Match Reflection: Manchester City 7 - 0 Norwich City

City blow the Canaries out the water

By Jack Mumford

City demolished a shambolic Norwich City side by scoring seven for the first time in their Premier League history on a blustery afternoon at the Etihad Stadium. Completing 712 passes in the process, the victory never seemed in doubt for City who were dominant in every aspect.

Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

Returning to the Etihad which has been such a fortress for the last few seasons after almost a month of away games, City’s array of attacking options just appeared to be too clever and too quick for a hapless Norwich defence.

As rumoured, Costel Pantilimon started in goal ahead of Joe Hart but as you can probably gather from the score line, anyone of the 47,066 crowd could probably have been in net for City. He was forced into one smart diving save in the first half but for the most part he was merely a spectator to the massacre like the rest of us.

Chelsea 1 - 2 Manchester City: Thoughts and Ratings

By Adam Bailey

My thoughts

All eyes will be on the Hart - Nastasić bust up, but on days like this, it's far more rewarding to take the positives out of the game. My opinion has been scrutinised  by the majority of my Twitter followers, but I do feel Nastasić played a bigger role in Chelsea's winner. Hart, wrongly of course, darted out of his goal too early. However, the Serbian saw him coming and still proceeded to head over the top of him into Torres' path. Any other direction and the goal is averted, but too much discussion has been centered around the issue and I want to leave it there.

As for Fernando Torres, he was magnificent. He'll never return to the form he hit in his days at Liverpool and every experienced pundit knows that he won't, but it makes a decent headline at the end of the day. He terrorised Gaël Clichy all evening and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't slightly concerned with the Frenchman's form of late. He seems to have lost his pace and concentration and dare I say it, Aleksandar Kolarov seems to be a better option at the moment.

Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

A lesson learnt from last season's misfortunes?

By Alex Mason

Manchester City have certainly learnt their lesson from last years transfer catastrophe, that evidently cost them the Premier League title.

Last summer City signed five players on transfer deadline day, with former City manager Roberto Mancini admitting he only signed one of his transfer targets, Matija Nastasić. It was a transfer window that saw City lose out on Eden Hazard, Daniele De Rossi, Javi Martínez and of course Robin van Persie.

So it's safe to say that after winning the Premier League title in 2012, City's transfer strategy was ineffective in the close season.

Pellegrini's transfer strategy has been a stark difference compared to last season's.
Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

However, this summer has been a lot different. City have definitely pushed up a few gears by signing Brazilian midfielder Fernandinho, speedy Spanish winger Jesús Navas, Spanish forward Álvaro Negredo, who I might add finished Europe's seventh top goalscorer last season and Montenegrin striker Stevan Jovetić, a player who shipped in 13 goals in 25 appearances for his former club Fiorentina.

Reflection: Misfiring City draw first blank in 11 months

BY AARON LEGGOTT

Can Nastastic take Lescott's place?
Photo: Richard Heathcote/Getty Images Europe

It has been 42 matches since City failed to score in a competitive fixture, but West Ham were finally able to stop the Premier League champions from finding the net, thanks to a rearguard display by Sam Alladyce's men.

Upon reflection, I am happy with the point. Considering our current form, a trip to the Boleyn Ground was never going to be easy, and despite not scoring, I thought their was a lot of improvement within the side.

Defensively, we looked a lot more secure, and it wouldn't surprise me if we saw more of Matija Nastasic as the season progresses. He looks a far better player than Stefan Savic, and at the moment you would have to say he's looking a safer bet than Joleon Lescott in the heart of the back line. In fact, I hardly noticed him on Saturday which proves how calm he played alongside the captain.