In the Spring sunshine there was something leisurely present in the display by Manchester City.
After the two week international break, Manchester City returned to Premier League action with a straightforward win against a soon to be relegated Fulham team. At times this bore more resemblance to being a training match. We passed the ball without any real pressure and were left just watching the clock run down for an hour.
That’s not to say that City played badly. They did not. But they were guilty of taking their foot off the peddle after a blistering start. Quite simply this was a game where we did not require any intensity to triumph in.
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There is something impressive about any side who can rack up points just by playing at half speed. Of course the worry is always whether a side can step up the performance level again after coasting. But to be honest, part of being a City fan is about finding something to worry about. I am refusing to start worrying about the fact we could have won bigger. That way just lies madness.
City played as well as we have ever seen for 25 minutes, accelerating through the gears at will and by the time Sergio Aguero added the 2nd goal this match was over as a contest.
Aguero just dinked a little shot over the keeper whilst under pressure after being released by Bernardo Silva . This was a simple switch around from the first goal where Aguero was provided for Bernardo.
The rest of the match was a display of game management as the result was never in doubt. In between Kevin Friend the referee denied Raheem Sterling a clear penalty. His decisions were so bad that he should not be allowed to referee a game we play in again.
Winning ugly is often considered a key attribute of title winning sides. But this was winning without trting too hard and I am not sure I have seen this practised before.
Returning after the international break with a victory is all that matters. Guardiola has time to fine tune the performance over coming weeks. The critical thing is there are just 7 league games left and if we are still as comfortable watching games in a month then the job will have been done.
Midweek our attention turns to Cardiff which will be a much more difficult game but another 3 points will be priceless.