And the rain came down and down and down. Indeed it was almost Monsoon conditions at planet Etihad as the nervous faithful again presented themselves in their droves to witness Manchester City make another step towards regaining the Barclays Premier League title.
It is often said that the stellar array of overseas footballing stars paraded by City don’t really fancy the iconic Manchester weather. Tonight they simply rolled up their sleeves to get on with the job at hand.
Opponents, Aston Villa, did not really fancy the challenge. They parked not only their own bus but also the three coaches that didn’t arrive until half time due to problems on Manchester United Way, otherwise known as the M6. But City persevered with their task in a professional manner which demonstrated that it only takes one second of genius to unlock the door, and what follows can only be described as awesome.
Indeed, Paul Lambert’s ten tin soldiers may have sat in a row for most of the night, but in the end they collapsed like a house of cards in a hurricane as the creative triumvirate of Yaya, Silva and, finally heralded as the best right back in the division, Zabaleta found the keys to the portal. It’s their job, it’s what they do.
Add to that, and too often maligned in the pages of the Pedmachine, the villain turned hero, deadly Dzeko and the cocktail is mixed more like a Molotov.
There is a strange air in the Etihad Stadium. Magnificent supporters, for years sitting in a trophy time-warp have started to believe. It is not the arrogance that we have seen with Chelsea, Arsenal and of course the deposed demons of Stretford, but it is something new. When things don’t go well, there is a confidence that something will happen, something positive. Yes, old-stage City fans like your writer still get niggled by “typical City” and as the scoreline read 0-0 for an hour last night, we knew that it was fine, but if it changed to 0-1 it would be a nightmare. But we saw nothing all night to suggest that 0-1 was a possibility. So City pressed on.
After a disappointing first half where the hot James Milner blew cold, when all his crosses went to the unattended back stick as Dzeko made all his runs to the near, there may have been groans, but there was still expectation. And of course City stuck to their task.
On the hour Pellegrini made his first tactical move. Recognising the shortage of any real threat, he withdrew Milner and introduced Jovetic with instructions to produce a lively half hour. Zabaleta was pushed forward, forcing Plastic Bertrand to retreat.
The format was clear and undemanding. Get the ball out to Zaba and get it into the near post. Four minutes after Milner was replaced, Yaya innocuously found the Master Magician Silva, who immediately moved it wide to Zaba. The Argentino’s first time low cross daisy-cut its way along the six yard line and up popped Dzeko to ignite the stadium, a stadium which had so far been running on the adrenaline of expectation, a stadium that kept finding the finishing line being moved further away whilst the finishing time moved further forward. The place went mental!
Now the game was in freeflow. Villa looked as though they had had enough. They put up a token resistance but it was only six minutes before the same cocktail was remixed. Again it was Silva to Zaba, again it was a quick low cross. Nasri added himself to the mix this time but his effort was blocked by the time-waster-in-chief Guzan. But the time-waster was a waste of time when his block was instantly prodded home by Dzeko, who has now scored five goals in the last three matches.
It was party time on the seating decks as Zaba’s song poured from the levels plus a bit of unnecessary stuff relating to Steven Gerrard. The vision of the title was once again in the minds of City’s imperious fans and for tonight nothing was going to take their dreams away. They may still be nervous about Sunday’s outcome, but for tonight they would enjoy themselves.
So the players decided to give them a treat. With a minute left and the ball buzzing around the edge of the Villa penalty area Yaya strolled up into the inside right channel, he held the ball and held the ball and as the cover came in, he produced an exceptional pass right on to the toes of Jovetic, just outside the box. Jovetic oozed confidence and class as he calmly hammered it into the bottom corner, before stripping off his shirt and hurling it to the heavens, giving the ref the free opportunity of yellow-carding him.
And City were still not finished. As the Blue-Mooners were heading for the exits and probably their second drenching of the night Yaya received the ball around fifteen yards inside his own half. His back straightened like the road-runner on steroids as he stormed towards the Villa goal with the grace and power that we have become accustomed to this season. Down went the ten tin soldiers now in a row of disarray, out came Guzan and in went the ball.
In a week where the brilliance of this outstanding footballer failed to be recognised, and a week where Sky Sports eleven best goals for some reason failed to include any from a team that has given the voters 100 chances, this was simply fantastic. It lit up Manchester on an awful night weather-wise but a night that left City on the brink of their second Barclays Premier League title in three seasons.
Not one of the 47,000 will be counting any chickens, more likely they will be counting another ten tin soldiers before anything extraordinary happens against West Ham on Sunday, but one thing is for certain. Pellegrini’s men will not go out there under the impression that it will be the same cakewalk that saw them prang the Hammers 6-0 and 3-0 in the Capital One Cup Semi Final, nor the one that saw them win 3-1 at the Boleyn Ground in the league. It will be a show of unhurried professionalism.
Tonight we saw no real cross-examination of City. The two chances that Villa had didn’t amount to much. Weimann couldn’t take advantage of being one-on-one with Zabaleta, who can? And after Garcia gave away an unnecessary free kick a header from the same man hit the underside of the cross bar and bounced away to safety. In essence Villa looked like an ageing tiger who had been to the dentist.
What we did see was a back line totally in focus with its job, a midfield bearing footballers who had hardly trained this week in the form of Yaya and Silva, who looked capable of running on less than empty and Milner and Nasri, both prepared to drive all night if necessary. Add to that Garcia whose job it was to add steel to the midfield and drop amongst the centre backs as Zaba went on his forward forays. Add to that the man who doesn’t take penalties, doesn’t take free kicks, doesn’t run, doesn’t pass. What does he do? Well, score goals. Edin Dzeko.
It was in some ways a masterful, patient performance by City. A performance where they knew they had the keys to the door and only had to find them. When it opened it welcomed an avalanche of expertly taken goals. It was the kind of performance that seems to have deserted Liverpool in their hour of need and a performance that means that City “have the draw” on Sunday.
The Pedmachine has long since declined to make any predictions about any outcomes for City matches. His backside bears many of the teethmarks of them biting him, so there will be no exceptions as we head for the climax of the season. Let me just say that I hope City don’t keep us waiting until the witching hour of 93 minutes 20 seconds again!
UPCOMING DATES FOR YOUR FILOFAX:
all times East Manchester BST
Su 11May 15h00, West Ham, The Etihad, PL
Share this article
