Manchester City finally overcame their Stadium of Light hoodoo after four consecutive losses on Wearside, with a 4-1 triumph against the Black Cats. Three academy graduates were in the squad as City bucked the trend of expected 1-0 losses against the red and white shirts of Sunderland.
With much of the debate prior to the game being about who would partner Martin Demichelis at centre-back, Pellegrini eventually opted for Dedryck Boyata over Bacary Sagna. It was Boyata’s first start in almost 12 months, with his last coming in the 1-0 win against Crystal Palace in late December 2013. Academy graduates Angleino and José Pozo were also on the bench representing Patrick Vieira’s success with the EDS side, with Pozo coming on for the final ten minutes.
Ex-City men Costel Pantilimon and Jack Rodwell both started for The Black Cats in their first game against City since signing for Sunderland in the summer. Adam Johnson was absent however, with a muscle injury keeping him from facing his former employers.
The first half started in a very similar fashion to what we’ve come to expect from games at the Stadium of Light in recent times when City are involved, with Sunderland controlling much of the possession. The Black Cats could have gone in front within minutes of the start thanks to ex-City man Jack Rodwell, but Pablo Zabaleta was in front of the midfielder’s shots twice to keep the scores level.
Unfortunately, Zabaleta must also shoulder some of the blame for the goal which did eventually put Sunderland in front on 18 minutes. A long ball over the top towards Connor Wickham was almost cleared by Zabaleta, but he knocked it onto Wickham whilst under pressure from the striker, and it bounced off Wickham’s foot and over Joe Hart to give Sunderland the 1-0 scoreline we’re all far too used to by now.
It took just two minutes for Sergio Agüero to turn saviour for City once again. He received the ball in the right channel, before taking it past Vergini and into the box, before smashing the ball past ex-Blue Costel Pantilimon in net. Sergio’s scored some really good goals in his time at City, and some really important ones but this one ranks highly on both lists.
Agüero soon turned provider on 39 minutes, when Stevan Jovetić was able to put The Blues in front after a sweet lay-off from the Argentine following a well-spotted pass by Yaya Touré. Jovetić only needed one touch to volley through the legs of Pantilimon to give them the lead they deserved after probably the best 45 minutes we’ve had at the Stadium of Light in recent times.
Jesús Navas looked a real threat down the right for much of the first half, but no-one in attack was able to capitalise on the hard, low balls he put across the face of the Sunderland goal, begging for just a touch.
Ten minutes into the second half, Pablo Zabaleta redeemed himself from his earlier woes when he made it 3-1 by chipping over Pantilimon after a well-worked move. Zabaleta started out with the ball on the right-side of the box, before playing it to Samir Nasri. He made his overlapping run inside the box and received a pass from Nasri, leaving him with nothing left but the finish, which was a job he took with aplomb, chipping over Pantilimon and into the side of the net to put City in their comfort zone.
Sergio Agüero put City even further in front on 71 minutes with his second of the game. James Milner, on as a substitute crossed in low from the right, and Agüero simply had to stroke past Costel Pantilimon for his 30th goal in 33 league games. With 20 minutes to go, it just shored up the City squad, and shored up any late nerves.
With a fourth successive win under their belts, City will start to take confidence from this new-found form and vigour in the team which has seen some very good performances as of late. We keep within touching distance of Chelsea who also won on Wednesday, and should feel a lot more confident heading into the game against another former bogey side, Everton, on Saturday evening.
