Manchester City 4 Aston Villa 0:IT WAS one of those days, for Manchester City, when everything clicked. There was even a rare smile from Mario Balotelli on his most satisfying day yet for his new club, the scorer of a hat-trick after being entrusted with Carlos Tevez's place.
Roberto Mancini’s side were rampant, full of hard running and inventive forward play, on another painful day for an Aston Villa side who appear to be in freefall.
Villa were obliging opponents for a team of City’s ambitions and there was little respite for Gerard Houllier’s side. The first three goals arrived inside the opening 27 minutes and, after that, it was an exercise in damage limitation for a club who have now lost five of their past six league games.
Balotelli’s hat-trick goal, his second penalty of the afternoon, rounded off City’s biggest home win of the season and, at the final whistle, the league table was immediately flashed up on the large screen to show Mancini’s men at the top. On this evidence they can be regarded as authentic challengers, although they will be fortunate to face another side as vapid and rudderless as Villa, who were jeered by the away fans.
Long before the end Villa’s supporters had resorted to dark humour, celebrating a corner as if they had scored and cheering with ironic “oles” when a move of half a dozen passes was put together. But there was anger, too, and the strength of feeling against Houllier is clearly building, only three months after his appointment. “You’re not fit to wear the shirt,” the fans sang. There were other, more abusive chants, directed personally at the manager.
Balotelli put City on their way in the eighth minute after Eric Lichaj, using both arms, had brought him down for the first penalty. His second was a tap-in after Brad Friedel had blocked David Silva’s shot and, in between, Joleon Lescott scored City’s first headed goal of the season from Adam Johnson’s corner. The game was effectively over with not even half an hour gone.
Villa had legitimate complaints that Lescott’s effort had not gone over the goalline before Barry Bannan headed it clear, but theirs was not a performance that attracted sympathy and, to give them their due, they did not dwell on any misplaced sense of injustice. It was a bad decision, but there was also an argument that Lichaj ought to have been shown a red card for the penalty. The simple truth was that Villa were abysmal, low on confidence and effort, and it was a surprise in many ways that City did not add to their total once Marc Albrighton had fouled Johnson to give away the penalty for Balotelli’s hat-trick.
The Italian now has eight goals in 11 appearances for City, which goes a long way to explaining why Mancini is willing to put up with the stresses and strains the striker occasionally brings to his workplace. After his first goal there was even the sight of his team-mates, led by Nigel de Jong, imploring him to smile. Balotelli duly obliged after making it 3-0 – but only briefly.
The paradox was that he was often on the fringes of the match and the man-of-the-match award went to Silva, even though he had been substituted with half an hour to play. Balotelli could also be seen in the final minutes asking Mancini if he could come off the pitch and, at the final whistle, he headed straight down the tunnel without acknowledging the supporters or claiming the match ball.
The man is an enigma, but Mancini will not mind too much if this brooding, mysterious character can continue to ease what has been an overreliance on Tevez.
The real problems are with Villa, and their supporters may not be overly impressed to learn that John Carew had ruled himself out because he did not think he was fit enough after travelling back to Norway for Christmas and getting stuck in the snow.
“We are, definitely,” Houllier said when he was asked whether Villa were now in a relegation battle, adding that he had not heard the supporters singing for his removal. “The problem is in the team; I thought the fans were fantastic. But we need to turn the corner. It’s a really big job and the players know we’re going through a difficult run.”
MANCHESTER CITY:Hart, Richards, Kompany, Lescott, Zabaleta, Toure Yaya (Jo 63), De Jong (Bridge 77), Vieira, Adam Johnson, Balotelli, Silva (Milner 58). Subs not used: Given, Boateng, Barry, Tevez. Booked: Milner.
ASTON VILLA:Friedel, Lichaj, Collins, Cuellar, Warnock, Albrighton (Delfouneso 56), Reo-Coker (Pires 81), Petrov, Downing, Bannan (Delph 56), Agbonlahor. Subs not used: Guzan, Clark, Hogg, Herd. Booked: Warnock, Lichaj.
Referee:Michael Oliver
