Manchester City 3 Newcastle 1:IT TOOK half an hour of first-half frenzy for the revs to settle and the right gear to clunk into place, but by the end it was clear that the giddy sense of momentum that has now propelled Manchester City to nine straight wins in all competitions had survived the international break intact.
The enduring images of the 3-1 defeat of a disciplined and adventurous Newcastle United were the bullocking second-half runs of Yaya Toure after his decisive tactical switch into a more attacking role, buttressed on the right flank by the forward surges of Micah Richards in a fine display of attacking full-back brio.
The question now is simply how far this collective gallop can take Roberto Mancini’s irrepressibles as the season divides again into the twin-track slog of domestic and Champions League affairs.
Newcastle, unbeaten before Saturday, will face the coming challenges of Manchester United away and Chelsea at home with greater confidence than the scoreline might suggest. Alan Pardew’s team showed incisiveness on the break and might have pulled the score back to 2-1 when Hatem Ben Arfa hit a post in the second half. For City, though, this was a case of taking care of business at home before thoughts turn to wider challenges, most pressingly a Champions League trip to Napoli tomorrow night.
For Mancini it is also a chance to give notice in his home country of the rapidly flowering potency of this City team.
“We went back and played against Juventus but it wasn’t an important game. This is a big game,” Mancini said. “We left a lot of space for counter-attack and Naples is very good at this. We learned a lot.
“The first game we had in the Champions League we were so nervous and Naples they have Cavani, Lavezzi, Hamsik, they are very dangerous.”
For the manager at least the claustrophobic atmosphere of the Stadio San Paolo will be familiar, and also familial territory, the home city of both his wife and his mother.
“In Naples all the supporters are very close to the team. It is one of my favourite grounds. It’s very good to play in Naples because the stadium is big, the pitch is good, it’s fantastic,” said Mancini.
Asked about a favourite memory there from his playing days Mancini was able to summon up the kind of dazzlingly A-list reminiscence that provides a reminder to City’s current squad of the manager’s own stellar qualities, recalling Sampdoria’s run-in to the 1991 Serie A title that began with a 4-2 win against a Napoli team featuring Diego Maradona (“I scored two goals and Vialli scored two. I have a good memory of that”).
It is also a homecoming of sorts for Mario Balotelli, who maintained his fine form with a dynamic display and brilliantly insolent first-half penalty to give City the lead against Newcastle. Typically he has more mixed memories of Naples, having been called to give evidence recently in the money-laundering investigation involving suspected crime boss Marco Iorio.
Balotelli testified this month about an incident where he was led into a bar in downtown Naples (while in the process of hiring a yacht) and saw “a table full of drugs”.
Mancini believes his most visceral talent will be unfazed by what is sure to be a fevered reception: “I went for 20 years as a player to Naples and I went there for six years as a manager and I didn’t have any problems. Mario now is in a good way. I don’t think it will be a problem.”
Balotelli’s opener from the spot was followed closely by a second from the impressive Richards, who then made the third with the help of David Silva, introduced from the bench with 20 minutes to go.
Newcastle’s late goal from Dan Gosling was less a consolation, more a fair reflection of their part in an absorbing game. By then City’s momentum had already begun to carry them on towards potentially decisive events in Europe tomorrow night.
Guardian Service
