden’s opener against Leeds United marked the 500th goal scored during Guardiola’s reign, ensuring the boss achieved the feat in the quickest time in the competition’s history.
Under his stewardship, those 500 goals were netted in just 207 matches, averaging 2.4 goals per game.
Our total of 106 in 2017/18 is the most scored by any side in a Premier League season and also ensured we broke the record for the highest goal difference with +79.
We also amassed 100 goals in the 2019/20 campaign and were one shy of doing so again last season. Overall, we have netted 565 league goals under Guardiola.
Fight ‘til the end
City have claimed the league crown on the final day on more occasions than any other side, doing so on four occasions of our six triumphs.
After the final day dramas of the 2011/12 and 2013/14 seasons, we repeated the feat in 2018/19, defeating Brighton and Hove Albion, and again in our most recent 2021/22 success, battling back from two goals down to edge Aston Villa in a five-goal thriller with three goals in under six minutes!
That winning feeling
With 32 wins from 38 games, City have also recorded the most wins in a single season, having done so in both the 2017/18 and 2018/19 campaigns. Liverpool also achieved the feat in 2019/20.
Our run of 18 successive victories in the competition in Guardiola’s first English title-winning season still stands top of the charts, also alongside Liverpool (2019/20).
Since Guardiola took charge, we have won 169 of our 228 Premier League games with a win percentage of 74.12% and points per game ratio of 2.35.
Our tally of 18 home wins in 2018/19 (as well as 2011/12) also stands as the joint-highest in a single Premier League season, alongside Chelsea (2005/06), Manchester United (2010/11) and Liverpool (2019/20).
City’s 16 away victories in 2017/18 has never been matched, while our run of 12 consecutive triumphs on away soil between December 2020 and May 2021 is also a record.
In 2020, we also made English top-flight history with the most wins in a calendar year (36), including a record-breaking 19 away triumphs, and then went on to break the records for most consecutive wins by a top flight English team in all competitions (21), the most consecutive league wins by a top-flight team from the start of a calendar year (13) and equalled our Club record of 28 games unbeaten in all competitions
We then also set a record run of consecutive away wins in all competitions for a top flight team (20) and a Club and English record run of consecutive unbeaten away matches (23).
Top five
Raheem Sterling has scored the most Premier League goals for City since Guardiola’s arrival with 85 – three more than the Club’s all-time record goalscorer Sergio Aguero. Gabriel Jesus (58), Kevin De Bruyne (50) and Riyad Mahrez (38) complete the top five.
Sterling also tops the list of Premier League appearances under Guardiola with 194. Unsurprisingly, Ederson and Kevin De Bruyne are joint second with 182, followed by Bernardo Silva (166) and Fernandinho (165).
Case for the defence
Our most recent Premier League success also saw Ederson scoop the Golden Glove award for the third time in succession, sharing the prize with his international teammate Alisson Becker, who also recorded 20 clean sheets.
With 91 shut-outs in 182 Premier League appearances for City, he averages a clean sheet in every other game and with 20 this past season, he also equalled his own personal record set in 2018/19.
In January, he became the first goalkeeper with 100-plus appearances in Premier League history to record a clean sheet in as many as half of them.
