Following on from a seven-goal rout inflicted on Sheffield Wednesday in a single half in midweek, City provided more entertainment in today’s win with Hull, though they made hard work of it ; in typical City fashion. It seems the tag will always attach some meaning to City, no matter how good we are.
All looked bright and beautiful when Aguero and Dzeko both got on the scoresheet minutes apart, but soon City found a way to throw away their early control, allowing Hull to score twice and peg the Blues back. However, with some tinkering City got the job done thanks to another strike from Dzeko and a late tap-in from the goalscoring machine Frank Lampard.
Pellegrini fielded a full-strength line-up, with the only real surprise coming in goal – as Willy Caballero was rewarded for his clean-sheet against Sheff Wednesday with another start in the league. As for Hull, they had new signing Abel Hernandez alongside Nikica Jelavic, as well as Mohamed Diame, who started in midfield.
City got out of the traps instantly, registering the first chance of the match merely 38 seconds into the match, though Aguero was thwarted by McGregor. Yet when the duel continued in the 7th minute, it was City’s Argentine forward who came out on top. Zabaleta did brilliantly to nod the ball back into the mix, where Aguero lurked, and Kun finished with aplomb.
It wasn’t long before the lead was increased as Edin Dzeko continued his goalscoring exploits with an untypical Dzeko strike. The Bosnian is largely known for his movement and finishing in and around the box but this one was a goal of true quality. Having received the ball from Aguero, he shimmied inside and curled a quite spectacular goal into the far corner. City were cruising.
We hadn’t seen such a start from City for a long time, but it was too good to be true. Hull were penned back in the own half for the best part of the opening stages and City were in full control. However, in the 21st minute Eliaquim Mangala headed Rosenior’s cross from the right into his own net and the momentum swung in Hull’s favour. Mangala had put in two colossal displays against Chelsea and Wednesday respectively, though this performance was nothing but. The Frenchman’s afternoon got worse when he recklessly fouled Hernandez in the area, giving the home side a penalty and earning himself a yellow card.
Hernandez confidently slotted home to equalise and City suffered a dip in performance levels. It was astounding to see, after such a strong, domineering start.
Pellegrini’s men set about restoring their lead, and that goal nearly arrived shortly after half-time. Toure curled a shot from 30 yards with smacked the post and there was a feeling that it just wasn’t going to happen for City. Caballero then made a smart save to deny Huddlestone, who let fly from long-range.
Quite simply, City could not afford to drop points with their recent winless run and that was something Pellegrini clearly recognised. He made two shrewd substitutions in bringing on Navas on for Milner, before later bringing on Lampard in place of Aguero.
Delicate play from Silva handed Dzeko the chance to put City ahead again, which he did – firing across goal before wheeling away in celebration. Then Lampard continued his impeccable scoring form with another goal. Toure picked out Zabaleta who did brilliantly to remain composed and pick out the on-loan Lampard for a tap-in. Fortunately City were able to preserve this two-goal lead and see the game out. The game felt like a carbon copy of the trip to Fulham last season, so to again come away from three points this time was fantastic.
Credit to Pellegrini for changing things up, as aside from Lampard striking the killer blow, both he and Navas contributed significantly in taking the sting out of the game.
A brilliant win, which sees us end our recent winless run. Let’s try and make life a bit easier for ourselves against Roma on Tuesday.
