Manchester City thumped Newcastle 6-1 last weekend and in the process eliminated any sort of doubts shadowing over their ability to win the league this season.
After a shaky couple of weeks, the Citizens bounced back in clinical fashion and made their title aspirations crystal clear. Manuel Pellegrini’s side started the season in blistering form, scoring 11 goals in their first five league games without conceding a single goal. But as the Champions League began, the fixture list looked to be too hectic for City’s high-flying squad. Injuries to key players were followed by a few disappointing results in the league as well as in Europe.
Their match against Crystal Palace in the league was where the Sky Blues first showed signs of a dip in form, although they went on to narrowly win that match by a single goal. But it was their Champions League opener against Juventus where City first faltered. The loss to Juventus at home began a series of poor results, which saw City lose three in four games. It looked like City were in a downfall and injuries to skipper Vincent Kompany, Yaya Toure, Eliaquim Mangala, Joe Hart and David Silva made it even worse. But it did not take them too long to get back on the horse as they managed to pull off an important victory away to Borussia Monchengladbach in their second Champions League outing. A narrow yet crucial 2-1 away win proved to be the decisive factor in getting City back on track. Their performance in their last match against now bottom of the table Newcastle has shown exactly what the Citizens are capable of.
Highlight Of The Week: Sergio Aguero puts five past Newcastle! pic.twitter.com/BFBgjKeFth
— PremClips (@PremClips) October 5, 2015
To make matters even better, City also welcomed back Mangala, Silva and Hart from injury to help bolster the side. It was one man who stood out among City’s stars against the Magpies, however – last season’s Golden Boot winner Sergio Aguero. The Argentine was going through a slight goal drought having only scored one goal until the Monchengladbach game. The 27-year-old won and converted the penalty in Germany which proved to be the match winner as well. His performance on the weekend silenced all his doubters after he managed to put five goals past Tim Krul in merely 20 minutes. He now has seven goals in 11 outings for City this season and you would not bet on him to stop anytime soon. Aguero continues to be City’s focal point up front and still remains a strong contender to grab the Golden Boot award for the second time running.
But it has not just been Aguero whose performances have thoroughly impressive. Silva, Aleksandar Kolarov, Fernandinho, Hart and new signing Kevin De Bruyne have also played a huge part in City’s successes this season. Silva in particular has been a force to be reckoned with, after putting in some commendable performances whenever he has taken to the pitch this season. After being left out of the side through injury for two games running, Hart marked his re-inclusion in goal against Monchengladbach by saving a penalty. Another stand out performer has been former Chelsea man De Bruyne, who, in his second term in England, has taken the Premier League by storm. Since joining City for a record fee, the Belgian has featured seven times, during which he has scored four and assisted two and is already proving to be a player worth every penny.
It is difficult and rather early in the season to say whether City can go on to win the title and maybe even do well in the Champions League but what is for certain is that the Sky Blues look to be back to their best and if they continue to play as well as they are, there is nothing that can hamper their path to success.
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