Source: Daily_Mail
Man City 4 Blackburn 1: Don't look now, Sir Alex - sublime Tevez hits three
[LNB]Unlike the guy who spent the first 70 minutes on the bench and even had to be told to warm up properly, Carlos Tevez is seriously starting to justify his massive £25million price tag.[LNB]While Robinho continued to look like the biggest waste of money in English football after his £32.5m move, Tevez was terrific again, following the award he received shortly before kick-off for being the Barclays Premier League player of the month with a quite brilliant hat-trick.[LNB]In doing so he propelled Manchester City into the promised land. The Champions League places, no less.[LNB]It all amounted to something of a nightmare for Robinho. Left out on a night when Roberto Mancini chose to give Benjani his first Premier League start in 13 months, he also had to sit back while a member of the back four taught him a lesson too. [LNB]Not content with slamming a snowball into his face in training, Micah Richards went one better by providing Robinho with a demonstration of how he should be doing his job. [LNB] [LNB] Hot streak: Carlos Tevez has now scored 11 goals in his last nine games for City[LNB]The ability to beat four players and finish with a goal is something City thought they had bought when they broke the British transfer record to bring the Brazilian to Eastlands 18 months ago. [LNB]But it was Richards who set off on a 79-yard dribble before a slightly unorthodox one-two with the aforementioned Benjani resulted in a goal that should end any further speculation about his future at the club, for a while at least.[LNB]It was tremendous. The kind of goal that underlined his potential as a modern centre half of the very highest quality. A young player, for all the problems he seems to have experienced since establishing himself briefly as a full England international, who is blessed with great athleticism as well as skill.[LNB]Only the very best centre halves are comfortable running with the ball at their feet, and Richards did it in a manner that might just persuade England manager Fabio Capello to take another look.[LNB]Not to be outdone by his colleague, the form player of the English game also proved that, in breaking that same British transfer record a year later, City did rather better in signing Tevez. [LNB] [LNB] Great finish: Carlos Tevez scores his third goal with a curled shot[LNB]The little Argentinian might have been a bit slow in making an impact after moving from Sir Alex Ferguson's neighbouring Manchester United but he has certainly made up for it in recent weeks.[LNB]After coming here on the back of eight goals in eight games, Tevez added three more. The opener might have been a bit of a fluke but the second and, in particular, the third, were superb. Two fine finishes.[LNB]Mancini must have been delighted, and not just because they now find themselves in the company their owners are so keen for them to keep. [LNB]It is the consistency of the performances that must please their new Italian manager most.[LNB]This was his fourth win in as many games, and City's fifth in succession, and it would have been a fourth clean sheet, too, had Shay Given and Vincent Kompany not contrived to suddenly present Morten Gamst Pedersen with the chance to reduce the deficit. Albeit when City were already three goals to the good.[LNB]At Eastlands you could sense the excitement among the supporters. [LNB] He's got the power: Micah Richards bundles home City's second[LNB]They were not quite as thrilled to see Patrick Vieira before the game kicked off. City fans know their football and they will share the concerns that have been expressed by the Frenchman's former Arsenal colleagues until their new loan signing proves otherwise.[LNB]Lukewarm: Vieira wasn't granted the heroes welcome he may have expected[LNB]The reception he received 10 minutes before the start was lukewarm, to say the least. Not quite another snowball in another face but not far off.[LNB]But Vieira would have left Eastlands wondering when, and indeed how, he breaks into a side performing with such confidence. Five years ago it would have not been a problem, but Vieira is not the player he was.[LNB]Sidelined by injury on this occasion, he had to wait just seven minutes to see his new colleagues score. [LNB]If City owed much to Paul Robinson's failure to command his penalty area and so allow Keith Andrews to get himself between his goalkeeper and Martin Petrov's relatively simple corner, it was Benjani who pounced with a half-volley that Tevez then guided home off his thigh. [LNB]How much Tevez knew about it is hard to say, but he was quick to claim it.[LNB]A Blackburn side searching for their first win in the league since November had nothing in response. Certainly not to the marauding run Richards made six minutes before the interval.[LNB]It was an amazing goal, from the surging run that took him past three or four opponents to the subtlety of the ball he then delivered in to the feet of Benjani; from the sheer athleticism of his original effort to the composure he then displayed as he watched Benjani's shot bounce off Robinson's right-hand post before driving the ball home.[LNB]City scored their third goal shortly after the break, with Mancini's decision to select Benjani again fully vindicated.[LNB] [LNB] All too easy: Tevez deflects in City's opener from Benjani's misplaced shot[LNB] [LNB]It was the Zimbabwe international who broke down the right before delivering the ball, via a dummy from Petrov, to the feet of Tevez, who struck with a curling right-foot finish. [LNB]Had it not been for Given and Kompany's failure to make a simple clearance, it would have been the perfect result. As it was, Given chipped dangerously to Kompany, who lost possession and Pedersen struck with a neat finish.[LNB]But City are nothing if not resourceful, and after seeing Craig Bellamy walk off to a standing ovation, they were given a glimmer of what Robinho could offer on a more regular basis if he could only be bothered. [LNB]It was his neat ball, after all, that was fed to Tevez, who then scored his third with a perfectly placed shot that somehow squeezed between defenders as well as Robinson's left-hand post in added time.[LNB]The game might have started with a minute's silence for Emmanuel Adebayor and his Togo comrades. It ended, however, with a salute to another City striker.[LNB] Roberto Mancini delivers clear message to underachieving striker RobinhoBirmingham complete move for teenage Manchester City midfielder Eddy GnahoreShow you're worth another go, Micah: Spurs target is given hope by ManciniBLACKBURN ROVERS FC
