Mario Balotelli did his best to prove to manager
Roberto Mancini that he is his number one striker as
his stunning goal helped Manchester City on their way
to a crushing win over Aston Villa that handed them
the outright leadership of the Premier League.
Given the chance to lead the line for a second straight
game, the 21-year-old, a £24million signing from
Inter Milan last summer, thrived on the responsibility
and his sumptuous first-half overhead kick brought his
side to life after a sterile opening.
With Villa's resistance broken, Adam Johnson, Vincent
Kompany and James Milner added second-half goals and
Owen Hargreaves came on for his Premier League debut
on a near-perfect afternoon for City, who pulled two
points clear of cross-city rivals United ahead of next
weekend's Manchester derby. Stephen Warnock netted a
consolation for Villa.
Balotelli's goal was complemented by an industrious
performance all over the pitch, reminiscent of his showing
in the 4-0 win over Blackburn before the international
break, with the Italian finally starting to look a more
mature performer.
Having been relegated to a bit-part role owing to the
form of City's other strikers and his own on- and off-field
controversies, Balotelli is perhaps one of the few to
benefit from the ongoing saga surrounding Carlos Tevez
- the Argentinian missing again as his club continue
to deal with his alleged refusal to play against Bayern
Munich.
And with eight-goal Sergio Aguero injured and Edin
Dzeko, Samir Nasri and David Silva all on the bench
as Mancini made four changes, Balotelli had another
chance to impress and took it, as Villa lost their unbeaten
start to the season at the eighth hurdle.
Alex McLeish's men, who included former City favourites
Richard Dunne, Shay Given and Stephen Ireland in a line-up
showing two changes, arrived at the Etihad Stadium without
an away win this season but it did not show as they
made a confident opening.
Gabriel Agbonlahor robbed Joleon Lescott but failed
to make the most of a one-on-one with Joe Hart and Warnock
failed with the follow-up as City struggled to settle.
But Balotelli then decided to wake them up, hitting
tamely wide before going closer when his 25-yard curler
reared up in front of Given and forced the Irishman
to turn it behind.
Balotelli's frustrations at his close shave had drawn
some considerable goading from the Villa fans housed
behind Given's goal, but he was soon able to silence
them.
Johnson's 28th-minute corner hit an unsuspecting Micah
Richards and fell perfectly for Balotelli, who produced
a razor-sharp bicycle kick to leave Given flat-footed
and take his tally of goals against Villa to five in
three outings.
City were unable to score again before the break but
did so two minutes after it when Warnock slipped as
he tracked Yaya Toure's pass, leaving Johnson with a
one-on-one that he did not waste.
It was Johnson's second goal in as many games and City
thought they had a claim for a penalty a minute later
when Balotelli took a tumble while navigating traffic
in the area.
Referee Anthony Taylor was unmoved, but City were soon
able to score a third without any help from the officials
as Kompany, making his 100th start for the club, rose
to nod in Johnson's corner with 52 minutes gone.
City's afternoon was slightly soured when Richards
limped off just after the hour and, while he was doing
so, Villa pulled a goal back as Warnock stormed on to
Agbonlahor's cross - taking advantage of Richards' absence
- to score.
It only provided momentary solace for Villa, though,
who fell three behind again with 20 minutes remaining.
Nigel de Jong's long pass played in Johnson and, after
some trickery from the winger, the ball was moved on
to Milner who found the top corner from the edge of
the box against his former club.
Silva, on for Toure, then went close after more impressive
work from Balotelli, before Hargreaves came on for his
first taste of Premier League action since an injury-halted
seven minutes for Manchester United last November, immediately
launching himself into two tackles as if to prove his
fitness. |
