Real City yet to surface

Man City 2 Hull City 0

From the bristling swagger of the 4-0 thumping of Newcastle, to the flawed defensive performance in the 3-2 loss at Cardiff to a win over Hull that owed as much to persistence as it did to outstanding quality, we are yet to see what Pellegrini’s side is really made of.

Although he has started with the same front six for each of those matches, Pellegrini feels City’s true strength will only be revealed once the slog begins after the international break.

It may lack the glitter of Robinho’s €38m arrival in the hours after the Abu Dhabi Group takeover on deadline day five years ago, but the €4.1m addition of Argentina centre-back Martin Demichelis, 32, has to provide a useful alternative to a defence that once again looked lost on Saturday.

Fernandinho has made a steady start in the centre of midfield but Pellegrini’s use of a 4-4-2 has undoubtedly sapped Yaya Toure’s influence so far, with the Ivory Coast midfielder unable to offer a great deal in open play, although he has managed two stunning free-kicks so far this season.

After his powerful display against Newcastle, Edin Dzeko was desperate against Hull and was replaced by Alvaro Negredo at the interval, with the Spaniard, who has played just 76 minutes so far, scoring his second goal for the club since his €23.4m signing from Sevilla this summer.

Stevan Jovetic, another new arrival, from Fiorentina, has been unable to feature so far and the opening three games suggest that Dzeko and Negredo are vying for the same spot in the forward line.

Negredo had an effort incorrectly ruled out on his debut against Newcastle and after heading a consolation against Cardiff, his contribution here, a firm header from Pablo Zabaleta’s cross midway through the second half, was vital.

“Of course it is hard being on the bench, but that’s how things are at the moment. The manager has decided Edin will start, so all I can do to try to change that is to keep on working in training and be ready whenever he calls on me from the bench,” Negredo said.

“[Pellegrini] has not said anything at all to me, he’s just said Edin is playing from the start, so all I can do is work. I will never get used to being on the bench, obviously, but that is the same for everyone — we all want to play and only 11 can, and it’s up to the manager to decide.

“I like English football. The players have so much quality that they can keep the ball, you have to run and run. We call it “running streets” in Spanish at those times when the opposition have the ball, and there’s lots of changes of possession and it’s very intense.”

After Negredo opened the scoring, Toure added a second with a fine free-kick that was harsh on Hull. With his team scoring just one goal in three games, Tigers manager Steve Bruce is desperate to add another striker before the deadline, with Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner his main target.

“It’s too early to say that [we’ll go down with these strikers],” midfielder Tom Huddlestone said.

“We have the players if we creating chances who will put them away.”

MANCHESTER CITY (4-4-2): Hart 7; Zabaleta 7, Nastasic 5, Lescott 4, Kolarov 6; Navas 6, Fernandinho 7, Toure 6, Silva 7 (Nasri 66, 6); Aguero 6 (Milner 76, 6), Dzeko 5 (Negredo 46, 7).

HULL (4-4-2): McGregor 7, Elmohamady 6, Chester 6, Davies 7, Figueroa 7; Koren 7 (Boyd 75, 6), Livermore 7, Huddlestone 7, Brady 7; Aluko 7 (Quinn 70, 6), Graham 7.

Referee: Phil Dowd.