Man City 3-0 West Brom: Final Whistle Thoughts

Manchester City continue their winning ways! The Blues returned to Premier League action and confirmed their status as favorites against bottom of the table West Bromwich Albion and got a very good win at the Etihad. Below is our quick reaction to the game with a few notes written during the match. Still to come: Match Report, Quotes & Tweets, 3 Things We Learned, and Tactical Analysis.

• Aymeric Laporte is already worth his record fee. What a player. We didn’t see much of his defending given West Brom didn’t attack at all, but we saw a lot of his passing and he is INCREDIBLE at it. His first pass of the game was a 50-year crossfield ball to the foot of Bernardo Silva, and he made many other great passes as well. Good signing, Txiki.
• We’ve had a serious problem lately: we just cannot kill games early anymore. Earlier in the season we converted all the chances and won the matches in the first half, but once again we weren’t able to do it and had to work hard in the second. This has to improve because we won’t get a lot of opportunities in Champions League games, so converting most of the chances is really important.
• Kevin De Bruyne was exceptional in this game. He had a little bit of a dip in form in recent weeks, perhaps due to exhaustion, but against the Baggies he was phenomenal. His assist to Fernandinho was wonderful, his goal was really well taken and he nearly scored a goal from f***ing midfield. Love you, Kev.
• Another strong game for Bernardo Silva. It took him a long while to settle into a new league but he’s now very comfortable and playing really well. It’s really good that Bernardo has found himself right now since we won’t have Leroy Sané for the next six weeks, so please stay awesome, Bernie.
• Another game when opponents make horrible challenges on Manchester City players and don’t get red cards. This isn’t funny anymore, and the referees need to do something about it before a City player’s leg is broken. Seriously.