1 Silva bullet
David Silva deservedly stole the headlines for his scintillating display.
Free to roam in Pep Guardiola’s diamond formation, the Spaniard was at the heart of City’s best moves and chipped in with an awe-inspiring goal himself, showing expert coolheadedness to deceive Adrian in the Hammers goal, before slotting home the Blues’ third.
El Mago has been in sparkling form in recent weeks. Long may it continue.
2 Clinical City
Of course, high-scoring victories are always pleasing and it may seem obvious to highlight such… but when 2-1 wins and 1-1 draws are a regularity, there is particular cause for celebration.
At the London Stadium, there was little indication City were going to sit back on their 1-0 lead, punishing the hosts with two goals in two minutes to put the tie to bed before half-time.
The fact Guardiola’s men continued where they left off after the restart to further extend their advantage suggests the Blues are rekindling their attacking prowess. Let’s hope it continues.
3 Aguerooooo
A frequent inclusion in our Talking Points features, Sergio Aguero once again rewrote the history books, finding the net to lift himself into third in City’s all-time goalscoring charts.
It wasn’t his most beautiful goal, I’m sure he’ll admit – an instinctive flick of his foot to divert Yaya Toure’s low effort past Adrian – but it was a significant one, which saw him leapfrog fellow Club legend Colin Bell in the famed list.
Carry on, Sergio… Carry on.
4 Clean sheet
Aside from a couple of good chances in the first half, West Ham were hardly given a sniff – and the defenders were even able to showcase their attacking threat, as Bacary Sagna delivered a glorious assist for City’s second, and John Stones bagged his first goal in sky blue.
Kudos also to Pablo Zabaleta for his midfield role!
A clean sheet, coupled with the manner of the victory, should instil plenty of confidence.
5 Momentum
It had been suggested beforehand: the FA Cup represented City’s best chance of winning silverware this season.
It goes without saying that the competition means a lot to the Club and Guardiola’s team selection proved as much.
To rule out our chances of success in other competitions however seems premature.
We’re a week into 2017, seven points off the top of the table, in the knock-out stages of the Champions League and seemingly hitting our stride once again.
Not saying it will be easy by any stretch but we know better than anymore, a lot can happen between now and May…
6 Conserving energy
Unusually, City have a nine-day gap between games – their next fixture a trip to Everton in Sunday’s lunchtime kick-off.
Still, it was wise of PGuardiola to hand key men some deserved rest, bringing off Silva, Kevin De Bruyne and Toure off with the game won.
Equally pleasing were the introductions of youngster Aleix Garcia, Nolito and long-term absentee Fabian Delph.
What pleased you in particular? Tweet us @ManCity!
