TERRACE TALK: Man City - Same old story but a happy ending at last

At long last a different ending to a familiar story for City.

With the age-old Achilles heel of overwhelming possession and feeble returns biting once again in the first half, something snapped at last at the Etihad. Rejigged and revitalised, City treated us to a sumptuous second period of short and long, cut and thrust, duck and dive.

What a difference 45 minutes can make. With City’s perpetual passing machine again being found out by one single nimble response, Pep Guardiola’s side were looking straight down the barrel once again. Twin towers of salt Nicolas Otamendi and Aleksander Kolarov had done their parting of the seas impression to let Theo Walcott in for an early goal and heads were nodding knowingly in the crowd. Here we, most certainly, go again.