Peter Crouch has said “you just expect” Manchester City’s dominant finish to the end of the Premier League season, comparing the team’s consistency to Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo winning every Ballon d’Or from 2008 to 2018. City thrashed Fulham 4-0 to move top of the table, with Pep Guardiola’s team now just needing to win their two remaining matches to clinch a fourth successive title. TNT Sports expert Peter Crouch compared Manchester City’s consistency to the era in which Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo won every Ballon d’Or.
City thrashed Fulham 4-0 to move to the top of the Premier League table, two points clear of second-placed Arsenal.
Josko Gvardiol was on the scoresheet twice, while Phil Foden and Julian Alvarez also hit the back of the net. It was City’s seventh consecutive Premier League win, with Pep Guardiola’s side scoring four goals or more in six of those matches.
Indeed, City have been relentless as they chased down Arsenal at the top of the table, and will win a fourth successive Premier League title if they win their final two matches.
“With Manchester City, you just kind of expect it now,” Crouch said. “It’s like when Messi and Ronaldo were picking up the Ballon d’Or constantly. They just get the job done so easily.”
The Ballon d’Or, football’s most prestigious individual award, went to only Messi or Ronaldo from 2008 to 2018.
City striker Erling Haaland finished as runner-up to Messi at last year’s ceremony and has scored 25 goals in the current campaign.
But Crouch was full of praise for the Norwegian’s midfield teammates at the final whistle at Craven Cottage.
“When you watch Rodri close up – the game is so easy to him, it’s like men against boys at times,” he said. “He feels like he’s got another gear all the time, but De Bruyne, Foden, there’s so many players in the City team, you can’t pick out them all.
“Another professional performance, clinical again, and I can’t see this title going any other way in all honesty.” Arsenal must beat Manchester United on Sunday to leapfrog City at the top of the table, with Crouch saying there was now “huge pressure” on Mikel Arteta’s team.
“But I think if you want to keep up with Manchester City – it’s just so difficult to do,” he explained. “The fact that Liverpool did in one year and Arsenal pushed them right to the wire is a credit to them, because this is one of the greatest teams that we’ve seen.”