Manchester City may have come out on top against Chelsea in an entertaining Premier League clash at the Etihad on Saturday evening – but one statistic that emerged after the game certainly raised eyebrows.
Despite emerging 2-1 victors over Frank Lampard’s men in a close-fought encounter, the reigning Premier League champions didn’t control the ball as often as they usually do.
Stats by Opta reveal that Guardiola’s men had an overall figure of just 46.74 per cent against the Blues, the lowest recorded by a side managed by Pep Guardiola in any of his 381 top-flight matches in charge.
Despite having a lot less of the ball than their opponents, City showed a clinical streak to their game when chances came their way.
When asked after the game what he made of the unwanted honour of the lowest possession in any of his games, the manager responded in a jovial manner – heaping praise on Lampard’s side.
“There is always one thing in your lifetime that hasn’t happened,” he said.
“It happened. So, OK, I have another record, I won one game without possession. They are incredible team with [N’Golo] Kante, [Mateo] Kovacic, Jorginho, so it can happen.”
With thanks to Opta, you can see the five lowest recorded possession figures from Guardiola’s time in England below.
Interestingly, despite having less of the ball during these respective clashes City remained undefeated.
PEP GUARDIOLA’S FIVE LOWEST RECORDED POSSESSION FIGURES AS A MANAGER
23/11/2019 – Manchester City 2-1 Chelsea – 46.7 per cent
03/01/2019 – Manchester City 2-1 Liverpool – 49.6 per cent
07/10/2018 – Liverpool 0-0 Manchester City – 50.6 per cent
14/04/2018 – Tottenham 1-3 Manchester City – 52.0 per cent
29/10/2018 – Tottenham 0-1 Manchester City – 52.1 per cent
