Pellegrini given perfect pick-up as big guns fire
FOR Manchester City, it was just nice not to be playing Barcelona. For the last two years they had been handed the dubious privilege afforded to Arsenal this week. Suffice to say, City know how it feels.
Here in snowy Kiev, however, their season began to warm up at last. Dynamo were average opposition and they had not played a competitive game since the start of December. At times that showed.
Nevertheless, for 50 minutes this was much, much better from City ahead of their appointment with Liverpool in the Capital One Cup final on Sunday.
This was more like the team we saw briefly at the start of the Barclays Premier League season, a City side with a little silk and a little steel, hungry to take a game away from the opposition as quickly as possible.
City, unlucky to concede a deflected goal early in the second half, were reeled by a limited Kiev who that at least fed off the home crowd’s enthusiasm the more the game wore on. It took Yaya Toure’s super late goal to douse the fires of an unlikely comeback.
Tellingly, however, familiar names inflicted the damage on Kiev and if City are to recover from a deeply disappointing mid-season — their own winter break from winning — then Sergio Aguero, David Silva and Toure must step forward.
When City have been good in recent times — consistently, dangerously good — a spine of Joe Hart, Vincent Kompany, Toure, Silva and Aguero has generally been in place.
That goes back through Manuel Pellegrini’s up-and-down tenure to Roberto Mancini’s time.
In recent months, that spine has supported City less well and as other players have failed to step up, Pellegrini’s team have struggled.
Hart’s standards have remained high but Kompany and Aguero have suffered the muscle injuries that often accompany too much football, while Silva and Toure have found regular, prolonged excellence harder to come by.
Here at the lovely Olympic Stadium, however, there were some signs that all may yet be well for Pellegrini in his final City season. Brazilian midfielder Fernando was arguably City’s outstanding performer but the executioners were the stellar names.
Aguero’s part in his team’s two first-half goals was as excellent as anything you will see in Europe in this round of the competition and that includes the occasional beauty Barcelona had to offer in north London on Tuesday night.
Aguero has felt his way back in recent weeks after this season’s hamstring, heel and knee injuries — and it is hard to blame him.
Here, though, the manner with which he scored City’s opening goal was telling and probably indicative of better form to come. Seeing a Toure header drop towards him in the 15th minute, Aguero still had much to do but anticipation and a dart forward allowed him to reach the ball first.
The subsequent volley, struck with his right foot on the run, was technically perfect as it shot low past Oleksandr Shovkovskiy.
It was a strike that brought confidence to team and player and it was not long before Aguero was setting the buccaneering Toure clear for a shot that the goalkeeper dropped sharply to his left to save.
Toure may have done better there, but he would atone later. And soon after, Aguero was collecting a long pass superbly as it dropped over his shoulder and playing in Raheem Sterling with a cute backheel.
A low cross allowed Silva to score at the far post from two yards and City had a hold on the game that Kiev had to work hard to break in the second period.
City can still look vulnerable and Jurgen Klopp and his Liverpool team will take heart from the way Kiev worked their way back into this contest, notwithstanding Toure’s late clincher from the edge of the box.
City’s season is moving forwards at last and it is no coincidence that familiar names are to the fore.