Manchester City Can’t Stop Scoring

The Citizens are on the top of the Premiership table, and why not?

With their firepower, the league's pursuers are lucky the old North American Soccer League format of awarding extra points for goals in a game -- up to three -- never caught on.

Just for the hell of it, let's take a look at what that woulda done to the current Premiership race.

But first, a vivid NASL memory that just can't be erased from one's mind:

 

What a league.

Here's the Premiership's reality:

And here's American marketing reality, circa the 1970s, remembering that it's:

• 6 points for a win,
• 3 points for a penalty kick shootout win, but we'll just call those draws, and
• 1 point for every goal in a match up to three:

	W x 6 =	D x 3 =	G x 3 =	Total
Manchester City ...	48	3	21	76
Tottenham ...	36	6	17	59
Manchester United ...	36	6	16	58
Chelsea ...	30	3	13	46
Arsenal	30	3	11	44

They shoulda known that scoring never gets old, and players don't need inflated numbers to stay hard at it.

Full marks to Burnley for holding City to the NASL max. They only lost, 3-0.

Typically, City's been unleashing a four-goal torrent upon its opposition, yet they'll take a three-goal result just as joyfully.

The first one -- seemingly like most of this season's Premiership matches -- originated from a spot kick in the 30th minute:

That went in gradually and agonizingly for Burnley. All Sergio Agüero cared was that it got there, as it tied him atop the Citizens' all-time goal scorer's list. Eric Brook had been the sole holder at 177.

For the longest time, It looked as though one goal would be all City could muster.

Perish the thought.

The expected fiesta appeared late in the match. Nicolas Otamendi fired an intense header that doubled City's cushion in the 73rd minute:

The defender on the close post was fantasizing.

Leroy Sané then stepped up to close in on what seems to be the Citizena' quota.

One reason the NASL failed in the USA was its misguided assumption that football needed gimmicks, when all it really needs is the natural excitement that sides like City can conjure up on a moment's notice.