Manchester City vs Liverpool: Pep Guardiola’s spine of elder statesmen remain imperious like days of old

Manchester City 2-1 Liverpool: When Vincent Kompany, Fernandinho, David Silva and Sergio Aguero were named together on the teamsheet you feared for City, yet it was those same players who pushed Liverpool to the limit and beyond

It is often said that great teams are built with a ‘spine’, a central column of protagonists that are both literally and figuratively central to success. Manchester City have such a ‘spine’, though it may not be long before it is held up by a zimmer frame.

For this greatest test of their title defence thus far, City lined up with the 32-year-old Vincent Kompany, the 33-year-old Fernandinho, the 32-year-old David Silva and the spritely 30-year-old Sergio Aguero.

All but Aguero have birthdays before the season is out. All but Kompany remain first-team regulars and integral to City’s fortunes. Though purposely supplemented by emerging talents, this title defence would still be led by group of over-30s.

Before the champions’ recent struggles, this was the one easily-identifiable weak point in their armoury, the gap in the Centurions’ Testudo if you will. How will an ageing band of key players maintain the intense and exacting demands of Pep Guardiola’s football again?

When the four elder statesmen of this squad were named together on the teamsheet, you feared for City. When kick-off came and the evening’s proceedings began a relentless, breathless pace, you feared a little more.

But then you saw Fernandinho charging down lost causes until they were revived, then flying through the back of Sadio Mané minutes after catching Andy Robertson ever so slightly late, just enough to let him know he meant to.

You saw Silva, after a decade of building a reputation as a sublime and delicate technician, harrying and harrassing Liverpool as much as every one of his other team-mates, whether that involved a 15-yard sprint to close down possession or nipping at heels of opponents edging past him.

And you saw Aguero, still every bit a threat as he ever was, opening the scoring from an unlikely angle with quite an incredible finish. It was made only more brilliant by the fact that it was a carbon copy of one scored earlier this season. Both Liverpool and Manchester United have now learned that, even at 30, his powers are not waning.

Aguero was not above the physical battle either and showcased the tireless running play that has made Gabriel Jesus an understudy. Nor did he shirk the psychological contest. When Leroy Sané restored City’s lead, he was there standing by for any rebound on the goal-line, offering a triumphant fist bump in the face of the deflated Virgil van Dijk.

Kompany escaped a red card for a reckless slide tackle on Mohamed Salah (Reuters) (REUTERS)

The only member of the quartet to struggle with the pace of it all was perhaps their figurehead Kompany, whose experience was favoured over the big-game innocence of Oleksandr Zinchenko, with Aymeric Laporte covering at left back.

Kompany should have seen red while the game was still goalless for a late first-half challenge which clipped Mohamed Salah’s toe. He later allowed Roberto Firmino to bypass him while Andy Robertson shaped to square across goal. Firmino moved into space at the far post and restore a short-lived parity.

Fernandinho commanded the centre of the pitch (AP)

Yet this crucial victory in City’s title defence was otherwise the story of their old guard meeting the challenges of the new age. Liverpool’s famed press, in theory so threatening to City’s key men through the middle, failed to ever truly get started. Perhaps that was a deliberate tactic by Jurgen Klopp. If so, it backfired.

Liverpool’s hope now is that this victory does not spur City on to close the gap further and that the ground Guardiola’s title defence is built upon begins to crumble once again. Fernandinho could get another injury, of course. Aguero’s knee ligaments are not what they used be.

If they do not though, then City will at least keep this title race alive all the way down the stretch, with their ‘spine’ of elder statesmen pushing both Liverpool and themselves to the very limit.