Manchester City Internationals Rounding into Form at Perfect Time

Manchester City entered this most recent international break second in the Premier League table, five points behind early runaway leaders Chelsea. The two sides played to a draw at the Etihad Stadium last month, and City have followed that up by winning domestically against Hull City and Aston Villa before the break.

However, the crushing 1-1 home draw to Roma in Champions League play came in between those wins, somewhat curbing positive momentum for the club.

The break will certainly have helped fans and staff alike get that result fully out of the memory banks, at least for a while. With a key league clash at home with Spurs and a must-win match in Moscow against CSKA on the horizon, these two weeks serve as a bit of a respite as well as a chance for players to gear into top form.

And judging by a number of the performances, the latter is certainly looking like it was the case.

Leading the way for City's troupe of international stars has been David Silva. With Fernando Torres out of the squad and David Villa retired from international play, the diminutive talisman entered the break with the most goals in the Spain squad, having 21 through his first 85 caps.

While Diego Costa finally broke his duck for Vicente del Bosque's side in their most recent qualifier with Luxembourg, it was Silva who opened the scoring in the 4-0 victory with this stunning strike:

"

David Silva 1-0 https://t.co/x9UCXsQdEe

— Želimir HBK (@ZeljkObradovic) October 12, 2014"

The 28-year-old magician is the conductor of the City orchestra, so it's nice to see him get his scoring form back. He scored the first goal of City's league campaign against Newcastle but has been off the scoresheet since. It's not necessarily his job, but his ability to chip in is immense.

Yaya Toure has also been raring to go, leading his Ivory Coast side into battle against Congo DR in qualifications for January's Africa Cup of Nations. The 31-year-old bossed the midfield in the Elephants' 2-1 victory moving them one step closer to the competition proper.

Themba Hadebe/Associated Press

However, as noted by David Anderson at the Mirror, the reverse fixture takes place Wednesday in Abidjan, leaving a short turnaround from that to the Spurs showdown. With the all-important CSKA battle not long after that, it will be a tricky balancing act for Manuel Pellegrini.

With options including James Milner, Frank Lampard and a now-healthy Fernando available to hold down the fort, it might be worth it to rest the Ivorian for the league clash. That way, he can be at full strength or close to it for the trip to Moscow.

Brazilian midfielder Fernando's injury, as noted by B/R's Rob Pollard, does pose some concern in this instance. But Pellegrini knows what he has at his disposal and is sure to engineer the best solution.

Toure had gotten off to a rather sluggish start to this season on the heels of a poor World Cup as well as off-field scrutiny, largely thanks to his agent Dimitry Seluk.

Slowly but surely, he is regaining the form that saw him tear England apart last season, as evidenced by his showing in the win over Villa. This sublime goal broke the deadlock late on at Villa Park, a great way to open his account for the season and give him a boost of confidence going forward.

Up and down the City roster, internationals took the stage in varying degrees. For example, the Argentine trio of Sergio Aguero, Martin Demichelis and Pablo Zabaleta had little to do in their nation's 7-0 victory over Hong Kong after a stern test in their 2-0 loss to Brazil.

Though that match was just a friendly, it still provides that high level of competition due to the quality of the sides and the natural rivalry between the neighboring countries. Despite the result, it was overall a good opportunity for some solid experience to build momentum and to jell with each other.

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Milner and Joe Hart were among England's ranks as they won their pair of EURO 2016 qualifiers against San Marino and Estonia. The midfielder brought his usual industry in the center, though with little end result. Still, his superb club form has now translated into starting time for the Three Lions as he continues his fine campaign.

Hart, meanwhile, kept a pair of clean sheets against fairly weak opposition which will do him no harm in his battle with Willy Caballero for the starter's role.

Vincent Kompany's Belgium picked up an easy 6-0 victory over Andorra before playing to a 1-1 draw with Edin Dzeko and Bosnia. The striker bagged his side's lone goal in that encounter, with the two sides currently sitting outside the automatic qualifying spots in Group B.

Aleks Kolarov will hope for a much more peaceful return to domestic play on Saturday after his Serbia side had their match with Albania abandoned.

With the international break now coming to an end, City have that tough pair of matches in the next week with Spurs and CSKA lying in wait. Luckily, their host of high-caliber talent has generally enjoyed a solid week or so of momentum building in representing their nations.

Now it's time to put it all together and make the run for the top of the Premier League table and progression from the Champions League group stage.

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