The Perfect Strike at Nike Football

Possession is nine-tenths of the law, says the old adage. But where City are concerned, possession is much more than that as poor deprived Norwich discovered to their cost.

In an astonishingly one-sided first half, the Blues had 78 per cent of the ball as this match became a large-scale version of the keep-ball games which teams play in the warm-up.

Norwich only had themselves to blame. Rarely has a team arrived at the Etihad Stadium with such a lack of ambition.

Even at a goal down, the Canaries stuck to their roost, all bar Steve Morison crammed into their own defensive third, planning to somehow stay there and frustrate the Blues for 90 long minutes.

Kolo Toure’s early slip-up which would have let Morison in on goal but for his poor control was encouragement enough that their negative thinking could have a positive outcome.

The idea was to defend deep, defend in numbers and then hope that Morison’s physicality and hard work could catch Kolo and Vincent Kompany napping for a sneaky goal.

It was a strategy which might have frustrated City last season, but this new, sophisticated side has much too much of everything to let it beat them. With Yaya Toure pulling the strings from deep and David Silva, Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Samir Nasri flitting around the massed yellow ranks, stretching and testing it, Norwich’s shape became distorted and their legs leaden.

And, as the 10 defenders clogged up the centre of the park, the Blues raided down the flanks through the power of Micah Richards on the right and the elegance and pace of Gael Clichy on the other.

The Norwich defence resembled a game but ultimately outclassed prizefighter, shuffling around, covering up, but being bludgeoned by body shots and then picked apart by well-chosen precision punches.

Given that metaphor, perhaps it was appropriate that the man built like a cruiserweight boxer, Richards, should deliver the first knock-down punch.

Brilliant

With Silva slightly below his usual brilliant standard, City’s attempts to open Norwich up with swift incisive passing had come to nothing in the opening half-hour, partly because Aguero had been uncharacteristically wasteful.

The fans watched on patiently, almost certain that this was just a precursor to the blood-letting to come.

Then Richards steamed down the right, the excellent Nasri slipped the ball to him and Norwich were exposed.

The full-back’s pull-back found Aguero, again faced by a wall of defenders.

No problem for the little Argentine, whose twists and turns had those defenders swaying this way and that, before he prodded the ball through two sets of legs for a finish that was as audacious as it was inventive.

It mattered not a jot to Norwich. They still sat back, hoping that Morison would get lucky and they could snatch an equaliser – a puzzling philosophy.

City simply kept the ball, attacked at will and then gathered up the pieces whenever the visitors scrambled the ball clear.

More goals were inevitable, which made Norwich manager Paul Lambert’s thinking even more unfathomable – unless he was already resigned to damage limitation with an hour to play and 1-0 down.

The goal which changed the Canaries’ mind-set was a silly fluke of a goal, although Nasri deserved his name on the scoresheet for a performance of bright invention, hard work and smart running.

Impact

The ex-Arsenal man made a big impact on his debut, the 5-1 win at Spurs, but since then his displays have rarely reached his potential. It led to Roberto Mancini suggesting in midweek – after a below-par showing at the Emirates – that he wanted to see more of the Frenchman’s unquestionable talent.

Nasri clearly took that hint on board because he was positive, creative and full of drive here, which was just as well with Silva slightly off-colour.

With Yaya overseeing everything and Gareth Barry putting in a fantastically effective shift as the water-carrier – in the most positive sense – City’s midfield was overwhelmingly in charge.

But Nasri’s goal owed everything to goalkeeper misfortune. The Frenchman’s arcing delivery was good but John Ruddy in the visitors’ goal was deceived by the defenders dashing across in front of him.

When he realised they were going to leave the ball rather than clear, it was too late and he managed a half-hearted, confused flap which helped the ball into the net.

Norwich finally emerged from their timidity and discovered that maybe their negativity had been justified after all. City had pushed and pulled them out of shape to the point of disorganisation and fatigue, and the third goal came from a simple short corner routine between Nasri and Silva, with Yaya appearing on the edge of the box to pass the ball into the far corner of the net with nonchalant ease.

Norwich suddenly had a purple patch which reduced City’s possession to 64 per cent – usually a sign of total dominance – and Morison took advantage of some slack marking to head in at the far post, provoking outrage from Joe Hart.

The Canaries had scent of a comeback but their new-found ambition only served to expose them to the full genius of City’s attacking options, now reinforced by the fresh legs of Mario Balotelli and Adam Johnson.

Naturally, Balotelli wanted a slice of the limelight and took it with typical showmanship and unimpressed celebration.

The build-up to his goal was worth the admission fee, a dazzling team move which ended with Johnson’s clever run and pass freeing the Italian. His shot was saved by Ruddy but, when the ball looped up into the air, Balotelli finished it with a literal shrug of the shoulder.

Johnson rounded it off in added time, cutting in from the right and placing his shot accurately into the far corner.

Possession, precision and persistence. It was a heady mix with which City racked up the record for the best goalscoring start to the season in English football history with 48 goals in 14 games, eclipsing the Spurs side of 1963-64, who managed 45.