It certainly wasn’t warm weather football as the rain came down on Fortress Etihad once again as City needed to recover from the embarrassment of only drawing 1-1 at Ewood Park ten days ago.
Manuel Pellegrini was afforded the confidence of being able to rest his “Big Hitters” in the form of Yaya, Silva, Zabaleta and Kompany, whilst Nasri had to look on from his injury bed. Joe Hart, too, got a night on the bench.
It is not long ago that I looked upon what I called “the Wednesday Night team” with a form of trepidation as it seemed full of players not intent on trying too hard. We have seen yet another of Manuel’s Metamorphoses take place before our eyes as some of these players not only put in the same kind of effort as the players they are seeking to replace, but in the case of Clichy, actually be replaced by the player who wanted his shirt.
The opening gambit though was as dull as the curtain of rain, as City kept possession without actually creating much of a threat in any absence of meaningful football. If the midfield creators are missing, there are usually issues around the field, but the strikers usually take on the role of international rescue and come up with the goods. In the first half it looked as though Negredo and Dzeko had their shoe laces tied together as to an extent they were kept in the Rovers defensive pockets in the same way as they were at Ewood Park.
Dzeko got an early chance from a cross by Milner, but he could only direct his header into the 4,000 Rovers fans amassed in the South Stand. Dzeko was the culprit again after 10 minutes when a move between Fernandinho and Negredo set him up with a reasonable chance but once again he peppered the away fans.
The only real shot on target came from the Lollipop Man, from outside the box. At least this forced the veteran Robinson to make a save. Dzeko’s third effort moments later once again hit the away fans, probably in level two. He certainly looked like the player-in-waiting for the return of Aguero who was waiting like a predator on the bench after his four week lay off.
Rovers were as resilient as they were in the first match as this one took on almost a carbon copy, with the match heading for the break all square. Then as in the match at Ewood, City created a chance out of nothing. It had been one of those nights maybe when even the conditions conspired against City and nothing looked likely to find the netting. Even the returning Richards tried to get in on the act although twice he was typically caught on his heels.
Then as the game went in to added time, Navas found space, opened up a fine pass to Fernandinho whose gem of a ball to the far post found Negredo on the six yard line and he duly accepted the chance to direct a neat header clear of Robinson to commence the scoring.
Robinson was withdrawn at the break with a hamstring injury, but can someone explain to me why, when you are playing a one-off, play-to-a-finish match he should use time wasting tactics? It certainly baffled the Pedmachine!
So enter Eastwood to guard the pipes for the second half. His baptism was one of beastly fire as in the first attack of the second half the Beast himself propelled himself ahead of team mate Aguero in the Etihad goalscoring stakes. Playing out from the back, Lescott found Kolarov on the left. Kolarov took advantage of the conditions threading a pass around the back of the Blackburn defence and into the path of Negredo who drove it straight into the net for 2-0. Eastwood’s first touch was collecting the ball from the back of his net.
And this was be the story of his night, although it did take City and more importantly, Dzeko until 67 minutes to effectively clinch the match. It was another team goal begun by Milner, who once again found Navas wide out. For once Navas ignored the Beast, setting it up for Dzeko to drill home from an unlikely angle. He had missed many acceptable chances, but he scored the most difficult of them.
Now the procession was in full swing and it was time to relaunch the mighty atom, at the expense of the feasting beast. Aguero was on the field for 41 second when he stopped Dzeko’s pass with one foot and then evened up the contest with Negredo with the other.
Still the Blues weren’t finished and Dzeko was looking to emulate the Beast’s brace. He did the business in almost identical fashion to his first goal. The irresistible Navas was once again the provider and his pass to the corner of the six yard box once again found Dzeko who once again scored from another unlikely angle.
By now City looked like they could score any time they wanted but they put the brakes on to see out the match at 5-0. After a sluggish first half where nothing really went right, the second half was a clinical display of precision passing and surgical striking.
There was still a couple of opportunities for King to cause concern to Nastasic and Lescott, but it was a relatively easy resettlement for Richards, who was finally replaced by EDS product, Huws. Milner buzzed around but the pick of the midfield was clearly Navas, who told us that in his game provision was every bit as important as production, and has gone on to prove it. A magnificent footballer this man, giving City width and precision, delivering up perfectly prepared passes with panache.
The business is done, City are still firing on four unlikely fronts and the world is not taking notes, it is writing dossiers.
The season when we only scored 11 times at home in a full campaign seems a distant nightmare now. This new team scores 11 at home in one week!
UPCOMING DATES FOR YOUR FILOFAX:
all times East Manchester GMT
Sa 18Jan 15h00 Cardiff City, The Etihad, PL
Tu 21Jan 19h45 West Ham United, Upton Park, LCSF2
Sa 25Jan 15h00 Watford, The Etihad, FAC4
We 29Jan 19h45 Tottenham Hotspur, White Hart Lane, PL
Mo 03Feb 2014 20h00 Chelsea, The Etihad, PL
Sa 08Feb 15h00 Norwich City, Carrow Road, PL
We 12Feb 19h45 Sunderland, The Etihad, PL
Tu 18Feb 19h45 FC Barcelona, CL
Sa 22Feb 15h00 Stoke City, The Etihad PL
Sa 01Mar 15h00 The Stretfords, the swamp, PL
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