SUNDERLAND 1, MANCHESTER CITY 4
CONNOR WICKHAM PUTS SUNDERLAND INTO THE LEAD
SERGIO AGUERO HITS EQUALISER; STEVAN JOVETIC AND PABLO ZABALETA PUT CITY CLEAR; AGUERO FINISHES OFF BLACK CATS
JOSE ANGEL POZO LEAGUE DEBUT
Sergio Aguero’s red hot streak of form continued as he scored two more goals in a 4-1 victory over Sunderland as Manchester City came from 1-0 down to win handsomely at the Stadium of Light where teams of the calibre of Chelsea, Manchester United, Everton and Spurs had failed to win this season.
Aguero’s double took his goal haul to 30 in the last 33 Premier League games, and his 14th in as many games in the league in the current season, as City kept pace with Chelsea at the top of the Barclays Premier League.
City had to make do without injured captain Vincent Kompany and his suspended defensive counterpart Eliaquim Mangala but Martin Demichelis came in and was partnered by Belgian youngster Dedryck Boyata who was making his first Barclays Premier League start in a year.
For two minutes of this chilly encounter in the North East, though, it seemed as though Sunderland could pull off a fifth straight home Premier League victory over City having taken the lead once again after 19 minutes.
Connor Wickham had capitalised on an unlucky rebound of the ball against him from Pablo Zabaleta, as he attempted to clear the Seb Larsson’s pass, to claim the opening goal and silence the travelling City support.
Space was at a Premium as Sunderland marshalled a tightly organised defence and began to dig in for the long haul but instead of frustrating Manuel Pellegrini’s men they reckoned without the genius of Aguero.
Dropping deep, Aguero finally found some space and thrashed in a spectacular equaliser two minutes later past former City ‘keeper Costel Pantilimon.
Sunderland stayed stubbornly hard to break down, though, and a draw was never going to be enough for City as news filtered through of Chelsea’s winning position against Spurs on the night.
City were missing the ability of injured midfielder David Silva to find the magic pass through massed ranks of Sunderland defenders but Yaya Toure was a reasonable stand-in.
His pass found Aguero who immediately flicked it into the path of Stevan Jovetic who gleefully put City into the lead after 39 minutes, nutmegging Pantilimon in the process.
City made sure of the points in the second half when Samir Nasri’s pass released Zabaleta who atoned for his earlier error by chipping 6’8″ tall Pantilimon in the 55th minute.
And irresistible Aguero made it 4-1 in the 71st minute, finally ending the Black Cats’ resistance to sidefoot substitute James Milner’s pass inside Pantilimon’s near post.
Much has been made of City’s “ageing” squad but the 4-1 scoreline allowed City manager Manuel Pellegrini to hand a late Premier League debut to promising youngster Jose Angel Pozo, a 18-year old Spanish forward who has already scored his season in the Capital One Cup against Sheffield Wednesday.