Manchester City moved joint top of the Premier League on Saturday with an efficient 2-0 victory over Everton at Etihad Stadium.
Temperamental striker Mario Balotelli opened the scoring for City in the 68th minute, before England midfielder James Milner wrapped up the points with his first Premier League goal for the club.
It is a sign of City’s depth that both goal scorers entered the game off the bench. With City playing well but struggling to make the breakthrough, Roberto Mancini replaced Edn Dzeko with Balotelli.
The Italian striker opened the scoring less than 10 minutes after entering the fray. Arsentine striker Sergio Aguero dribbled across the top of the 18 yard box, and deftly back heeled against the grain to Balotelli who fired past Tim Howard to put City on front.
With 12 minutes remaining, the inspirational Aguero was withdrawn and replaced by Milner, but there would be no respite for Everton. With one minute remaining Milner raced onto a superb David Silva through ball and sealed the three points.
This kind of depth shows how far City have progressed since last season, and why they must now be considered a serious title contender.
Not only did City lose this fixture 2-1 last season, even when the Blue half of Manchester played well they were accused of being a one man team. Carlos Tevez scored the bulk of Citys goals last season, and was responsible for many match winning performances.
This season City have attacking options and goal scoring threats from numerous sources within their squad. Six different players have scored a Premier League goal for City this season, and Tevez is not one of them. Furthermore, Saturday’s win over Everton occurred with Tevez spending the entire game sat on the bench.
When he is needed then a quality striker like Tevez will add outstanding depth, but it is very clear that City are capable of succeeding without them.
Everywhere you look in the City squad then talent and depth is abundant. If you discount the starting 11 from the Everton games, that still leaves international level talent that includes Tevez, Milner, Balotelli, Kolo Toure, Owen Hargreaves and World Cup Finalist Nigel De Jong.
So far this season we are seeing signs of an exciting title race that could go right through to the last day of the season. It is seeming more and more likely that when May rolls around, City will be deeply involved in the title race.
It is a sign of City’s depth that both goal scorers entered the game off the bench. With City playing well but struggling to make the breakthrough, Roberto Mancini replaced Edn Dzeko with Balotelli.
The Italian striker opened the scoring less than 10 minutes after entering the fray. Arsentine striker Sergio Aguero dribbled across the top of the 18 yard box, and deftly back heeled against the grain to Balotelli who fired past Tim Howard to put City on front.
With 12 minutes remaining, the inspirational Aguero was withdrawn and replaced by Milner, but there would be no respite for Everton. With one minute remaining Milner raced onto a superb David Silva through ball and sealed the three points.
This kind of depth shows how far City have progressed since last season, and why they must now be considered a serious title contender.
Not only did City lose this fixture 2-1 last season, even when the Blue half of Manchester played well they were accused of being a one man team. Carlos Tevez scored the bulk of Citys goals last season, and was responsible for many match winning performances.
This season City have attacking options and goal scoring threats from numerous sources within their squad. Six different players have scored a Premier League goal for City this season, and Tevez is not one of them. Furthermore, Saturday’s win over Everton occurred with Tevez spending the entire game sat on the bench.
When he is needed then a quality striker like Tevez will add outstanding depth, but it is very clear that City are capable of succeeding without them.
Everywhere you look in the City squad then talent and depth is abundant. If you discount the starting 11 from the Everton games, that still leaves international level talent that includes Tevez, Milner, Balotelli, Kolo Toure, Owen Hargreaves and World Cup Finalist Nigel De Jong.
So far this season we are seeing signs of an exciting title race that could go right through to the last day of the season. It is seeming more and more likely that when May rolls around, City will be deeply involved in the title race.
