szólj hozzá: Norwich vs Manchester City 3:4 MOTD
This was a must win situation for City if they had to rebound from the Sunderland defeat to keep up with Utd and challenge for the title. They were already seven points off the pace and it would have been a monumental climb to overcome a double digit deficit. Edin Dzeko got his start and Roberto Mancini was rewarded for that prescient decision with two quick goals from the striker to put the defending champions in what appeared to be a no frills win. Dzeko was involved in City’s winning goal when he took Gael Clichy’s long diagonal on his chest, ran a few, and smashed the ball near post. The shot cannoned off the upright hitting Mark Bunn and trickled into the net. For a moment the tall Bosnian thought he had his hat trick but it was ruled an own goal.
However the biggest talking point came with Samir Nasri’s sending off. He jack knifes theatrically following Sebastian Bassong’s low tackle and just when everyone is wondering if they have to call the medics in, he gets up and then menaces Bassong with a headbutt. It was clearly was not as bad as it looked and one can argue whether it merited an expulsion. But there should be no doubt that Nasri carries loads of baggage as do some of his other team mates. Mancini has had to play wet nurse to them in the past and one questions when that milk of human kindness will dry up. Even with Nasri on the field, Norwich was not going to make it easy as Anthony Pilkington’s free kick hit the wall to cut it to a one goal margin. Vincent Kompany looked rightly aggrieved as his legitimate tackle before on Robert Snodgrass set up that sequence of events.
Sergio Aguero restored a two goal padding with a perfectly placed chip before City were exposed through a set piece again as Russell Martin directed Bassong’s header into goal following a short corner. Martin was again involved in deflecting the ball into goal after a corner saw the ball ping ponging around with City unable to scramble it away to safety. It was squeaky bum time for Blue Moon. Norwich thankfully for them ran out of time. Bunn’s own goal proved critical to City’s win and more importantly kept them within striking distance of Utd as they closed out the first half of the season.