City overcame Hull last night in the Capital One Cup quarter-finals to take them one step closer to winning the competition they triumphed in two seasons ago.
Wilfried Bony, Kelechi Iheanacho and a Kevin de Bruyne brace were enough to see off the Tigers, who currently sit top of the Championship, and sail the Blues through to the semi-finals of the cup where they are guarenteed to face some stiff Premier League opposition.
So, as always, what can we take from this encounter with Steve Bruce’s men? I pose three things:
Serious Pellegrini
After a trophyless campaign last term, I am sure I am not in the minority when I say that it is refreshing to see Manuel Pellegrini take the domestic cup competitions seriously this year.
A club as big as City cannot go another season without winning any silverware so the fans are understandably very hungry for further success to mirror the achievements of the 2013/14 season, when the Blues helped themselves to the Premier League and Capital One Cup double.
Manuel fielded a strong side against Hull yesterday with players such as Nicolas Otamendi; Kevin de Bruyne; Wilfried Bony and the returning David Silva all making appearances, outlining just how determined the Chilean was to win this one.
The Tigers never really troubled the Blues back-line; except from when they scored their consolation; with City’s high quality squad and pressing play simply too much for them to handle.
Pellegrini had come under a lot of criticism in recent years with his naivety in these sorts of games. The mind casts back to last year’s two domestic cup defeats to Middlesborough and Newcastle; both at home. But the South American was certainly not reasoning that criticism here as he named a strong side and got the job done to take City to within touching distance of Wembley once again.
The magician returns!
Perhaps one of the most relieving sights of the evening was the number ’21’ being recorded on the team sheet prior to the match. Yes, David Silva is back.
Despite not being at his marvellous best due to just returning from a relatively lenghty spell on the sidelines, he was still there controlling City’s midfield and keeping the ball ticking around him, finding others with his expert vision and providing City fans with confidence knowing that our invaluable Spaniard is back and ready to assist City as we look to keep hold of the slim lead we have at the top of the league thus far.
After a very injury-heavy period in City’s season, we are looking healthy now going into the Christmas period, which is a very important time as the league begins to shape up. Aguero, despite being taken off as a precaution against Southampton last Saturday, is back alongside Silva and Joe Hart is looking to make his comeback against Stoke this weekend. With all of these players returning at the same time, City can really start making a mark on the season.
A breath of fresh air
After a run of three games in all competitions without a win, it was fantastic to witness City put these disappointing displays behind them and win two home games convincingly on the bounce.
Hull, despite being a league below us, were by no means push-overs as they currently sit top of the tree in the Championship and have a manager with Premier League experience; so these two wins (in which we scored seven goals) can certainly be seen as a springboard to crack on and continue winning to cement some sort of consistency to our season since that goalless draw at Villa Park four weeks ago.
What else?
Furthermore, Kelechi Iheanacho is continuosly proving to us just how much of a prospect he is as he bagged himself another goal to keep the plaudits coming. He crept in between two Hull defenders expertly after a pin-point Raheem Sterling cross to hand City a two-goal cushion that took a while to come after the first strike on eleven minutes; and we never looked back from there.
Kevin De Bruyne may also be a strong contender to rival Yaya Toure and Aleksander Kolarov for the coveted free-kick taker role as the Belgian smashed the ball through the keeper and a player on the line to take City’s tally up to four.
A fantastic display in which we return to winning ways for the second time in as many days and see certain players continue to flourish in blue colours.
