Guardiola breaks Mourinho’s record for fastest to 100 Premier League wins

Pep Guardiola has become the quickest manager to reach 100 wins in the Premier League after guiding Manchester City to victory against Sheffield United.

Second-half goals from Sergio Aguero and Kevin De Bruyne sealed the points for the champions at Etihad Stadium, as Guardiola reached his century of victories from just 134 matches in the division.

Aguero’s opener was also the 1000th goal of Guardiola’s managerial career, also taking in his spells at Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

The Spanish manager beats the record previously held by Jose Mourinho, who achieved his 100th victory in his 142nd match as a Premier League boss when he guided Chelsea to a 3-1 win over Manchester United in January 2014.

Next on the list is Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp, who reached the milestone in his 159th match against Merseyside rivals Everton earlier this month.

Speaking about the achievement, Guardiola was keen deflect some of the attention from himself by highlighting the efforts of his players and backroom team.

“It’s a big compliment for the club, players and staff to achieve 100 victories,” said the 48-year-old. “It’s an incredible achievement for this incredible organisation and big compliments to all the players and staff we had during this period.

“Of course we are proud of everything in these seasons, the incredible effort. When you think about 100 wins in 134 games it is an incredible achievement. It is nice to be alongside these big teams.

“It means a lot. Sometimes we lose perspective. But when you have this perspective with how many games you see it. We fight for 100 wins. I am happy especially for the players. They are the reason we won 100 games.”

In reaching that milestone in record time it is little surprise that it has resulted in silverware along the way.

After finishing third in Guardiola’s first season in 2016-17, City were crowned Premier League champions in 2018 with a record 100 points. They retained the title the following year with 98 points, winning 14 straight matches to pip Liverpool by a single point on the final day of the season.

However, the club face a real battle to secure a third successive title this time around, with Klopp’s side going into the new year 13 points clear at the top of the table and with a game in hand.