Samir Nasri and Aleks Kolarov looked like they could be on their way out of Manchester City this summer, but they have turned their form and fortunes around, writes Rob Dawson
Via Manchester Evening News
Had things been different this summer, Samir Nasri and Aleksandar Kolarov might have been shown the exit at City.
There was speculation that Nasri was being targeted to join the revolution at Paris Saint-Germain, and rumours that Kolarov was on Antonio Conte’s wish-list at Juventus.
The majority of City fans wouldn’t have shed a tear had the No.8 and No.13 shirts been left vacant this season.
After all, neither had done much to justify a combined outlay of more than £40m.
After arriving from Arsenal in 2011, Nasri hit rock bottom last season.
More specifically, in December, in the dying minutes of the Manchester derby.
On the end of the wall facing Robin van Persie’s stoppage time free-kick, he was expected to throw himself in front of it and make sure City walked away with a valuable, and well-earned, point.
But he didn’t.
Instead he cowered behind Edin Dzeko. Worse than that, he stuck out a leg, deflecting the ball past Joe Hart.
In the aftermath, Roberto Mancini called the Frenchman half a man. That was polite compared to what was being said in the bars and pubs around the Etihad Stadium.
Kolarov is a different case.
His work-rate and commitment has never been in question, just his quality.
The groans from the crowd when he fails to beat the first man with a cross or when he launches an ambitious shot into the stands can be heard in his native Serbia.
There was a danger that Kolarov’s most memorable performance at City would be his haunting rendition of Jingle Bells on the club website that got more than 500,000 views on YouTube.
While Mancini was beginning to doubt the pair’s usefulness, they’ve found a friend in Manuel Pellegrini.
The Chilean has spoken of Nasri being a ‘big player’ and his ‘great technical quality’. He refused to entertain any bids from Italy for Kolarov.
Pellegrini was rewarded for his faith in the derby, almost a year on from Nasri’s nightmare moment.
With 15 minutes gone, Nasri raced away down the left, rolled a delicate back-heel into Kolarov’s path, who smashed a cross into the penalty area for Sergio Aguero to score.
The fans purred over Aguero’s volley but it was a goal created by the two players who’ve taken their fair share of stick.
More than that, it was a chance fashioned by their respective qualities, Nasri’s cheeky inventiveness and Kolarov’s power, energy and superb left-foot.
Nasri capped his performance with a goal of his own in the second half.
