Manchester City’s season has been a story of unpredictability; tactical naivety and most telling of all, inconsistency. Having started the campaign in such riveting form, winning five out of the opening five without conceding, it is a shame that this ruthless City side have not been on display for the bulk of such a topsy-turvy season.
Too many injuries resulted in an ever-changing line-up and this has inevitably resulted in dropped points. Where was the City that dispatched Chelsea 3-0 back in August? And the side that fought to the death to beat Palace 1-0 all those months ago in September? Wherever they have been, they appeared to make a miraculous comeback yesterday.
Having not found the net in three matches, the Blues demonstrated that they were more than capable of running the show and did, in actual fact, know where the goal was situated. They played with vigour, intent and determination; hitting a nervy Bournemouth side right from the first whistle without giving them a moment’s peace. Recent form suggested that this game was a potential banana skin for Pellegrini’s men with the Cherries seemingly safe from relegation and the Blues struggling to find their feet away from home. But a banana skin it was not as City became probably the first side to ever make their fans angry after a 4-0 win. But the rhetorical question as to why City haven’t been able to encapsulate this kind of form prior to this encounter at Dean Court is a constant mystery to everyone.
Even Aleksander Kolarov played like a new man.
Pellegrini, when asked why this was the case, put it down to it just ‘being football’. Myself, like many others, put it down to a lack of consistency stemming from the absence of several key first-team players. One of which is Kevin de Bruyne.
Not many players can return from a two month lay-off and put in that kind of first-half performance. He ran his socks off across every acre of the Dean Court turf; it almost looked as if he hadn’t been away. His familiar partnership with Sergio Aguero and David Silva blossomed once more into an attacking triplet which reminded us of the sort of devastation City can cause with such skilled attacking players at their disposal.
He effectively dazzled confidence into the side, bringing with him that extra yard of pace and extra eye of vision which we have been lacking for what feels like so long. His goal to make it 2-0 was a thing of beauty. The way he effortlessly stroked the ball home on the volley from a David Silva lay-off showed off his qualities, as well as showing us just how much we have missed him.
His timely return to the first-team picture ahead of such a huge month both on a European and domestic level is a major boost for the Blues, with Samir Nasri and Nicolas Otamendi also making their respective comebacks to mount what could possibly be an impressive end-of-season surge from a City side plagued with misfortune this term. Despite it being a case of too little too late, it is now hoped that Pellegrini can retain this oozing confidence into the side going into the trip to PSG on Wednesday night; a game which will show just what we are made of as we chase an unlikely, yet not impossible, double and top four finish to ensure Pep Guardiola has something to look forward to when he makes the trip across the North sea in the summer.
