Lampard impresses as City cruise to victory
After the hard fought draw against Chelsea on Sunday, Manchester City turned their attention to retaining the Capital One Cup with a home tie against Sheffield Wednesday.
There was much surprise in the starting lineup, with Manuel Pellegrini fielded an extremely strong side featuring the likes of Yaya Toure, Fernandinho, Mangala and Jesus Navas. There was also a home debut for Willy Cabellero, and a first home start for Frank Lampard following his goalscoring cameo against Chelsea.
City started the brighter of the two sides, passing the ball crisply and moving the Wednesday defence around, but struggling to find the killer ball. James Milner was at the center of it all, with the England man working as hard as ever and linking well with Lampard and Toure. Jesus Navas and Bacary Sagna also showed signs of their developing understanding, with Sagna often helping the Spaniard to double up on the full back. In the first half, however, Navas' final ball was slightly disappointing.
The best chance of the half came from Eliaquim Mangala, as the Frenchmen rattled the post with an excellent controlled volley following a terrific corner from Aleksandr Kolarov.
The two sides went in level at half time, and whilst City were certainly the more dominant, they failed to make the most of some good opportunities.
The second half started at break-neck speed, and in the 47th minute City took the lead. The excellent Milner crossed in for Frank Lampard, and the midfielder swept the ball home for his second goal for City in as many games.
City continued to up the tempo and the second goal arrived soon after as Edin Dzeko finally opened his account for the season. The Bosnian fired home after an excellent cross from Jesus Navas, and the Spanish winger added a third minutes later courtesy of a crashing drive into the roof of the net.
Wednesday were struggling at this point, and things soon turned from bad to worse. Frank Lampard burst into the box and was tripped by defender Kamil Zayatte. The centre half was sent off, perhaps harshly, and the blues being awarded a penalty. Yaya Toure stepped up, and the Ivorian fired home for his first goal of the season.
With the away side reduced to ten men, it became a question of how many now for City, and the fifth arrived soon after. Kolarov was the provider this time, crossing for Edin Dzeko to power home. Jose Pozo, a youth graduate at City, marked his first appearance with a goal, tapping home after a cross from Jesus Navas. The seventh goal arrived from Frank Lampard, as the midfielder timed his run into the box perfectly and swept home an Aleksandr Kolarov delivery.
It was certainly a much needed victory for City, who had gone four games without a win, and should provide a boost ahead of the games against Hull and Roma.