Source: Daily_Mail
Mario Balotelli realises his Manchester City responsibilities
Nigel de Jong believes Mario Balotelli is finally beginning to realise his responsibilities as a Manchester City player.[LNB]The controversial striker produced one of his best performances for the club by providing the inspiration for a comfortable 4-1 win over Aston Villa which took them top of the Barclays Premier League.[LNB]After a number of run-ins with manager Roberto Mancini, it was a timely contribution from the 21-year-old ahead of the resumption of City's stuttering Champions League campaign in midweek.[LNB] Stunning strike: Mario Balotelli scores to put Manchester City in front[LNB]'I think he is getting it now, why we always try to teach him a lesson. He is getting it slowly but surely,' De Jong told City TV.[LNB]'You have to give him credit for the last couple of weeks, not just on the pitch but in the training sessions.[LNB]'He is behaving quite normal for him. Everyone is happy to be with him.[LNB]'Nobody ever doubted his qualities but with great qualities you need to have big responsibilities as well - not only on the pitch but outside as well.[LNB]'I think he showed that to the group and Manchester City as well in the last couple of weeks.'[LNB] Party time: Balotelli celebrates his goal with his City teammates[LNB]Balotelli took advantage of Mancini'sdecision to leave Edin Dzeko, David Silva and Samir Nasri on the bench and not to risk Sergio Aguero after injury as he provided much of City'sattacking thrust.[LNB]After testing Shay Given, he gave City the lead with a sharp overhead kick and continued to bother previously unbeaten Villa throughout, bringing another fine save from the keeper in the second half.[LNB]On the downside there were occasional displays of frustration and an apparent collision with Given, but the biggest disappointment for City is that he is suspended for the Villarreal encounter.[LNB]After beginning their European programme with a draw against Napoli and that infamous 2-0 loss at Bayern Munich in which Tevez allegedly refused to play, City need to beat the Spaniards to kickstart their campaign.[LNB] Easy does it: City's James Milner is congratulated by his teammates[LNB]De Jong added: 'They are two massive games (this week). The Champions League is the first one and it is obvious we have to win that game to proceed to the next stage.[LNB]'After that is the United game, which will be a massive game, number one and number two against each other.[LNB]'We just have to prepare ourselves very well and focus again now.'[LNB]After leading just 1-0 at half-time, City powered further ahead through Adam Johnson and Vincent Kompany. Stephen Warnock pulled one back but former Villa midfielder James Milner finished the visitors off with a sublime fourth goal.[LNB] Not happy: Villa boss Alex McLeish[LNB]Defeat was a reality check for Villa, who had begun the season confidently with two wins and five draws in seven league games, but manager Alex McLeish saw many positives.[LNB]McLeish said: 'We're a team in transition, a squad in transition.[LNB]'We have a lot of young players and it is a learning curve.[LNB]'I'm disappointed we're not coming away with something and if we'd defended better at corner kicks I believe we could have.[LNB]'At 3-1 we were still in it and the next goal was very important, but we lost it and that was the only time in the game that the energy drained from the players.[LNB]'Theygave everything and worked hard. We were bold in our approach, we triedto get Gabby [Gabriel Agbonlahor] and Benty [Darren Bent] into the lastthird and it worked for a while.[LNB]'But, if you lose goals like that, you can forget it. We'll be on the training ground this week trying to put that right.'Teamswill be saying, 'City cut Villa to ribbons' but they didn't and, when they see the goals, they'll see horrendous defending.'[LNB] Manchester City 4 Aston Villa 1: Who needs Tevez with Super Mario in top form?Bring on Manchester United in the derby, roars Mancini after seeing City go topWe don't need Carlos! Mancini backs City to see off Villa without absent TevezAll the latest Manchester City news, features and opinion [LNB]
