AUG 16 — With Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool all failing to win their opening Premier League fixtures, and Manchester United looking unconvincing as they sneaked a 2-1 victory at West Brom, last night's home meeting with newly-promoted Swansea was a wonderful opportunity for Manchester City to make an early statement of intent.
Thanks to the sparkling David Silva and the stunning Sergio Aguero, they did just that. Swansea were excellent for 20 minutes before being brushed aside as Roberto Mancini's men romped to a somewhat flattering 4-0 victory, and City's challenge for their first-ever Premier League title is up and running.
It wasn't all plain sailing, though. Swansea settled into the game quickly, enjoying a nice spell of possession that allowed them to establish their smooth, controlled passing game; the Welsh club have frequently, if a little over-ambitiously, been likened to Barcelona for their attractive and attack-minded style of play, and they are certainly bound to win plenty of admirers in the months ahead.
For the opening 20 minutes, in fact, Swansea frequently looked like the home team, controlling large chunks of possession and winning the game's first corner. Mancini's side may have been surprised by the impressive levels of composure shown by their upstart visitors, and a mood of frustration quickly swept around the newly-named Etihad Stadium. This was an early test of City's championship credentials that the home supporters had not been anticipating.
Despite all their tidy midfield possession, though, Swansea lacked penetration going forward and were unable to create any meaningful chances — and that could well be the biggest single obstacle they will have to overcome this season. Nice football, but they never looked like scoring.
Gradually, belatedly, City started to impose themselves. The catalyst for their improvement was David Silva, who produced a solid leaping save from Michel Vorm with a curling 20-yard effort, and then combined sharply with Adam Johnson to leave the Dutch goalkeeper stranded with a shot that rebounded off the crossbar and away to safety.
City's superior physical power was becoming apparent, and suddenly Vorm was a very busy man. But Swansea's new signing from Utrecht was enjoying a debut to remember and twice denied Edin Dzeko as the half-time whistle approached; then, inside stoppage time, Gareth Barry had a long range shot deflected inches wide and crashed another bullet against the crossbar.
Ultimately, Swansea were relieved to reach the interval with the deadlock still intact following that late burst of City pressure, but the Premier League newcomers just about deserved parity after their bright and ambitious start to the game.
But the reprieve was only temporary. City had been reinvigorated by their strong finish to the first half, and continued to threaten as the second period got under way. Less than 15 minutes into the the half Swansea's defences were finally breached, and again Silva was at the heart of things as he sprang forward to release Johnson, whose cross was parried rather tamely by the otherwise outstanding Vorm into the stride of Dzeko for a simple tap-in.
City were rampant now, introducing record-signing Sergio Aguero from the bench and seeing their new Argentine hero nearly score with his very first touch, thwarted only by another excellent save from Vorm. There seemed to be little likelihood of Swansea forcing their way back into the game, with the question of how many goals City would score seeming far more pertinent.
And so it proved. First, Aguero recorded his first goal in City colours, running onto a perfectly-placed cross from Micah Richards to slide home a low shot at the far post. Then, four minutes later, Aguero was at it again, setting up Silva for a richly-deserved goal from close range.
So Aguero had been on the pitch for less than 10 minutes, and already recorded his first goal and first assist for his new team. And he wasn't finished yet: inside stoppage time he rounded off a spectacular debut by unleashing an unstoppable drive from 25 yards, giving Vorm no chance.
You get the distinct feeling there will be much, much more to come from the livewire Argentine, who is already looking capable of justifying the £35 million (RM175 million) fee that took him from Atletico Madrid to the Etihad Stadium a few weeks ago.
In fact, although it might be too early to make such a bold suggestion, it's very tempting to believe that Aguero's introduction into the City ranks could be enough to lift them above their near neighbours and secure the Premier League crown. Time will tell, but he's made a more than reasonable start.
* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.
Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. 
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
LONDON, Aug 16 – New Arsenal striker Gervinho has been banned for three matches by the Football Association (FA) after being sent off on his Premier League debut at Newcastle United on Saturday.
BERLIN, Aug 16 – Bayern Munich winger Arjen Robben is fit to play in tomorrow's Champions League playoff first leg against FC Zurich after missing last week's Bundesliga game with VfL Wolfsburg because of back and adductor problems.
