West Brom 2 - 3 Manchester City: Thoughts and Ratings

By Adam Bailey

Praise may be endlessly flowing from the mouths of City supporters after last nights uncharacteristic away win, but ultimately, Manchester City should be relishing playing teams like West Brom who really shouldn't stand a chance against such formidable opponents.

Manuel Pellegrini's tinkering surprised me somewhat, especially with the inclusion of Edin Džeko alongside Sergio Agüero. However, the Bosnian's first half display was encouraging and his interchanges with Sergio and the advancing Pablo Zabaleta made for some dazzling play and you can't argue with his magnificent record against the Baggies. Although Džeko enjoyed a relatively straightforward first half in which the Blues achieved a comfortable two goal cushion, his showing in front of goal was less than clinical in the second and Álvaro Negredo's strength and technique would have troubled the Baggies a lot more in my opinion.

Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

Match Reflection: West Brom 2 - 3 Manchester City

City break away duck with solid victory

By Jack Mumford

City slayed their away demons last night, powering past a shell-shocked West Bromwich Albion to win 3-2, with a late onslaught from West Brom making the scoreline a more respectable one. After losing four of the six away Premier League games so far this season, City knew they had to improve their away form to stand a chance of winning the title. 

Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

West Brom have already won at Old Trafford and drawn at Stamford Bridge this season so City’s comprehensive victory is no mean feat.

Manuel Pellegrini made three changes from Sunday's victory over Swansea. The major news was captain Vincent Kompany returned to the side after two months out with a thigh injury. Joleon Lescott was the unfortunate man who had to make way for the returning Belgian. 

Match Preview: Manchester City vs Swansea City

Laudrup's Swans set to face the murky waters of the Etihad

By Adam Bailey

European enterprises held very different outcomes for both sides as Swansea suffered midweek misery whilst City enjoyed hilarity at home once again. Daniel Parejo's goal earned Valencia a 1-0 win in Wales on Thursday and the Welsh side must record at least a point in their next tie against St Gallen if they are to reach the last 32 of the competition. 

Swansea will travel to Manchester on Sunday with their ammunition severely depleted. Top scorers Wilfried Bony (10) and Michu (7) both suffered injuries in the mid-week fixture leaving Michael Laudrup with unsettling shortages up top. 

For Manuel Pellegrini's side however, Swansea's injuries have come at the perfect time. A shaky defensive performance on Wednesday night was masked by yet another attacking masterclass that saw Sergio Agüero, Samir Nasri, Álvaro Negredo and Edin Džeko help City to their 15th goal of the Champions League group stages.

Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

Match Reflection: Manchester City 4 - 2 Viktoria Plzeň

Pellegrini's progressors show Hart against a vivacious Viktoria Plzeň 

By Adam Bailey

Manchester City's impeccable home record almost suffered a frightening blow on Wednesday night as a vibrant Viktoria Plzeň side launched a full scale assault inside the Etihad Stadium.

A relaxed home crowd, buoyed by their side's progression into the last 16 of the Champions League, were treated to yet another goalscoring flurry on home territory. Seven changes were made to the outfit that savaged Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday afternoon and a shaky defence had their attackers to thank in a below par performance.

Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

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.

Match Reflection: Newcastle United 0 - 2 Manchester City

Merlin inspires City to quarter finals

By Jack Mumford

City finally reached the end of their long run of away games last night after a lifeless second string side crawled past Newcastle United 2-0 after extra time at St James’ Park. The Blues will now travel to Leicester City in the last eight of the Capital One Cup.

Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

However, Manuel Pellegrini will be worried tonight after Stevan Jovetić and Micah Richards both left the pitch injured. 

Montenegrin Jovetić lasted only 10 minutes in his return from a hamstring injury and Richards hobbled off the pitch after 80 minutes suggesting he was struggling with cramp.  

Last night ended the sequence of 4 successive away games in 11 days which has included two trips to London to face West Ham and Chelsea and the long haul flight to Moscow.

Match Preview: Newcastle United vs Manchester City

City divert attention to domestic cup action after Chelsea defeat

By Rebecca Halliwell

The fourth round of the Capital One Cup sees Manchester City travelling to St James’ Park. 

Manchester City will want to win to make amends for their defeat to Chelsea at the weekend. Their away form seemed to be improving but a late goal from Fernando Torres saw City limited to four points out of a possible 15. 

While the Capital One Cup won’t be on the top of Manuel Pellegrini’s must-win list, the Chilean will be expected to put out a good squad and prove the Blues depth. 

Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

Match Reflection: Aston Villa 3 - 2 Manchester City

Dominant Blues suffer shock defeat

By Aaron Leggott

A second half turnaround from Aston Villa ensured a brilliant week culminated with a sour ending as the Blues succumbed to their second Premier League defeat of the season.

In truth, anyone who watched the game would have expressed their surprise at this result, such was City's domination for large periods of the game.

Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

Yaya Touré opened the scoring for the Blues, before Karim El Ahmadi levelled the scoreline just after half time. Edin Džeko almost instantly replied to put City back ahead before goals from Leandro Bacuna and Andreas Weimann secured the points for the Villans.

Match Reflection: Manchester City 5 - 0 Wigan Athletic

Revenge is sweet! City smash Latics for five to progress in Capital One Cup

By Aaron Leggott

There were plenty of broken hearts when Ben Watson headed home during injury time to clinch the FA Cup for Wigan in May, but there is an increasing feeling that the Wembley wrongs are being rewritten after Jesús Navas smashed in City's 12th goal in three games, and the fifth of the night yesterday as the Blues pushed the Latics aside with ease.

Goals from Edin Džeko and Yaya Touré, as well as a brace on his home debut for Stevan Jovetić secured a comfortable route into the fourth round of the Capital One Cup as Manuel Pellegrini looks to fight on all four fronts this season.

Jovetić was in great form as City produced yet another emphatic win
Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

There was also rare first team appearances for Marcos Lopes and Dedryck Boyata, whilst Micah Richards returned from injury to play a full 90 minutes.

Viktoria Plzeň 0 - 3 Manchester City: Thoughts and Ratings

By Aaron Leggott

My thoughts

I'll be honest with you all - after last weekend's rather abject performance against Stoke City, I was starting to wonder how long it'd take for Manuel Pellegrini to bed in and implement his ideas properly. 

I was also worried about the forthcoming week, which saw us play the Czech champions and of course, United on Sunday.

But, the players put in a truly brilliant European performance and put themselves in a strong position to build upon that result, and in turn qualify for the knockout phases in the new year. 

I was particularly impressed with Samir Nasri. After some recently deserved criticism, he bounced back against Plzeň and delivered what we all came to expect of the Frenchman when he joined for £25 million in 2011.

Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

Match Reflection: Viktoria Plzeň 0 - 3 Manchester City

Yaya Touré helps City record first win in Champions League since 2011 

By Aaron Leggott

Manuel Pellegrini's men strolled to a convincing 3-0 victory in the Czech Republic last night, with goals from Edin Džeko, Yaya Touré and Sergio Agüero securing the win.

It probably would have had Roberto Mancini scratching his head as he sat at home - with only two new summer additions starting in a team that failed so badly under him in Europe last season.

The Italian will argue that his successor has been given a much kinder draw, but City played brilliantly during the whole 90 minutes and produced a European performance that was simply lacking far too often under Mancini.

Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

In truth, the first half was very 50/50, but City were very patient and except for Vincent Kompany's mis-hit back pass to Joe Hart midway through the first half, the Blues were very comfortable, with the hosts rarely troubling Hart's goal.

Manchester City 2 - 0 Hull City: Thoughts and Ratings

By Aaron Leggott

My thoughts

Well, after three games we are sat on six points following games at home to Newcastle and Hull, as well as a defeat in Cardiff last weekend.

If I were to describe our start to the season, I would use the word transitional. It is clear that the players are still adapting to the new tactics employed by Manuel Pellegrini - and it has had an impact upon us defensively. Of course, the absence of Vincent Kompany (and Matija Nastasic last week) hasn't made things any easier, but considering we have had one of, if not the strongest defence in the league during the past few years, it is strange to see such poor individual errors being made.

Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

Match Reflection: Manchester City 2 - 0 Hull City

Pellegrini's men triumph despite unconvincing display

By Aaron Leggott

As ever, the three points are the most important thing in every Premier League match, but Manuel Pellegrini will have hoped to obtained them in a better fashion than his team did against Hull City on Saturday afternoon as the Blues achieved a 2-0 victory.

Goals from Álvaro Negredo and Yaya Touré in the second half ensured the victory, but Steve Bruce will be kicking himself that his team didn't take their chances to cause a second shock in consecutive weekends against City.

Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

Match Preview: Manchester City vs Hull City

Blues looking to bounce back after shock defeat

By Rebecca Halliwell

After the disappointment of losing away to Cardiff last weekend, Manchester City are set to face the second of three promoted sides on Saturday when they host Hull City at the Etihad Stadium. The Tigers finished second in the Championship last season and have made a good start to their first season in the Premier League for three years, beating Norwich 1-0 last week thanks to a penalty from Robbie Brady on 22 minutes.

Many fans expected Manuel Pellegrini's side to take all three points against the Bluebirds last weekend but the Blues were overcome by the roar of the home crowd, eventually losing 3-2. City’s defence has been the tightest in the league for the past two seasons, and while we lacked goals last season, I think it’s fair to say that Cardiff had most of their men behind the ball which didn’t allow for movement of players like David Silva to create scoring opportunities for others.

A memorable moment from City's 5-1 victory against Hull in December 2008
Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

Match Reflection: Cardiff City 3-2 Manchester City

Newly promoted side take headlines

By Archie Barnett

Manchester City went into the game at the Cardiff City Stadium in high spirits, travelling to Wales on the back of a 4-0 victory against Newcastle. However, it wasn't to be the day that many City fans imagined, with a poor general team display and a lack of anything special - other than the goals.

In general, I think I may have fallen asleep during the first half due to a severe lack of entertainment. One shot on target from David Silva (even that didn't challenge), and a few attempts off target is all I can really remember - other than a Joe Hart save. The only other thing I remember is seeing Cardiff City owner Vincent Tan on several occasions - who wins my award for the worst dressed owner in football - a replica football shirt over a normal shirt whilst tucked into trousers, really? I'm really not going to bore you with the minute details that the first half consisted of, so straight onto the second.

The second half saw five goals, two from Manchester City and unfortunately three for Cardiff. It was City who took the lead after 52 minutes, as a forward pass from Yaya Toure was touched back by Sergio Aguero, to find Edin Dzeko. A vicious strike from the Bosnian striker was too much for David Marshall, who's sprawling dive couldn't stop the ball from nestling into the corner of the goal.

Edin Dzeko shapes up for first goal of the game
Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

Match Reflection: Manchester City 4 - 0 Newcastle

Manuel Pellegrini’s era starts with an emphatic win over Newcastle

By Alex Mason

Manchester City have got off to a fantastic start to the Premier League season as they brushed away ten man Newcastle. The game was the first for new boss Manuel Pellegrini as he watched his very impressive City side bully Newcastle in a very one-sided game.

City began the game very brightly and could have scored within the first 3 minutes. Jesús Navas' cross went straight to the path of Sergio Agüero, whose shot was well saved by a very busy Tim Krul. A minute later it was Edin Džeko's turn to test Krul after his shot was brilliantly saved by the Dutchman. The goal City deserved came on the 6th minute when Džeko's cross met the head of little Spaniard David Silva.

City then could have had a penalty when Mathieu Debuchy tangled with Yaya Touré on 12 minutes. New signing Fernandinho then found Džeko in the box but his shot went inches wide. Only a minute later Džeko played a clever flick to Sergio Agüero whose pace beat Newcastle defender Steven Taylor before stroking a precise finish past Krul.

Sergio Aguero celebrates scoring City's second goal of the night
Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

On the 30th minute Džeko, who had a brilliant game, was then booked for tangling with Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa. Minutes later Fernandinho was in the referee’s book after sliding in on Yoan Gouffran. Referee Andre Marriner then booked Moussa Sissoko for hacking Agüero down in what was a busy night for the referee. City’s free-kick was awarded to Navas as his shot went inches wide of the post.

Blue Review: How are the new boys doing?

Are Pellegrini's signings up to the task? 

By Adam Bailey

As part of a new feature on The Sky Blue View, each writer will get their chance to bring their in-depth opinions to the table. From analysis to exclusive interviews, we are hoping to create a greater connection between ourselves and Manchester City. First up, Adam Bailey analyses the impact that Pellegrini's new players can bring to the table.

August the 19th. 

The date we've all penned into our diaries. The only date that matters this summer. The reunion with the love our lives; Manchester City.

Long gone is the summer of 2012. Regretfully, the Blues bought poorly and didn't replenish themselves with the necessary nutrients required to defend a Premier League crown. Fortunately, Mr.Pellegrini has ensured we'll have four new exciting players to keep our beady eyes on come Monday night. 

In preparation for the new season, myself and three of my top Twitter followers Leslie Owens, Will King and Adil Hussain got together to discuss what we think of the new recruits so far...

Match Reflection: City 5 - 3 AC Milan

City triumph in Audi Cup semi final

By Aaron Leggott

A frantic first half which saw all eight goals scored was the decisive factor in this entertaining friendly at a humid Allianz Arena. 

City were looking in devastating form and gave themselves a five goal lead after 35 minutes, before the Rossoneri replied with three goals of their own within seven minutes.

Manuel Pellegrini named a strong eleven with the Blues lining up with just over two weeks to go until they kick off their Premier League season, and made an immediate start after David Silva tapped home from close range past Marco Amelia in the Milan goal.

Debut: Stevan Jovetic made an impressive debut for City vs AC Milan
Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

In truth, Milan named a much weaker team than City, namely down to them being in the early stages of their pre-season - but the defending on show was similar to that of a park team, rather than a Champions League outfit.

Match Reflection: City 1 - 0 Sunderland

Dzeko goal secures the Barclays Asia Trophy for City

By Aaron Leggott

Despite the awful condition of the pitch at the Hong Kong Stadium, Edin Dzeko managed to score a magnificent goal to deliver the Barclays Asia Trophy to City - and hopefully the first of many this season.

In the grand scheme of things, the trophy is rather meaningless, with the main aim during pre-season to improve match fitness. But, Dzeko's sweet volley from 20 yards was an indication to Manuel Pellegrini that he will have a few sleepless nights when picking his first XI in three weeks time.

Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

Dzeko was named as the Player of the Tournament thanks to his performances as the Bosnian grabbed two goals in as many games and really should have had one more but for an awful penalty miss on the hour mark.

Match Reflection: City 1 - 0 South China

Dzeko heads home in Hong Kong

By Adam Bailey

With agony in Africa behind them, Pellegrini’s men cruised to a routine victory in Hong Kong thanks to an Edin Dzeko header on 21 minutes.

The match was cut short by ten minutes due the horrific state of the pitch which had been mauled by the horrendous weather and the boots of Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland.

The game was characterised early on by the outstanding tenacity and creativity of James Milner down the right flank. If City were going to score, Milner was almost certainly going to be the producer and his floated cross midway through the first half was headed in by Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko.

Edin Dzeko in action today in Hong Kong
Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

The Englishman was doing a fine job of staking his claim to start in Manuel Pellegrini’s star studded XI next season and although the City faithful will have been disappointed not to see new signings Stevan Jovetic and Jesus Navas even make the bench, they certainly will have been excited by Milner’s early play.