MAN CITY 4 – 0 Aston Villa – MY THOUGHTS

The trophy is almost tangible. One more performance like this and Vincent Kompany will be lifting another piece of silverware above his head to kickstart the celebrations. More than most, with memories of that QPR game still at the forefront of our minds, we know not to take anything for granted but surely we can’t slip up now. It’s ours to win and it would take a cock-up of unfathomable proportions were we not to be jubilant come Sunday evening.

With Aston Villa set on defence, yesterday was frustrating for an hour before one moment of magic from David Silva, a perfectly-timed run from Pablo Zabaleta and then a poacher’s finish from Edin Dzeko opened the proverbial floodgates and we cruised home with a swagger and panache. As Yaya Touré rampaged home in injury time to stamp his, and our, authority on the final scoreline, it was impossible to suppress thoughts of a second league title in three seasons. As fans, we will be tense, fraught with fear and aware of the club’s history of self-inflicted misery, but this group of players are far too determined and focused to allow thoughts of failure to creep into their mindset. They are here to win, to win in an attractive manner and they have my confidence to do just that at the weekend.

It was, as expected, a little slow-going in the opening exchanges. Aston Villa had nothing but pride to play for and there was perhaps a feeling they might have been more positive and attempted to show some intent on the counter-attack, but they sat back, defended very deep and that, naturally, made it tough to break them down. It was not a case of City playing poorly for an hour, but if any side retreats to their box and is relatively organised, it can be a frustrating task to prod and probe to meaningful effect. There was no space in behind to burst and as we lacked pace in our side, it was always likely to be a matter of patience. David Silva and Samir Nasri drifted infield to dictate the tempo, Aleks Kolarov and Pablo Zabaleta relished the freedom to spring forward out wide and it was a case of biding our time, dragging the visiting defenders out of position and then striking.

When you have players of Silva’s indubitable ability, and the likes of the indefatigable Zabaleta bursting forward to support attacks, it only needs one moment, one flash of invention to unlock the door. And that moment came early in the second half, just as the anxiety levels were beginning to increase, when the Spaniard released our inspirational right-back in the final third. His cross found Dzeko, who, for the first time in the match, got ahead of his marker at the front post rather than lurking unthreateningly in a deeper area, and the Bosnian guided the ball home. Minutes later, after a similar move, one became two. Stevan Jovetic, with another hugely exciting cameo appearance from the bench, made it three and then Yaya bulldozed his way through Villa’s defence as only he can to seal a memorable victory.

Much of the attention post-match centred on Edin Dzeko for his brace of goals to set us on our way and once again he came up with the goods just when we needed him most. He’s a baffling player, capable of flashes of brilliance interspersed with moments of painful mediocrity, able to produce performances of the highest quality mixed in with utterly dross-filled displays, glimpses of sublime chest control at the same time as an abysmal first touch, and he divides supporters’ opinions like no other. Yet, for all his plentiful faults, he scores goals and he scores important ones.

One against Crystal Palace, two against Everton and then two again last night – that’s five in his last three games to fire us to a position of strength. Over the past couple of months, as others have faded for whatever reason around him, he has assumed goalscoring responsibility. Even his celebrations now reveal a man consumed by team ethic. Previously, he has seemed aloof, perhaps disdainful and arrogant, after scoring: standing still, a grumpy look adorning his face, arms outstretched and expecting others to come towards him. Yesterday, he was overcome with emotion after his first strike, making a beeline towards the fans and showing a passion that hasn’t always been evident in his time at the club. Now, we’ll look towards him on Sunday to provide the inspiration once more.

All that said, the star of the show was Pablo Zabaleta. There’s not a great deal that could be written about the Argentine that hasn’t been repeated ad infinitum over the past couple of seasons, but he demonstrated yet again how he is the heartbeat, the rugged determination, the warrior of the side. With the style of play we operate with, there is much onus on him to provide a cutting edge down the right. It’s a physically draining position, up and down, up and down, up and down for the duration of a game. And he never gets a rest, partly due to Micah Richards’s injuries but equally, owing to his importance to the team. He’s the fighter who sets the standard for others, but there’s so much more craft to his game than just a tireless engine and a committed tackler. He defines the term fan-favourite and he, more than anyone, deserves to be lifting another trophy at the close of play on Sunday.

That now looks a surefire bet following this win. It was twitchy in places before we stepped it up a gear and closed proceedings out comfortably. One more game, one more point, one more effort and the title will be ours to cherish.

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