Less than a fortnight ago, the day after Manchester City’s 5-0 demolition of West Ham United away from home in the FA Cup, the Sun produced one of the more inspired back pages of the season in honour of the performance. “MC Hammer!” the main headline screamed, accompanied by a picture of David Silva complete with speech bubble reading: “You can’t touch this.”
It all seemed completely in order. Pep Guardiola’s side had just made the most emphatic of statements to restore some of the belief that went missing in the new year fixtures, when defeat at Anfield was followed by the various controversies surrounding the narrow win against Burnley. A manager who had been sourly defensive in a television interview after the latter was now all smiles and sunny confidence, promising his side would be all the better for the luxury of a full week to prepare for their next game at Everton.
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