On the morning of January 5th, Beijing time, the 20th round of the 2024/25 Premier League season featured a key match. The reigning champions Manchester City secured a 4-1 victory over West Ham United at home, achieving their second consecutive win. In this match, Brazilian winger Savigno continued his impressive performance with two assists and creating an own goal. Guardiola's forced change in formation has unexpectedly given birth to a new Ma Dongmei (Mahrez's nickname). Additionally, a new super striker duo is emerging.
In the previous round of the Premier League, Manchester City defeated newly promoted Leicester City 2-0 away from home. In that game, Guardiola's team struggled, even with a possession rate of only 46%. However, Savigno's successful pass and shot, along with Haaland's goal drought breaker, allowed Manchester City to end 2024 with a victory. For this match against West Ham United, Guardiola maintained the same starting lineup as the previous game. It was clear that he was very satisfied with the players' performance in the last game.
After the start of the game, West Ham United, playing away, showed great initiative and proactivity, causing a tense atmosphere in front of Manchester City's goal. At a critical moment, it was still Savigno who stood out. In the 10th minute, after breaking through from the left flank, he took a shot from a tight angle that deflected off Cao Far and flew into the net, which was counted as an own goal for the latter. Then in the 42nd minute, Manchester City launched a simple and efficient attack, with Foden making a long pass to the left flank, Savigno dribbling past Cao Far and delivering a cross, allowing Haaland to head the ball easily into the net. Manchester City led 2-0 at halftime.
In the second half, Manchester City continued their excellent offensive performance. In the 55th minute, Savigno advanced with the ball in the center and delivered a through pass, enabling Haaland to skillfully chip the ball for his second goal. Three minutes later, due to a defensive error by West Ham United, De Bruyne assisted Foden to score, putting Manchester City ahead 4-0. Although West Ham United managed to score a face-saving goal in the 72nd minute through Fillkroog, Manchester City ultimately won 4-1.
In this match, Manchester City had a possession rate of 56%, made 10 shots with 7 on target, scoring 4 goals. On the other hand, West Ham United had a high number of shots at 17 but only 4 were on target, missing three excellent scoring opportunities. Savigno played for 80 minutes, contributing the highest number of assists in the game with 2, as well as 3 key passes. He also had 2 shots, 2 successful dribbles, 1 clearance, and 1 interception, winning 3 out of 5 ground duels. After the game, the Brazilian player received a well-deserved 8.8 points, the highest score of the match.
This summer, Savigno joined Manchester City for a transfer fee of 25 million euros. As the dribbling king of La Liga last season, Savigno's performance after joining could only be considered average. In the previous 23 games, he had only 4 assists and no goals. However, in the recent two games, in order to ensure the quality of crosses, Guardiola arranged the left-footed Savigno in the left winger position, resulting in the Brazilian player suddenly finding his form. In the previous game, he scored his first goal and assisted Haaland in breaking his goal drought. In this game, he first created an own goal for the opponent and then assisted twice more. In two games, Manchester City scored 6 goals, with Savigno directly involved in 5 of them. Whether it's breaking through, passing, or shooting in the game, he has shown glimpses of the former Manchester City main winger Mahrez's style. The only difference might be that he doesn't wear gloves, while Mahrez always plays with gloves in the winter.
The previous record of 1 win in 14 matches forced Guardiola to abandon his beloved possession-based tactics, and Manchester City has become more concise and direct on the field. This change has allowed Savigno to find his own spring. Of course, the beneficiary is not just him, but also top scorer Haaland. In the recent two games, the Norwegian striker has scored 3 goals alone, with a significantly expanded range of activity and offensive space on the field, fully utilizing his running forward characteristics. One has speed, technique, and passing ability, while the other possesses superior scoring ability. This post-00s striker duo, who have jointly scored 5 goals in two games, is exerting powerful force.