City 3-0 Liverpool

Quite the coming-out party. I was unsure of what to expect following the Spurs game; Spurs are good, of course, and the game was at White Hart Lane where they rarely lose (only seven times over the last two seasons, and they seem to step it up for big games; of the three losses last year, two came to Stoke and Wolves, and they beat Arsenal and Chelsea in a four-day span to set up the win over City at CoMS to clinch fourth). But even with that in mind, City looked disjointed, a rare offensive threat, and their defense resembled matadors; but for the heroics of Joe Hart, surely the game would have finished 3-0 or 4-0 like so many this season already have. And City had not defeated Liverpool in the last four Premiership campaigns; 0-0 draws were something of a regularity. I thought, in spite of the game being at home where City are usually much better, that a draw would be a good result; the next three games are against more or less bottom-half sides, and it seemed that so long as City could stay unbeaten against the upper-echelon sides while their team gelled, this would bode well for the future.

Well, either Liverpool are just not very good this year, or the future truly is now. A City side that looked like it had never played together before (and probably hadn't) in the first game suddenly looked composed and assured, having the lion's share of possession thanks to crisp passing and largely excellent midfield defense that snuffed out most Liverpool attacks before they had a chance to go anywhere. The formation was interesting - a 4-3-3 that played more like a Tower of Hanoi, 4-3-2-1, with Lescott, Kompany, Kolo Toure and Richards across the back, Barry, De Jong and Yaya Toure in the middle, Johnson and the recently-arrived Milner as attacking wingers and Tevez up front as the lone true striker. Tevez returned to his previous form, scoring twice, the first a bit of a poach off Richards' 52nd-minute header that Tevez barely got a touch on (if he even did; I'll be interested to see if the FA bother altering the ruling) and the second a well-struck penalty in the 68th. Barry had opened the scoring after some nice buildup, with Johnson springing Milner along the right side of the area and Milner's cross falling right to the feet of a charging Barry. Joe Hart also had his second straight highlight-reel cluster of saves as he twice denied Liverpool from close range near the hour mark to preserve the 2-0 lead.

Johnson, to me, confirmed that he should not only be starting but should probably be playing every minute for which he is fit and able, at least within the league. His play was outstanding and he's a constant threat to create. Milner likewise had an impressive debut that suggests he should be in the side on a regular basis, as he was a force to be reckoned with at both ends, creating chances but also flying back on defense when needed.

All this does have me a little nervous in terms of the squad's depth, however. Given how good the team looked playing together in this game, how could you make changes? But with players like Adebayor, Balotelli, Wright-Phillips and David Silva on the bench... how can you not? If you want to keep these guys, they have to play. I'll be curious to see who starts the return leg against FC Timisoara this Thursday; with a Sunday game at Sunderland looming, I wouldn't be surprised to see Adebayor or Balotelli (assuming his knee is okay) get a start, and possibly even Given, who desperately needs to be placated with playing time if there's to be any hope of keeping him around.

Nevertheless, I suppose "too many good players" is not the worst problem one can have. City have set the marker, and now they have to keep meeting that expectation. Falling asleep against lesser sides, as they sometimes did under Mark Hughes in the first half of last season, will not be tolerated. And with the next two months of matches providing a real combination of strong home tests (Chelsea and Arsenal) and road games that should be still be easily winnable (at Wigan, at Sunderland, at Blackpool, at Wolves), City have a chance to declare their intention to take a real shot at the title. The Chelsea game, in particular, an early-morning kickoff in the US on September 25, will tell us a lot. Beating Liverpool is good. But beating Chelsea - as City actually did twice last season - means that the blue side of Manchester is likely here to stay.