Five reasons why Manchester City deserved their victory last night

The Premier League Owl

Roberto Mancini’s team selection

Picking Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero in the same starting eleven was a statement of intent. Even though City needed to win last night, Mancini could have bowed to his defensive instincts and approached the fixture with a safety-first philosophy. That he didn’t showed his increasing understanding for what constitutes a successful formula in English football – attack your opponent, and let them worry about the threat you posses rather than vice versa.

Yaya Toure’s performance

If you could pick one player in the Premier League to base an entire team around, a fair proportion of managers would take the monolithic Ivorian midfielder. On arriving in England, most of us assumed that he’d be designated a destroyer’s role in front of the defence – few people can claim to have had an appreciation for how complete a player he really was. Is there anything he didn’t do well last night? His tackling, his distribution, and his energy levels and commitment were all without compare – and he was involved in everything that City did well on both sides of the ball.

The nullification of Wayne Rooney

Rarely will you see the England forward reduced to such a peripheral figure in a game. As a rule, the deeper you see Rooney play, the better the defense he’s facing is performing. And how frequently did he drop back last night?

Vincent Kompany and Joleon Lescott clearly deserve the majority of the praise for wrapping Rooney up, but the entire City side showed an understanding of how to negate his attacking threat – which is a real compliment when you consider quite how multi-dimensional the United forward can be. No joy centrally, no influence in wide postions, and starved of possession when he came to try and collect it.

A masterclass in how to remove his influence.

The selection of Pablo Zabaleta

Is there a more undervalued player in the league than Pablo Zabaleta?

Micah Richards may be the more watchable right-back, but Zabaleta is the more reliable – and probably better – one. Gary Neville did a good job analysing this before kick-off; through his tendency to go forward, Richards leaves gaps in behind him – which is perilous given the lack of midfield-defensive support offered by City’s system.

Zabaleta’s selection blocked up an area of the pitch where United usually enjoy success, while also providing offensive support when his side went forward. If English full-backs could understand the importance of that balance – or even come close to achieving it – we’d all be looking forward to Euro 2012 a little bit more.

Their treatment of Manchester United

City see Manchester United as what they are: an average side propped-up by their reputation. It’s amazing how many teams facing United are still essentially beaten in the tunnel, but not City. Mancini’s players went after the neighbours last night, and showed them the required lack of respect that’s needed to conquer them. There really is nothing to fear from this version of Manchester United, yet City are the only team in the league that seem to believe that.

William Hill are offering a free £25 to all new members. Click, let the page load, and select the offer code at the top of the page. A Liverpool and Everton double tonight returns £104 off that £25.