Following Edin Dzeko’s late double off the bench to give his side victory at West Brom on the weekend, it’s now expected that the Bosnian will be given more game time for the English champions.
His opportunity began against Ajax on Wednesday in the Champions League, but he couldn’t repeat his fondness of scoring important goals in a City shirt as his side fell 3-1 to the Dutch champions.
Watch match highlights:
Ajax 3, Manchester City 1 |
Borussia Dortmund 2, Real Madrid 1 |
Arsenal 0, Schalke 2 |
Malaga 1, AC Milan 0 |
Porto 3, Dynamo Kyiv 2 |
Dinamo Zagreb 0, Paris St-Germain 3 |
Montpellier 1, Olympiacos 2 |
Zenit St Petersburg 1, Anderlecht 0
It leaves the Citizens looking extremely unlikely to advance from Group D, rooted at the bottom with a solitary point. The maximum points Roberto Mancini’s side can accrue in the group stage is now 10, incidentally the same tally they failed to qualify with in last year’s tournament.
To say City was outclassed in Amsterdam would not be an overstatement. Dzeko played as a lone man, flanked by Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri, and was given the service of a downtown Toronto Swiss Chalet. He often drifted out wide, regularly on the left, in a desperate want for possession. It was not the game for the forward to showcase his talents, and he will be gutted that he couldn’t take advantage of this opportunity.
Dzeko has scored seven substitute goals away from home in the Premier League, and after speculation about his future at the club over the summer, he’s now becoming the perfect "impact player" in the top flight.
Not bad for a player who was nicknamed "Kloc" – "lamppost" – when playing back in Bosnia.
Dzeko was poked fun at his first club FK Zeljeznicar because fans and staff perceived him as a player with a poor technical ability, especially for a midfielder. He played two years for the Sarajevo club, accumulating 40 appearances and five goals. Luckily he was recommended to FK Teplice by his former manager at Zeljeznicar, and the Czech club paid 25,000 euros for his services prompting a director at his previous club to suggest they’d won the lottery. Little did he know, Teplice would begin to forge one of the most feared strikers in Europe.
Teplice had greater appreciation of his build and raw talent. Instead of deploying the 6’3" youngster in midfield they decided to use his physicality up front. Their foresight was rewarded: he went from strength to strength, and two successful years later moved to German giants Wolfsburg to the tune of four million euros. And after three-and-a-half free-scoring seasons in north western Germany, City paid eight times that for his services.
It’s now hard to imagine the Dzeko in his younger days: ungainly, and with the first touch of a Labrador with a balloon. While his equalising header against West Brom displayed his physicality, something that he has always possessed, the clinical nature in which he tucked away the winner belied the pressure that must have been on his shoulders.
Following a desperate clearance from City – they had goalkeeper Joe Hart to thank for not conceding shortly before -Aguero took the ball forward and delivered a luscious through-ball for Dzeko. The Bosnian, with no hesitation, swept the ball home and won the three points for his team. He was unflappable and the move he finished off was reminiscent of when he scored the last in a 6-1 rout at Manchester United last term, except this time the stakes were much higher. It was the composure of a top quality striker – easily one of the best in the Premier League.
Some may argue that his match-winning display at the Hawthorns on Saturday was his best, but he has scored many vital goals elsewhere when subbed on. Two seasons ago he scored within three minutes of his introduction at Blackburn to set City up for Champions’ League qualification, their first appearance in the competition. Many would also point out his telling contribution on the final day of last season: an equaliser in the 91st minute before Aguero won the Premier League for City two minutes later.
After such sterling efforts in the sky blue of Manchester City lately, it’s about time he’s given the chance to claim a higher place in the striking pecking order. He’ll bemoan his missed chance against Ajax, but with his prolific form in the Premier League it’ll be a sure-fire bet that he’ll play an integral part in City’s title defence this season.