Filed under: Manchester City, Sunderland, Premier League, Football, Match Reports
Manchester City moved above Chelsea and into third place in the Premier League thanks to a convincing win over Sunderland, who are sliding down the table at an alarming rate.Adam Johnson, Carlos Tevez, David Silva, Patrick Vieira and Yaya Toure scored the goals, while Sunderland failed to find the net for the fourth game in succession - and never looked likely to end that dismal run.
The outcome was effectively decided in the opening 15 minutes as Sunderland were sent hurtling towards their sixth defeat in seven games.
Johnson, whose family are all Sunderland fans, put City on their way to victory with a beautifully-worked goal after only nine minutes.
The winger, who scored a stoppage time equaliser at Sunderland 12 months ago, exchanged passes with Yaya Toure in a sweeping right wing before steering a shot inside the post.
Sunderland went further behind when Phil Bardsley fouled Tevez on the quarter-hour and the Argentina international scored from the spot, although keeper Simon Mignolet did well to get a hand to the ball.
City went on to dominate the rest of the opening half, although Sunderland went closest to a goal through Asamoah Gyan with 37 minutes gone.
The Ghana international, who scored against England goalkeeper Joe Hart in midweek, worried him again with a left foot volley that went narrowly wide.
It was a rare threat from Sunderland, however, and their passing remained poor as City continued to control the game after the break.
Mario Balotelli soon forced a save from Mignolet before City scored their third goal in the 63rd to destroy any chance of a fightback by Steve Bruce's team.
Tevez was involved again as his cross was met by Balotelli, whose shot crashed off a defender and into the path of Silva, who finished stylishly on the the run.
Vieira made it 4-0 in the 67th minutes - seconds after going on as a substitute - when he slid in to meet a cross from Aleksandar Kolarov.
And a dreadful pass from Lee Cattermole presented Toure with the chance to show a nice first touch and a crisp finish as the midfielder claimed the fifth goal after 73 one-sided minutes.
REACTION:
Roberto Mancini on what the victory means to City:
"It was important for us to win this game after the results on Saturday. We are now third but we have to remember that Chelsea have a game in hand. Can we make second? Yes. But there is still a lot of work ahead."
On why they improved on recent performances:
"The difference is we have had time to train. Adam Johnson is an important player for us, but when we lost him we had a problem. We started the game right. I'm surprised but happy that we scored five. We can improve We had a problem when we lost five or six players every few days earlier in the season."
On their forthcoming fixtures:
"It's important now that we continue and go to Liverpool next week looking for a win. Sir Alex Ferguson knows the semi-final is a one off game and anything can happen. He knows Manchester City very well just as we know all about Manchester United."
Steve Bruce on his team's display:
"From start to finish it was brutal. We were second best and got what we deserved. We got our backsides well and truly kicked. We pride ourselves on giving teams a game but that has just not happened this time. We had two or three players who performed okay but when you comes to places like Manchester City then you need the whole team to play well."
on their slide down the table:
"We haven't got enough points in the bag. We need some more points before we can say we are safe. We have been on an horrific run. We have played the top six with half a fit squad. I'm not making excuses. We have now got the bottom six coming up plus Bolton. It's up to us. We have got to get back that resiliance that we showed earlier in the season. We have lost that cutting edge a bit."
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Source: http://www.fanhouse.co.uk/2011/04/03/manchester-city-x-sunderland-x-five-star-show-delights-roberto/
Daniel Alves Daniele De Rossi David Albelda David Beckham David Ferrer
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