As Mario Balotelli signed on the dotted line, making his move from AC Milan to Liverpool, he would no doubt wonder at the gulf in quality between his new club and the one he left behind, after a most acrimonious stay. Very few clubs in the world can afford to have Sergio Aguero, one of the most clinical strikers in the world as a substitute, only for him to come on 20 minutes before the end of the second half and score a goal with only his second touch, finishing as brilliantly as ever, with such remarkable ease, as though going on a stroll in the park, to give Manchester City an unbeatable 3-0 ahead.
Balotelli will also have noticed that regardless of the heavy defeat suffered on the day, his new team, Liverpool, are not quitters. Their much admired manager, Brendan Rodgers, does not allow them to be so. Liverpool have players like Raheem Sterling and Daniel Sturridge, who fight to the very end, even in a losing cause, as they kept harassing and pushing the highly capable and experienced Yaya Toure his Manchester City side to the very end.
In a squad already rich with great strikers, Stevan Jovetic sent out a reminder to manager Manuel Pellegrini that he could be ignored no longer. This is Jovetic’s second season at the club, and he got little play time in the first, as he was largely injured and when fit, there was no way for him to get ahead of the more experienced strikers in the club such as Eden Dzeko, Alvaro Negredo and, of course, Sergio Aguerro.
The first goal came with Jovetic taking advantage of a defensive blunder by Alberto Moreno, who thought he had more time than he did with the ball and failed to get rid of the ball faster from the back. Jovetic was smart enough to take advantage of the opportunity, take it on his chest, and shoot a hard low shot with his right boot just beyond the reach of goalkeeper Simon Mignolet.
For his second goal, which came 10 minutes into the second half, Jovetic found the ball at his feet, quite unintentionally after a reverse flick by Samir Nasri, and once again made maximum use of the opportunity, clipping the ball into the Liverpool net.
It became 3-0 soon enough as Sergio Aguero, coming in as a substitute, scored a goal off just his second touch. Liverpool tried hard, but a own goal by Pablo Zabaleta late into the match was all they could muster. The difference between the two teams was obvious, and it is quite apparent from this match that for Liverpool to leap ahead of Manchester City in the league would be a hard proposition, just as it was last season.
A delighted Manuel Pellegrini said, “For me these are games of six points – especially when you play at home. Liverpool is an important team and one that will be fighting for the title. We have had a hard start to the season so it is important for us to win the second game.”
The Manchester City manager was full of praise for Stevan Jovetic, “He was working the whole game, without the ball too. He was very unlucky last season but we never had any doubt about this quality. To start the season in this way after an unlucky new season is good.
“I don’t think it is like a new signing. We need four strikers. At this moment Stevan is doing very well but you cannot forget [Álvaro] Negredo is injured. We need four. [Edin] Dzeko and Jovetic and Agüero are working well. It is important that they continue playing the way they did.”
The player of the match, Stevan Jovetic was delighted as well, after making his mark in the English Premier League for the very first time after having been here for more than a year now. “There are so many beautiful moments now after so many problems last year. But I don’t want to think about that as it’s the past. I just want to enjoy with this team with these players and to win as many titles as we can. It’s difficult [to remain in the team], I know that. But my job is just to go out on to the pitch and do my best.”
