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Your support makes all the difference.There have been Boxing Day hunts that have been more of a contest – and in this instance it was as if the fox had appeared with a blindfold, holding a cigarette in one paw and a list of last requests in the other.
If Manchester City wanted reassurance that they are still title contenders in the wake of their defeat by Arsenal, they could not have handpicked better opponents.
In too many seasons to mention Sunderland have seemed doomed, only to escape magically with a change of manager here and a win over Newcastle there. However, this season, even with a manager as competent as Sam Allardyce, they seem already shot to bits, unable even to cope with the basics of defending. Newcastle conceded six at the Etihad Stadium earlier in the season and Sunderland were fortunate they did not join do the same.
The goal they scored was a fluke, a shot from Lee Cattermole that was so badly directed that Fabio Borini was able to intercept it and turn the ball past Joe Hart at the second attempt.
The only sourness for City was that Vincent Kompany broke down eight minutes into his comeback. He had been applauded on to the pitch, making his return for the first time since the goalless draw at Aston Villa in early November. But his calf, which has persistently plagued him, gave way again.
There is a realisation at the Etihad that if they are to win their title back, City will have to make do without their captain for swathes of the season. In the words of Hart, Kompany is a man “who has played 4,000 games and had as many operations”.
“It is not the best news,” his manager, Manuel Pellegrini, said afterwards. “Nobody understands why. He had a good warm-up, he was working during the week normally and the most important thing is to understand why this happens.
“But it was an important victory because we returned to our normal performance and were attractive and scored goals. I said after we lost at Arsenal that it was difficult to talk of positive things but we needed signs we are returning to our style.”
The day began with City unveiling their new badge. According to Noel Gallagher, who led the presentation, the design was “modern and original”, although to most people it looked remarkably similar to the old badge with the red rose of Lancashire and a boat on the Manchester Ship Canal.
The supporters were extensively consulted about the design and their choice might reflect a nostalgia for Maine Road and the old club that has been comprehensively swept away by an avalanche of Arab oil money.
This is a very different Manchester City. They settled this match with three goals inside 10 minutes – a demolition full of style and ruthlessness, although it began with a comical cross from Aleksandar Kolarov that ballooned so high it provoked laughter from those who had made what would have been a tortuous, rain-sodden journey down from Wearside.
Seconds later, Kevin de Bruyne produced a proper cross of his own – hard and accurate – that, to Allardyce’s dismay, was headed home by Raheem Sterling, comfortably the smallest player on the pitch.
After 17 minutes, Allardyce would have known it was all over. Yaya Touré began his trademark soft-shoe shuffle 20 yards from goal, which you know will produce something explosive. It seemed he had delayed a fraction too long but, suddenly, he turned Jordi Gomez and shot low and hard into the corner of Vito Mannone’s net. It was like watching a big cat grab its prey.
The third goal was an even simpler move that produced De Bruyne’s eighth assist of the season – this time a free-kick that Wilfried Bony stooped low to head past Mannone with his arm round John O’Shea’s neck.
Perhaps it is because he labours in the shadow of Sergio Aguero, but Bony is that oddity, a striker who scores plenty of goals – this was his fourth in six games – but who seems forever to be struggling with confidence.
In the second half, City were awarded a penalty for a trip on David Silva that happened just outside the area and it was almost unsurprising that when Bony took it, the ball ended up among the spectators.
With confidence comes the breaks and when Sebastian Coates tried to break up a one-two between Bony and De Bruyne, the defender succeeded only in turning the ball straight back to the young Belgian, who drove it effortlessly past Mannone.
Since conceding eight at Southampton in October 2014, Mannone has appeared in just three league games, a daunting trio against Arsenal, Chelsea and Manchester City. Allardyce remarked that he had demanded to play in this game, adding curtly: “Well, he has had his chance.”
Manchester City: (4-2-3-1) Hart; Sagna, Otamendi (Kompany, 62; Demichelis, 70), Mangala, Kolarov; Fernandinho, Touré (Delph, 62); De Bruyne, Silva, Sterling; Bony.
Sunderland: (4-1-4-1) Mannone; Jones, Coates, O’Shea, Van Aanholt; M’Vila (Cattermole, 56); Graham (Whatmore, 70), Johnson, Gomez, Borini; Fletcher (Lens, 62).
Referee: Anthony Taylor.
Man of the match: De Bruyne (Manchester City)
Match rating: 6/10
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