Fulham 1-4 Manchester City...A Day Where City Come Good

Ahead of City’s trip to Fulham, the pressure was very much on Roberto Mancini. After a disappointing run of form which had seen the blues draw their last two games 0-0. A bad result in London could have spelled the end for Roberto Mancini, but what followed was their best performance of the season.

In many ways it was a matter of time before City finally produced a display that would strike fear in to their Premier League rivals, and you have to feel that Mancini was extra motivated to do it against Fulham, managed by the man he replaced last December.

Mancini has been blasted by the media of late with many saying he has done no better than Mark Hughes, his predecessor at Eastlands. Much of this criticism has been fair, because City haven’t showed that they have developed in the time since Hughes’ departure.

But today everything clicked for Mancini. Yes they were against a Fulham side who produced a desperately below par performance, but generally City were fantastic and didn’t give the hosts any opportunity to grasp the game.

Yaya Toure starred in a midfield role which saw him utilised all over the pitch, while Carlos Tevez was at his influential best. Mancini’s side have now set a standard that really needs to be maintained over the coming months.

If City can consistently match today’s performance, they have a fantastic chance of achieving great things this season, but so often this season City have been caught out, just when we think they are going to make a charge for glory. However Mancini does seem to be fairly satisfied with his sides start to the season, even though they should be at least six points better off.

In many ways I feel Mancini seems to find the expectations of the City fans very difficult to manage, and constantly looks to play down their title hopes. In reality he has to be aware that a title challenge is the only thing that can prolong his City tenure.

Results and performances like today’s will give him a title challenge, there is no doubt about that, but whether City can now find consistency is another question.