5 Games from 2015/16 Season Manchester City Wish They Could Have Again
It’s been a Premier League campaign full of regret for Manchester City. Inconsistency has blighted them, denying them the chance to compete properly for the most open title in two decades.
It’s a huge missed opportunity. The Leicester City story has been genuinely inspiring—a throwback to the days when social mobility in English football wasn’t restricted by entrenched wealth among the elite. However, for this City side to be 12 points behind them with three games left to play doesn’t reflect well on manager Manuel Pellegrini.
Claudio Ranieri’s side have performed superbly, and in N'Golo Kante, Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez, they have perhaps the three best players in the division this season, but City have a glittering array of stars who should have done better.
Pellegrini must be furious. Yes, he’s had a vast injury list to deal with, and, yes, the Premier League is now more unpredictable than ever, with pretty much every side in the league capable of getting a result against any other. But struggling to ensure a top-four finish with the talent he has at his disposal simply isn’t good enough.
Their Capital One Cup triumph brought some mid-season cheer, with their win over Liverpool at Wembley an enjoyable occasion for the fans. However, it’s in the UEFA Champions League where their best moments have come.
Brilliant performances away against Sevilla, Dynamo Kiev and Paris Saint-Germain have helped them to their first-ever semi-final in the competition, with their 0-0 draw against Real Madrid on Tuesday meaning they will travel to the Spanish capital next week with a real chance of progressing to the final.
For a side who had struggled badly on the European stage in recent seasons, it represents genuine improvement. Their players now appear to believe they belong at that level and feel they can compete with the very best.
One of Pellegrini’s primary objectives when he took over in 2013 was to ensure City improved and developed in Europe’s elite club competition. On the evidence of this season, he’s delivered emphatically, and Pep Guardiola will inherit a group of players far better placed to win the competition when he takes over from the Chilean on July 1. Who knows, they may even manage it before he arrives.
It’s been a mixed season, then, and here we look at the five games City fans will look back on and wish they’d gone differently. Unsurprisingly, they are all Premier League fixtures.
Aston Villa 0-0 Manchester City
1 of 5
This Aston Villa side are one of the worst in Premier League history. They’ve been cut adrift at the bottom of the table for pretty much the entirety of the campaign, and their relegation was confirmed by mid-April.
They’ve been a shambles. Two managers have tried to find a winning formula; neither has come close. In every area of the pitch they’ve had problems that have undermined their form.
Somehow, City managed to drop points against them. They controlled the match at Villa Park back in November but failed to score. The final ball eluded them for much of the game, and when they did find the right delivery, the woodwork denied them.
It was Remi Garde’s first match in charge, and his side benefited from the new manager effect. They were organised and disciplined for the first time in the campaign, every player seemingly giving that bit extra to impress the Frenchman.
City enjoyed 59 per cent possession and had 13 shots to Villa’s three.
Fernando hit the bar late on, and substitute Fabian Delph, who was booed mercilessly by the home supporters, saw his late show roll just wide.
It was frustrating, disappointing and hugely damaging. City remained top, but the chance to move two points ahead of Arsenal and three ahead of Leicester was denied.
Stoke City 2-0 Manchester City
2 of 5
Talk about being outplayed. The 2-0 scoreline flattered City, who were battered from start to finish, picked apart in ruthless fashion by an inspired Stoke City side.
Marko Arnautovic did much of the damage, ably assisted by the outstanding Xherdan Shaqiri. They played City’s pass-and-move game and did it far better. Only some profligate finishing from the home side kept the scoreline respectable.
Fernando had perhaps his worst day in a City shirt, but he was by no means alone. Wilfried Bony looked completely bereft of confidence and gave a hopeless display. David Silva, Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne were anonymous. The only player who performed respectably was Fernandinho, which is why his withdrawal after 56 minute was so baffling.
City slipped to third in the table and were on a damaging decline.
Manchester City 1-3 Leicester City
3 of 5
Given their poor form, it was remarkable City entered February with a chance of winning the title. Back-to-back home matches against title rivals Leicester and Tottenham Hotspur saw them presented with an opportunity to assert themselves in the title race once more.
They failed spectacularly.
Leicester dismantled them with their now customary efficiency, winning 3-1 after scoring in the opening three minutes and dominating from then on.
Mahrez was superb, Robert Huth scored twice and Leicester moved six points ahead of third-placed City.
Surely, only a win at home to Spurs the following week would keep City in the hunt.
Manchester City 1-2 Tottenham
4 of 5
Their performance against Spurs was much better—the result, however, was not. Having equalised through Kelechi Iheanacho’s lethal finish, City were caught on the counter, Christian Eriksen scoring the winner to condemn Pellegrini’s side to another home defeat.
It was Spurs’ fifth league win in a row, and they were building some real momentum. City had failed to halt them and were now in fourth place, struggling badly for consistency.
They had claimed just 26 points from their last 17 matches—11 points less than both Tottenham and Leicester had managed during that period—completely undoing the work they had put in during the opening weeks of the season when they looked liked champions elect.
Liverpool 3-0 Manchester City
5 of 5
The final nail in the coffin came at Anfield in early March. City were beginning to pick up some form. Having battered Dynamo Kiev in the Champions League and putting themselves on the brink of their first quarter-final in the competition, they then won the League Cup at Wembley, outplaying Liverpool but needing penalties to seal the victory.
Days later, that same Liverpool team, full of holes and defensive instability, hammered City, winning 3-0 in devastating fashion.
Just as City were looking more like their old self, they threw in one of their most dispiriting displays in a long time. Their faint title hopes were gone.
