Whenever we play Manchester City, we have come to expect goals from their most talented player, Sergio Aguero. But, we have done well in recent years only losing one of our last four meetings with the Citizens, so it is not a one-sided affair. However, the Argentine’s only major involvement in a match in which City scored three goals was a clash with Winston Reid, who had to come off injured as a result. This happened right under the eye of the referee, Andre Marriner, who, could have given a red card at 2-1.
It is very eerie that all of our PL matches so far could have featured a red card. Only Arter was shown red, and Costa was very fortunate. Given that this incident was seen by the ref, I feel he should have produced the red card. Aguero is normally City’s talisman, but this time, it was Sterling’s day. He ended a run of 11 appearances without scoring with a brilliant brace. His second goal meant that he has now scored more goals against us than against any other PL club. As if Aguero wasn’t frightening enough already!
Our first half performance was extremely woeful. In fairness, we could have been down at the break at Stamford Bridge, but we defended very well. Additionally, Bournemouth certainly weren’t going to score against us in the first half – maybe only by surprise. Anyone that is looking to win or draw at the Etihad cannot afford to concede more than a couple of goals early on. It was only when we were two goals down that we woke up and smelt the coffee. Hopefully this is the last instance we see of that. Man City have made a bit of a habit of scoring very early on at the Etihad, which, at times, makes a few PL fixtures seem like testimonial matches. Though, 54,008 is not as large as 57,000, so City need to improve in that aspect.
Nevertheless, there was a lack of intent from the midfielders, and a lack of direction with the passing on display, as we conceded two early goals in the opening 18 minutes of the match. The biggest blunder came from Kouyaté of all people when he stood still failing to track Fernandinho who bulleted his header home. Adrián was rightfully angry at the team for letting in that goal, because the centre-backs could have cleared it away. The Citizens won their opening five PL matches last season under Pellegrini. That run was ended back in September when we went to Manchester and won 2-1. In fact, I wrote my first post on that match. We had also won at the Emirates, and Anfield. Whilst we may have not won against a top club early on in the season after getting knocked out by Astra Giurgiu (again!), it is important that the team does its roles. Ogbonna and the holding midfielders certainly didn’t do them.
All of our goals in our opening three PL games have come in the second half. Even without our creative players, we have managed to stay in matches, and almost grinded out a draw from two teams that are yet to lose. Chelsea and City both have won the PL title before Leicester did. In spite of this, they finished 4th and 10th respectively last season. I’m adamant that these Goliaths (or Goal-iaths!) won’t want to be in a similar position this season, so have started on a high. That said, we have scored at least one goal in 16 successive PL matches, so no excuses for no goals! It is also the longest current scoring run.
Pep Guardiola was very frustrated when we got back into the match at 2-1. When Man City finished it off, Pep was ecstatic, but also very relieved, as he knew it could have been very different. His side scored late on in the 87th minute to win against Sunderland at home. Plaudits must go to Masuaku and Antonio, as the two players who started out as wingbacks played very well throughout. Antonio could have prevented Nolito from passing the ball across the box, but in fairness, Silva made a wonderful move getting the ball to his Spanish teammate. In the first two matches, the left back didn’t provide too much attacking support, but did very well in defence passing the ball with ease. In addition to being our WhoScored MOTM, he also made the most tackles in the game, as well as the most dribbles. The fact that he topped both categories suggests that Cresswell could have quite a bit of difficulty getting back into the side. Furthermore, Antonio can be very proud of his performance scoring yet another header at the right post! He has scored a league-high eight headed goals in the PL since the start of 2015-16. He certainly deserves that England call-up.
Delighted to get my first @England call up! ????? #ThreeLions pic.twitter.com/qEVIHOCOBe
— Michail Antonio (@Michailantonio) August 28, 2016
There are many players who have yet to come into the side, but Payet, Feghouli, Zaza, and Nordtveit should be back for the match against Watford after the international break with Carroll back before the end of September. I’m sure that Bilic must have had a headache thinking about how the players ought to line up against Man City. This time, he will have a different kind of headache with the return and introduction of players. Our next six fixtures are all winnable with the hardest against Southampton. The manager will want to experiment like all of them do.