Manchester City vs. Wolves in the Carling Cup: Five Things We Learned

The ‘Boring, Boring City’ tag is truly dead

It’s hard to believe that just last season Mancini was derided for being a negative manager.  Manchester City have now scored 45 goals in only 15 games, a stunning figure at any level of the profession. 

Edin Dzeko suffered settling-in pains as he adapted to life in a new league. However, there have been no such problems this season, with the Bosnian already hitting 13 goals in 16 games for club and country.  Dzeko’s improvement combined with the instant impact of Sergio Aguero has ensured City are becoming a favourite for the goal-loving neutral.

Scapuzzi makes his mark

Luca Scapuzzi marked his debut with an impressive performance, culminating with Wolves' goalkeeper De Vries being forced into an own goal and an impressive assist by Scapuzzi for Edin Dzeko’s second. 

Recently mentioned in regards to the fourth striker position at City, Scapuzzi will count himself unlucky to have his goal taken off him, but it will be no surprise if Mancini gives the young Italian more opportunities to prove himself in cup competitions this term.

The kids are alright

18-year-old Abdul Razak made his second start for the senior side, lasting 85 minutes before succumbing to cramps and being replaced by England winger James Milner. 

Arguably putting in a higher standard of performance than Holland’s first choice holding midfielder, Nigel de Jong, Razak is pushing for a more prominent role within the first team squad.

Fresh from captaining City in the Next Gen series, 16-year-old Karim Rekik solidified the Blues’ back line with another solid cameo performance.  17-year-old playmaker Denis Suarez was unable to recreate his form versus Celtic, but Mancini knows that more game time will increase the confidence and experience of the young Spaniard.

There's no room for Bridge

Sitting in The Goal Posts pub just outside of Molineux last night, there was an obvious feel good factor emanating from the City fans.  As to be expected, the recent derby result dominated pre-match conversation, with a helium balloon in the shape of the number six floating around the bar. 

But a collective groan rang out in unison as Sky Sports News ran footage of City arriving at the stadium with Wayne Bridge in tow.  The Guardian recently produced a scathing piece on Bridge’s current situation, and although the left back played in the Carling Cup versus Birmingham, it is hard to see when and where he will play as competitions progress. 

One of the few remaining stragglers of the Mark Hughes era and without a place in the Premier League 25-man squad, Bridge is stuck in limbo.

City have developed a winning mentality

One of the constants of the Mancini-era press conferences has been the need for the squad to produce a title-winning mentality.  Despite 11 changes made from the weekend’s Premier League encounter, City produced a come from behind performance to knock five goals past Wolverhampton Wanderers. 

With eight wins in nine Premier League games so far this season, plus three wins from five cup games, it is becoming a habit for the team to earn the result, no matter the personnel selected.