Raheem Sterling's Manchester City debut was overshadowed by
the old guard as Yaya Toure and Vincent Kompany made decisive contributions in
an impressive 3-0 win at West Bromwich Albion on Monday.
Having seen rivals Chelsea and Arsenal both slip up over the
weekend, Manuel Pellegrini's team took full advantage as they provided an early
glimpse of their Premier League title credentials with a dominant display at
the Hawthorns.
Toure and David Silva combined to hand City the initiative
just nine minutes in, with the Spanish international flicking home his
teammate's shot with the aid of a deflection, although the Ivory Coast
midfielder was credited with the goal.
Toure doubled City's advantage 15 minutes later and Belgium
defender Kompany added the third after half-time to cap a confident opener for
last year's runners-up, who sit top of the table after the first round of
fixtures.
Sterling, signed in contentious circumstances from Liverpool
for a club record STG49 million ($A103.07 million) over the close-season after
his attempts to force a move from Anfield, should have joined his new teammates
on the scoresheet.
The England winger spurned a glorious opportunity during
what was an encouraging, yet far from flawless, competitive bow for his new
club which lasted 74 minutes before he was substituted.
Deployed on the left side of a three-pronged attack,
Sterling's pace, trickery and movement posed problems for Albion, however he
lacked the finishing touch in front of goal City would expect for their
investment.
West Brom manager Tony Pulis will hope the arrival of their
own record signing, STG12 million ($A25.24 million) Venezuela forward Salomon
Rondon, will signal a marked improvement from them after his capture from Zenit
St Petersburg hours before what was a disappointing start to the season.
That his side lost the initiative so early on will have been
of particular frustration to Pulis.
Albion were penned into their own half by City and looked
bereft of attacking ideas.
Whatever Pulis said at half-time roused West Brom, though,
and there was immediately more purpose to their game upon resumption.
One of Sterling's colleagues at Anfield last season, Rickie
Lambert, almost marked his competitive Baggies bow in style with a brilliant
free-kick which whistled agonisingly over.
Yet any home hopes of a revival were stopped in their tracks
when Kompany successfully met Silva's corner at the near post and scored.
0 comments:
Post a Comment