Manchester City 5 Birmingham City 1:MANCHESTER CITY succeeded superbly in achieving the only outcome that was available to them yesterday. The team simply had to win before a clutch of matches that appear likely to determine their hopes of qualifying for the Champions League and did that with aplomb.
Birmingham have been resilient this season but could not cope with the avalanche of ingenuity that kept coming their way.
Such was the fullness of the hosts’ attacking display that even the full-back Nedum Onuoha was able to contribute to the tally in impressive style, galloping forward before sweeping the ball into the corner of the net to make it 4-1. This win, however, bore the hallmark of City’s front pair. Carlos Tevez and Emmanuel Adebayor were irresistible, scoring twice each and threatening throughout to get more.
“Carlos and Emmanuel are fantastic strikers and, if they continue playing like this, we will do well,” Roberto Mancini, City’s manager, said. That verdict seemed particularly apt for the Argentinian, who has 20 goals in his past 18 league games.
That must cause Alex Ferguson some regrets as he prepares his spluttering Manchester United side for the derby here on Saturday. His decision to sell Tevez last summer looked questionable then and even more so now given his form, Wayne Rooney’s injury concerns and Dimitar Berbatov’s lingering lack of potency. That will not concern City’s supporters, who can look ahead to the visit of United, followed by the matches against Arsenal, Aston Villa and Tottenham, with relish.
Their side have scored 11 goals in two matches and thanks in part to Spurs’ involvement in the FA Cup and Liverpool’s stalemate with Fulham, have strengthened their grip of fourth place.
“I am happy for the players as they played with quick tempo today,” Mancini said. Asked if he thought Liverpool, who are now six points behind City having played a game more, no longer pose a threat, the Italian added: “Probably. But it is important we keep working hard.”
That this fixture ended in a rout would have surprised anyone who watched only the first half an hour. Then, Birmingham’s ploy of placing 10 men behind the ball whenever the hosts had possession saw them comfortably remain in contention for at least a point.
But City’s quickening play, in which Craig Bellamy and Adam Johnson supported admirably from wide, eventually broke the resistance after 37 minutes. Not surprisingly Adebayor and Tevez were involved, with the former brought down in the area by Scott Dann after he had sharply turned the defender and the latter scoring from the resulting penalty.
That ignited a frenetic six-minute period that saw a further three goals scored. First, Tevez poked the ball in from close range before Cameron Jerome then got one back for the visitors with a header after 42 minutes. Any thoughts of a Birmingham revival were extinguished a minute later, though, when Adebayor slid in Bellamy’s low cross.
City played with even more thrust after the interval and before Onuoha struck, Adebayor and Tevez again had chances to score. The Togo striker did eventually secure another goal after 88 minutes with a close-range shot.
Alex McLeish, the Birmingham manager, was left to rue his side’s “criminal defending” – which was not helped by the absence of goalkeeper Joe Hart due to the terms of his loan move from the hosts – but also expressed his admiration for City’s ruthlessness. They look in the mood to hand out more beatings in the weeks ahead.
