Within two minutes Manchester City were forced to prove they are not a one-man team. The Sergio Agüero show had featured 19 goals in 20 appearances before, on his 21st outing, disaster struck and he departed in tears with knee ligament damage.
As the prospect of the forward missing Wednesday’s Champions League match at Roma sank in, on came the youngster José Ángel Pozo and City set about offering evidence that no Agüero does not mean no winning football.
Samir Nasri, James Milner, Gaël Clichy, Yaya Touré, Joe Hart and Martín Demichelis all impressed in what became a consummate team display. On an afternoon that had begun with Chelsea losing their unbeaten record at Newcastle, the league leaders’ mood may have brightened at Agüero’s injury but by the close José Mourinho’s side had been told City’s big guns are in top form.
The Touré winner came from a 24th-minute penalty created by a surging Nasri run along City’s left. When the ball broke it ran to Milner and, when he fell in the area under pressure from Phil Jagielka, the referee, Andre Marriner, pointed to the spot.
Milner said: “I think it was a penalty. It was one of those where he has tried to slow himself down, couldn’t stop in time and has run into me – there is contact. Outside the box, the referee would probably give a free-kick, so what’s the difference in the area?”
Marriner had been at fault for not penalising Eliaquim Mangala earlier for a kung fu-style challenge on Samuel Eto’o and, later, Fernando for a similar kick on Gareth Barry: each might have been sent off.
“The referee hasn’t given them, and I didn’t have a great view,” Milner said, though he was enthused by the character City showed to clinch a fifth straight victory and close the gap to Chelsea to three points. “We have been playing really well and it was important to keep momentum going. You are not always going to play well and it’s important you can scrap out results like this, when there is maybe a bit of fatigue from lads who have played a lot of games recently.”
Of Agüero’s injury, Milner said: “It probably disrupted our rhythm. Losing a player like Sergio Agüero will be a big miss for us. Hopefully he will be back sooner rather than later but Edin Dzeko coming back is a positive and he is a fantastic goalscorer in his own right. Now we have an extra day of recovery going in to the Rome game, so maybe that will help us.”
Milner denied City rely solely on Agüero. “People can say whatever they want, if they think we’re a one-man team. He is a world-class player, one of the best on the planet, and has been absolutely outstanding, so the injury has come at a bad time. Some people have been saying Chelsea have won the league, 10 games in, and here we are with a three-point gap.
“We just concentrate on our own business and that’s the most important thing. Hopefully we can take this momentum we have built since the international break over Christmas.”
Milner is relishing the challenge at Roma where a win and CSKA Moscow’s failure to beat Bayern Munich would take City into the knockout phase. “It’s nice to take that momentum into a crucial European game. We hope we can get the right result there and go into the Christmas period. The league table coming out of Christmas is always very different from the one in early December.”
Roberto Martínez’s team have won only once in their past six league outings. “The referee’s performance was a bit disappointing,” said the Everton manager. “The penalty wasn’t a penalty. It’s not a doubt or debate. The ball gets played and Phil Jagielka is allowed to go and challenge it. James Milner sprints, gets there first and gets the ball. Phil doesn’t even attempt to get the ball or stretch his leg. Yes, there is contact because Phil cannot disappear and doesn’t change the direction of his run.
“Fernando’s action is a high boot. If you want to be strong with the letter of the law then it’s a red card. It’s a clear-cut action. The Mangala one, I can’t explain it. The foot and knee are in a very unnatural position, the mark on Eto’o’s back is incredible. There have been three big decisions, the penalty and two possible cards and normally you get one of them going your way.”
Man of the match Samir Nasri (Manchester City)
