MAN CITY 7 – 0 Norwich – MY THOUGHTS
2 Nov
This was as much of a demolition as the scoreline suggests. City were vibrant, purposeful and attacked with patient excellence. Norwich, on the other hand, were about as abysmal as any vistitors to the Etihad have been, lacking any sort of organisation and solidity. It was a one-way procession of goals, chances and total control.
Seven different scorers (albeit including an own-goal) and countless contenders for the man of the match award highlight what an impressive team performance this was, the perfect response to last weekend’s crushing late defeat away to Chelsea. City didn’t need to produce anything extra special, such were the away side’s feeble defensive attempts, but there were more than enough pulsating glimpses of attacking quality from the Blues.
David Silva was at his irrepressible best, Samir Nasri’s display was full of meaningful impact and Sergio Aguero demonstrated his world-class talent once again. Behind them was the physical delicacy of Yaya Touré and a defence which would have been relieved to have been able to coast through the entire encounter without incident. It was near-perfection from City, a total humiliation of Norwich and a reminder to the rest of the Premier League of the quality we can produce.
Much of the attention pre-match was focused on Manuel Pellegrini’s selection of Costel Pantilimon but such was our total dominance of possession and chances, it didn’t matter who was guarding our net. The Romanian’s inclusion is likely to be just a short-term measure while Joe Hart has a rest, one he needs mentally as much as anything, but he’ll face far more difficult challenges in the coming games.
Instead, the match was all about the guile and constant ingenuity of the likes of Silva, Nasri and Yaya and their ability to break down a packed, if not resilient, Norwich backline. They did it with ease. A couple of deflections helped our cause but every passage of play oozed routine control. We prodded, we probed and we danced our way through. And we did it seven times. It was a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon. Onwards we march.
No comments yet