Manchester City Vs. Bolton Wanderers: Reduced To Ten Men, Dominant City Claim 1-0 Win

Though they were undefeated through November, Bolton greets December with a loss, run thin by Manchester City, though the scoreline says otherwise. Carlos Tévez scored in the fourth minute, and although the Citizens looked good for many more, Manchester City settled for a 1-0 win.

It was an uncharacteristically skillful display from City, with the attacking trio of Tévez, Mario Balotelli and David Silva giving a frightening glimpse of their potential. Between Silva’s slow start to his English career and Balotelli’s injuries and suspension, the trio had rarely played together this season. Today, the combination not only controlled the play, the looked constantly creative, ambitious when in possession.

As a result, this was probably City’s most impressive performance of the year, the Chelsea win included. Chelsea’s a superior team to Bolton, and the score in that match was more decisive. But that match hinted at a match-up advantage Manchester City had against Chelsea, not something that could necessarily be translated onto other opponents. Today, City exhibited skill that would beat anybody in England.

That skill was on display for the goal, when Touré Yaya set-up Tévez for the winner. Throughout the match, the play of the attackers allowed Touré space in front of the line, helping him to one of his most influential matches of the season going forward.

But it wasn’t just the attack. City limited Bolton to two shots on goal, getting another strong effort for Vincent Kompany. The defense lost Touré Kolo early (injury) and Aleksandr Kolarov late (second yellow) but were still able to shutout the fourth-best attack in the league.

Though the scoreline didn’t say it, the play did. This was a scary performance from City, one that showed that different face for which people have been pining. If City can combine this creativity with their phalanx mentality at the back, there’s no reason they can’t at least contend for the league title.