Manchester City have a tendency to change fans emotions extremely quickly, switching from great dispair to complete euthoria in a matter of minutes. It’s something that sticks with City, even with the incredible quality the side possesses today.
That was the case again today as City found themselves a goal behind for a considerable amount of the first half before totally dismantling Newcastle in a 20 minute period.
Here are four findings from City’s thumping win.
Otamendi still finding his feet:
Nicolas Otamendi is yet to register a clean sheet in the City side and is taking his time to adjust to life in the Premier League. He had a tough time in games against Spurs and Gladbach and was partially at fault for the Newcastle opener after not getting across quickly enough.
But there are parts of the Argentine’s game that I like a lot. The way he plays on the front-foot and doesn’t sherk responsibility or hide from a battle is something that will surely earn him a fair bit of recognition from the City fans.
Apart from the goal, I felt he handled Mitrovic fairly well and will get better as the season goes on.
Sterling struggles to get going:
There weren’t many negatives coming away from the Etihad at full-time but one major downside was the first half display from Raheem Sterling, who was alarmingly ineffective. The England man was unusually sloppy and slow with his decision making and didn’t really cause Jaanmat many problems at the back.
He was hauled off at half-time and replaced by Jesus Navas, who was much more energetic and helped City play at a higher tempo.
It’s still early days for the 20-year old but he will need to play much better in the future than he did today.
De Bruyne and Silva back on song:
Though City eventually came away with three points against Monchengladbach in the week, I felt as though De Bruyne and Silva weren’t really at it and our normally fluid attacking play suffered as a result.
It was a similar scenario in the first half today but the introduction of Navas sparked Silva and De Bruyne into life – producing some scintillating link up play in attack.
Silva grabbed a superb assist for Aguero’s fourth while De Bruyne returned to his best with two goals and a wonderfully struck volley. Fans have dreamt about seeing the two play together for a while now and may they continue to inflict havoc on opposition defences.
Aguero is inhuman:
After a largely subdued 40 minutes at the Etihad, Aguero soon burst into life with a real poachers goal to prod home before the break.
And from that point he was sensational, brushing aside his questionable form with a perfect strikers display. FIVE goals! Unbelievable really.
Prior to this game, he had not scored for four straight Premier League games but you wouldn’t have guessed it by the way he was playing. Granted he got a bit of fortune with the first one but the rest of the goals all demonstrated just what a ridiculously gifted player he is.
Newcastle defenders must have been ectstatic when he was subsituted for Wilfried Bony and he was met by a standing ovation upon leaving the field. Deservedly so too.
