I don’t know what we were watching last night at the Etihad Stadium but it was not a team that could have been on the threshold of winning the Premier League title.
It was not the right day for the news to break that Manchester City’s footballers were collectively the highest paid sportsmen in the world and not the right day for Pellegrini to expect a beleaguered half-injured team to pit its wits against its self-styled bogey team.
Any thought that the ghost had been exorcised last month at Wembley evaporated as quickly as any of the assertions in the morning papers that the return of Aguero would set off an avalanche of goals against lowly opposition more or less consigned to the Championship once matters are settled in the middle of May.
City made the supreme start of a classy team goal as quickly as 110 seconds from kick-off with people still queuing amongst the dust of the stadium expansion footings. Involved were the Mighty Atom and the Beast, neatly setting up Fernandinho to drill the ball past the gigantic Vito Mannone.
This ignited the stadium in short order but what was to follow was not the anticipated avalanche designed to push City forward in the event of teams finishing level on the final match day, but in essence a meek surrender as the Black Cats, as usual against City got into gear and pressed themselves forward.
With four in midfield as in the early stages at Wembley, City got themselves in a mess, often over run and out tackled and on occasions not really fancying it. Although Aguero and Zabaleta were battered, especially Sergio when he was stamped on by ex-Stretford Brown, no admonishments were heading the way of the visitors although once again there was a soft caution for Zaba.
With Kompany playing like Skippy on one leg unable to inject any form of leap, the signs were soon there that it was not going to be a good night. Indeed when one of the world’s greatest centre backs is outjumped twice by O’Shea, a nightmare is very much on the way.
That City could not add to their lead at all in the first half was simply unacceptable as they stumbled around the field often playing second fiddle to a side unable to buy a win. In fairness to Sunderland, they took the game to City knowing that if the Blues failed to capitalise on their early fortune then their own prospects would prosper.
This was especially so when Aguero was withdrawn for Jovetic early in the second half and Negredo sidelined for Dzeko ten minutes later. The Bosnian was to add more lead to the boots of the team adding precisely nothing to the effort and missing, as is his wont, a glorious opportunity carved out of nothing by Kolarov. Fernandinho’s chance of adding to the lead and indeed his own match day tally also couldn’t find the target.
Either way didn’t really look in any trouble. Sunderland hardly looked a threat when they broke out of defence through substitute Giaccherini, who easily drew the cover playing in Wickham for his “typical City” moment – you know he who hasn’t scored in a decade, gets one against the Blues. If that wasn’t enough, with City at last resurrected from their lethargy and hunting in packs to restore their lead, the same combination broke out from defending a City corner. Giaccerini sprinted left with the ball and Wickham right without it. Giaccherini drew the last defender and slid in Wickham who had to push past Fernandinho and hammer home from the edge of the box to stun the faithful in Block 116, and indeed the rest of the Etihad except the hardy 800 souls who had ventured to see their heroes from the North East. They were in raptures.
Now City really were in the cart and you couldn’t really see them getting back into it. Dzeko was hopelessly off the pace, Jovetic playing at a different level but trying too hard and Nasri wondering around with the ball seemingly in search of tonight’s major absentee, David Silva.
Then with two minutes left on the clock came City’s only piece of luck this week when a tame looking shot from Nasri after some excellent work by Jovetic seemed to squirm through the Big Man and nestle just over the line just inside the post. Oh Vito, you wasta da time, you letta ina da gol. This one would have had Bruce Grobelaar sentenced to prison. You could almost hear far eastern bookmakers laughing.
There was still time for Nasri to balloon the potential winner into the North Stand and kick the LED boards in anger, but that was about it as City couldn’t find anything in the four added minutes.
This performance was I suppose not a total mystery. Is this not the fourth time this season that City have played the team at the foot of the table and not maxed out the points tally? Every time that Tinkerman Pellegrini underestimated teams and plays what I used to call the Wednesday night team, the performance has been abysmal by City’s standards and at the end of the season when we look back we will clearly identify these matches as the reasons, for the second season in succession, that City will not have won the title. It is not the defeats by Chelsea and Liverpool, it is the fact that City lost at Cardiff, lost at Villa Park, lost at Sunderland, drew at Norwich and now drawn at home to Sunderland. At least against Stoke and Palace they carved out unstunning victories. Last night they couldn’t have carved a piece of wood.
It is a difficult show when your best players are probably Kolarov and Garcia and when having seen Milner almost preside over City turning the game around last Sunday, tonight he couldn’t have turned around a bus. His crosses were awful, his passes often astray, his finishing non-existent.
Kompany was clearly unfit having now contributed heavily to five goals against in two matches. That is not fair on the skipper. I have been critical of him this season but last night surely Lescott could have done a job especially as Demichelis had quite a good game? And to take off Fernandinho immediately Sunderland had gone in front and replace him with Rodwell? Maybe Pellegrini has got friendly with Moyes!
On that subject the tactical genius of Stretford takes his charges to Everton shortly. He may as well stop off on the other side of Stanley Park and deliver the Premier League Trophy to the one place they do not want to see it issued. Anfield. Having already surrendered it in 2012 across town to City, their worst nightmare is about to surface. With City signing themselves off from this season’s title race last night and United doing likewise last September, it looks as though Liverpool for the first time since 1990 will be this season’s home for the Barclays Premier League title.
UPCOMING DATES FOR YOUR FILOFAX:
all times East Manchester BST
Mo 21Apr 20h00, West Brom, The Etihad, PL
Su 27Apr 16h10, Crystal Palace, Selhurst Park, PL
Sa 03May 15h00, Everton, Goodison Park, PL
We 07May 19h45, Aston Villa, The Etihad, PL
Su 11May 15h00, West Ham, The Etihad, PL
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