THE Etihad Stadium proved a brilliant host venue for a Premier League classic on Boxing Day when Manchester City were called upon to dig really deep and show just how serious they are about wanting to win the biggest prize in English football.
That they narrowly won was what counted the most for Manuel Pellegrini’s side that moved up to second in the standings and find themselves rather comfortably poised just a point off the leaders. Of almost equal importance on Thursday was the manner in which the Citizens performed, and there can be no better way to describe it than – just awesome.