Manchester City FC: Mario Balotelli on a Run in Strong Victory over Aston Villa

People may not be believers in Mario Balotelli but the man does have talent. 

Balotelli is on a run of 4 goals in 4 games for the blue side of Manchester thus far. He has not been known for his consistency for the Manchester City side, let alone being key in their play or even respectful to teammates and opponents.

His performance against Villa today could speak to the change that may be going on with the former Inter Milan man. 

Roberto Mancini took a little bit of a risk by not starting with Samir Nasri and David Silva in the middle of the park, but I guess "risk" is all a matter of perspective whenever you have a squad as deep and talented as this Manchester City squad. 

None of that mattered when, 27 minutes in, Balotelli put a short range overhead kick into the back of the net, off a corner kick,  against a middle of the table Villa side. To follow that up and ensure the win, Adam Johnson capitalized on a Stephen Warnock slip-up and scored another, as well as finishing goals from Vincent Kompany and James Milner. 

Though this is a squad without their top scorer from last year, Carlos Tevez, they have not looked like they have suffered in the least bit. One would have thought that a 20 goal scorer and EPL Golden Boot winner would have hurt the attacking of the squad, but when you have talents such as Aguero, Silva, Dzeko, Milner and so on, there really was nothing to worry about. 

The only thing they have left to worry about is what to do with the Argentinean bulldog as he has become dead weight for the squad. There are interests from the likes of Corintheans, the club who almost got him away from Manchester this past summer, and West Ham; but only time will tell where he ends up after this distracting conflict with Roberto Mancini. 

This win puts Manchester City at the top of the table, with a Manchester United draw against Liverpool. Chelsea comes within one point of second place with their 3-1 win over Everton.