MAN CITY 3 – 0 Fulham – MY THOUGHTS

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An obliging opposition, a professional performance, three more goals and three more points. All in all, a very satisfactory afternoon’s work. As underwhelming as Fulham were, we produced a competent display, stepping it up when we needed to without ever really exerting ourselves too much. Our victory, combined with Manchester United only acquiring a point at Stamford Bridge (albeit despite a wonderful comeback) means that we now top the Premier League table by two points and nine goals, with the gap having been zero points and six goals before the weekend’s matches.

A penalty from Sergio Aguero, an own goal by Chris Baird and Edin Dzeko’s simple finish secured a comfortable victory for the Blues and enabled us to move on from Janaury’s struggles. This wasn’t quite a return to our early season brilliance but it didn’t need to be. We controlled the game throughout, proving clinical enough to dispatch the visitors without straining too hard.

There were a number of standout individual performances, not least from our inspirational striker, Sergio Aguero. He has slotted seamlessly into life at City, impressing over the course of the season with his workrate, willingness to run the channels, ability on the ball and his effectiveness in front of goal, and yesterday was no different. He has such a low centre of gravity, making it tough for defenders to knock him off the ball and his interplay with those around him was top notch.

Samir Nasri again operated in a more central role, having stood out there against Everton, and he produced another strong showing. He seems far more comfortable receiving the ball in a deeper position and it allows him to take an extra touch or two, enabling him to control the tempo of our play. He’s struggled at times to settle in since joining from Arsenal, but he looks effective operating in the middle and has given Roberto Mancini another option to ponder.

The one other player I’d like to highlight is Stefan Savic, who, although not tested a great deal, showed promise. He’s young and will make mistakes, but he looked composed on the ball, always intent on passing it out of defence instead of panicking, and he limited the threat of Dempsey and Dembele. He has been on the receiving end of much criticism recently but David Platt has often talked about his fantastic personality, and as long as keeps on learning from his errors, then he will continue to improve.

Opposition View: Fulham were terribly underwhelming, offering so little in attack and lacking organisation at the back. The departure on transfer deadline day of Bobby Zamora was an odd one and they look a side short of service to the strikers. The movement of our front four was splendid and made life difficult for Fulham, but they lacked the fighting spirit and commitment that the likes of West Brom, Sunderland and Everton have displayed against us.

We now move on to face Aston Villa at the weekend with confidence and momentum. A two point lead at the top of the Premier League table should give us belief and we have to make sure we retain our focus.

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