Manchester City's Top 5 Goals This Season: James Milner, Sergio Aguero Star
Manchester City are not enjoying the best of campaigns. The Premier League title continues to inch closer to Jose Mourinho's Chelsea, and the Citizens have been dumped from both domestic cups. They needed a pair of stunning results—including a miracle—just to keep their Champions League hopes alive after they looked all but dead.
Nonetheless, Manuel Pellegrini's side is one that is still capable of scoring at a pretty solid clip. They've scored four goals in a league game three times this season, leading to a total of 47 league markers that trails only Chelsea, and put seven past Sheffield Wednesday.
Some of the many goals this side has scored have been of the highest quality. Read on for a selection of the best of the best.
Match highlights taken from City's official website.
The Criteria
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Judging the top goals can be difficult. Just about every single one requires some bit of skill that goes into it. Some, of course, just end up taking more than others. The distance, the power, the angle and even the build-up play matters when it comes to setting goals apart from one another.
Another key factor in consideration here for each selection will be the situation in which the goal was scored. As nice as a quality goal can be, it's hard to top a game-saving goal deep into the second half with a lot on the line. If you come through in the clutch, you'll get due props for it.
As an addendum, this list will only consider strikes from the beginning of the season proper on August 17. That means Bruno Zuculini will be left off the list despite this masterful finish in the preseason match against Sporting Kansas City.
And just to be safe, Yaya Toure's bonkers goal from the Africa Cup of Nations doesn't count either. Why? Because it was for Ivory Coast, not for City.
And with that, on we go to the top five.
5. Frank Lampard vs. Chelsea
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If ever there was a time for Frank Lampard to open his Manchester City account, it was always going to be when the league leaders visited the reigning champions at the Etihad.
Coming on as a second-half substitute, Lampard was taking to the field against Chelsea for the first time in nearly 15 years when he was at West Ham. And in typical Lampard style, he bagged the match's equalizer coming forward from midfield.
James Milner played a ball centrally to David Silva, who returned the favor with a lofted pass over the top. Milner scrambled to meet it in the box, catching it in midair for a surging Lampard to run on to.
As we see here (skip to 10:06), the 36-year-old met the pass with an acrobatic volley of his own, bouncing it in past a wrong-footed Thibaut Courtois. Like the announcer stated in the video, "Of all people, it had to be him."
4. Sergio Aguero vs. Bayern Munich
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What Sergio Aguero's winning goal against Bayern Munich in November—to complete a hat-trick, no less—lacked in beauty, it made up for it with how technically perfect it was as well as the situation.
Not five minutes earlier, Aguero had equalized after Stevan Jovetic intercepted a rare misplaced pass from Xabi Alonso. Similarly, the winner also involved capitalizing on an error from the Bavarians.
A long ball forward was flicked on by Jovetic, who found former City man Jerome Boateng. But the Germany international dawdled on the ball, and Aguero pounced.
As seen here (at 1:19), he raced forward, and with Manuel Neuer bearing down on him and Rafinha chasing back, City's hero once again saved the day with a classy finish. As the Etihad erupted, he had put his side on the precipice of the knockout stages.
3. Sergio Aguero vs. Tottenham
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While Spurs' visit to the Etihad in October didn't end in a 6-0 thrashing like it did in the 2013/14 season, the 4-1 scoreline was pretty comprehensive. And yet there was only one name on the scoresheet for City: Aguero.
Two of them were penalties—even after missing once from 12 yards—but the spot kicks were sandwiched between a pair of excellent curled finishes. The first came with his right, while the second and game's fourth with his left. We'll plump for the opener here, and after watching this video (skip to 1:41), you'll see why.
The Argentine was picked out nicely by Lampard, and he showcased some good patience in the box while he analyzed the situation. In the end, he did what he does best: score.
As the space between himself and Hugo Lloris became more and more crowded, a simple jink inside gave him enough room to pick out the far corner and leave Lloris sprawled out with no chance. Just splendid.
2. Samir Nasri vs. Roma
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After Aguero's goal put City's Champions League destiny back in their own hands, Samir Nasri took the opportunity to put them through for a second consecutive campaign.
The Frenchman is no stranger to an important goal: Look no further than his goal in last season's Capital One Cup final. However, he has endured a difficult season due to injury and some indifferent form.
But at the Stadio Olimpico, he put in the type of performance that would've made former boss Roberto Mancini want to "give him a punch," as he told reporters following a match in 2013. Before assisting on Pablo Zabaleta's goal late on, Nasri bagged a quite excellent goal of his own.
Receiving the ball in space wide left, he was given far too much time in possession. Allowed space to cut in on his right foot, he had no qualms about letting loose from 20 yards out. And as seen here (at 0:45), he unleashed a thunderous shot that flew past Morgan De Sanctis and clattered the post on its way in.
A top finish at a pivotal moment.
1. James Milner vs. Hull
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Manchester City's performance against Hull on Saturday lacked a little something—OK, it lacked a lot—but James Milner's stoppage-time equalizer was nothing short of spectacular.
With the chance to salvage a point from a horrendous afternoon, the versatile midfielder lined up from 25 yards. As you can see in this video here (at 10:25), he made no mistake to rescue the result for his side.
A perfect curler, around the wall, just grazing the inside of the post on its way in. Allan McGregor had absolutely no chance of stopping it.
Nothing boring about that one!
"Pellegrini said. Great goal, James. I said Thanks. Then Vincent Kompany said Great goal, James. I also said Thanks.
— Boring James Milner (@BoringMilner) February 7, 2015"
Feel free to chime in with any goal you think missed out in the comments below.
Follow Alex Gruber on Twitter here.
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