The jinx got to City early this year, with Tevez fluffing a complete sitter, and then watching in horror as Bent knocked in an injury time penalty to seal their fate. The Shirtman’s smugly confident assurances of a comfortable win over Sunderland leading them (inevitably I suppose) to an inglorious 1-0 defeat. Open mouth. Insert foot. Repeat on a weekly basis. Welcome back to Premier League tipping with the Shirtman ladies and gentlemen – the place where Carlos Tevez makes liars of us all.
A glorious day for Sunderland – let’s not gloss over that. 1-0 wins against footballing giants don’t come around to often for the Black Cats (in fact I’m pretty sure they don’t come around at all), and this one will be remembered for a long, long time. They didn’t dominate mind you – in fact, they spent most of the game under more pressure than the Australian Electoral Commission – but they turned a spirited second half performance into points thanks to Darren Bent and whatever variant of ice-water he has running through his veins. More importantly they moved themselves away from the bottom of the table…and if they play that way more regularly they will very likely stay there.
For City, this is not a time for panic. But it is perhaps time for raised eyebrows, and pretty soon, the finger pointing will begin. Nobody spent twice the amount of Sierra Leones national debt on a squad to watch them lose to the likes of Sunderland. That was the Citizens of old. Before all their players were international football stars and wore underpants made entirely of gold.
Manchester City came into this season with hopes for a title. Three games in and they have four points on the board.
Rest assured folks, that the Princes of Abu Dhabi are not even slightly amused.
