Manchester City beat Everton at Goodison Park to reduce the gap to League leaders Liverpool to 5 points.
It is always a good feeling to come away from these kind of games with a Manchester City win. Struggling and battling are not two words most often used in association with Pep Guardiola’s side in recent seasons.
Yet, at Everton this is exactly what happened as we attempted to wrestle some element of control back, having lost it about 30 minutes into the first half.
It was therefore pleasing to watch as we exerted ourselves and eventually ran out deserved winners.
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Man City Square look at three things we noticed from watching the game back again.
Kevin De Bruyne as Right Back
There were a lot of interesting and subtle changes in this Manchester City performance as Guardiola used his players like pieces on a chess board, to spring some tactical surprises.
For the second successive Premier League game we saw De Bruyne dropping back into the right full back berth, and starting play from deep.
This move accomplishes a number of things. Firstly, it means his marker is marooned, unsure whether to follow and leave a space for others to exploit.
Secondly, we see De Bruyne starting the play and causing an overload on the right hand side. It was no surprise that most of our attacking intent was channelled down this side.
Thirdly, it confirms the role of De Bruyne as our de facto quarterback. Right now our entire system is most dependent upon him.
Who Can Pass Like Laporte?
One of the things we have missed most since the loss of Laporte is his passing from the back. Whilst any of our defenders can make the short pass to Rodri to build up play, it is only Laporte who could switch the play.
What Laporte is able to do as a left sided player is make accurate long passes with his left foot, diagonally across the pitch to the right wing.
That instant switch is brilliant for releasing speedy attacks and causing confusion amongst the opposition defence.
Yesterday, there were 2 occasions where Fernandinho attempted this move, but the sooner we have Laporte back the better we will look in attacking phases.
Mahrez May Be The Real Deal
Mahrez has stuttered somewhat in his City career to date. The transition into our first team has not been smooth, as some lacklustre performances and a famous penalty miss made him the target of fan concern.
The naming of him on a team sheet brought various head shakes and wry smiles.
Yet, to his credit, rather than sitting back – Mahrez has worked hard and towards the end of the season he looked much improved.
His renaissance has continued to the extent where he has dislodged last year’s player of the season from the first 11.
This turnaround has left us Manchester City fans realising that Pep’s judgement seems infallible in terms of player recruitment too!