Manchester City's talent show keeps the goal factory in business | Paul Hayward

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<div class="track"><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.22.2/67133?ns=guardian&pageName=Manchester+City%27s+talent+show+keeps+the+goal+factory+in+business%3AArticle%3A1658292&ch=Football&c3=Obs&c4=Premier+League+2011-12%2CQPR+%28Football%29%2CManchester+City+%28Football%29%2CPremier+League+%28Football%29%2CFootball%2CSport&c5=Unclassified%2CPremier+League&c6=Paul+Hayward&c7=11-Nov-05&c8=1658292&c9=Article&c10=Comment&c11=Football&c13=&c25=Sport+blog&c30=content&h2=GU%2FFootball%2FPremier+League+2011-12" width="1" height="1" /></div><p class="standfirst">Opponents of the league leaders now face a wide, curling wave of talent, as well as game-changing players on the bench</p><p>Question to David Platt, Manchester City's assistant manager: "Have you seen a more prolific forward line?" Answer: "Only when I watch Barcelona on TV."</p><p>City are a rocket burst of goals: 39 in 11 league fixtures now, with only 10 conceded. In a blistering two-week run in all competitions they have beaten Manchester United 6-1, Wolves 5-2 and 3-1, Villarreal 3-0 (away) and now Queens Park Rangers 3-2 four days after a Champions League trip to Spain. Yet this victory passes into the club's favourite scrapbook not for the goals but the tenacity displayed against a defiant QPR team who will win plenty of matches performing with this kind of <em>joie de vivre</em>.</p><p>"The important thing is that when we're not quite at it, passing-wise, and not cutting through teams, we can still win football matches," Platt said.</p><p>QPR's defenders will be astonished to hear that this was City "digging out" a win (Platt's phrase). Edin Dzeko tortured them with his centre-forward play, after a slow start, and David Silva's creativity was again a delight.</p><p>QPR's problem was: how do you stop a goal factory locating a branch on your turf? The extra incentive for Roberto Mancini's team had been wins earlier in the day for Manchester United, Newcastle and Chelsea. But the Hoops had an answer. For much of the first half they raced across Loftus Park like ice-skaters, joining attacks with relish and closing City's big names down. Only with Yaya Touré's 73rd-minute header did they finally submit in a scintillating match that had QPR fans recalling their glory days.</p><p>Neil Warnock said he had been working on a plan to stop the money monster and it nearly worked. The idea was that his guests might not fancy a test of passion in one of London's most atmospheric grounds. Hyperactivity will not always work against a side of City's calibre because they have so many players who can caress the ball, slow the pace and slip a pass at an unplayable angle.</p><p>QPR, though, only needed it to work once. "Are you Chelsea in disguise?" their fans sang, in honour of the recent victory over their neighbours. Chelsea's captain took a slap as well: "John Terry – we know what you said," they chanted, in support of their own Anton Ferdinand.</p><p>The oceanic gap between Heidar Helguson, the QPR striker, say, and Sergio Agüero at the other end is bound to tell across a whole season. Nor is there a David Silva at QPR's university training ground under the Heathrow flight path. But if you catch a top team in a fatigued state with the right tactics and the supporters play their part (as QPR's normally do), you can inflict a pained look even on the world's richest club.</p><p>Early energy and industry create chances. Those chances must be taken by the lesser side before the rich one wakes and responds. With City, opponents now face a wide, curling wave of talent, The manager of a bottom-half side should probably never let his team see the names of City's game-changers: in this case, Samir Nasri, Adam Johnson (who came on for Agüero) and Mario Balotelli, whose second-half dive would have embarrassed the amateur dramatics society of a small Somerset village (Balotelli was booked).</p><p>Dzeko, a leggy type whose touch often deserts him, always presents a problem to centre-backs with his persistence and strength. Agüero is a buzzy, elusive menace who can thrash a shot from anywhere with his short backlift. Silva is the artiste from the all-conquering Spanish school. As City fell behind, this gang went to work.</p><p>At the restart Agüero and Silva talked angles of attack, like two geometrists, and Ferdinand and Danny Gabbidon, QPR's two centre-halves hugged each other for comfort. But this QPR side quite fancies itself, and rightly so. The assimilation of new players has been quick. Most encouragingly, discards from bigger clubs (Joey Barton, Shaun Wright-Phillips) have arrived not as sulking big-shots but grafters ready to support a cause.</p><p>Two points clear of United at the kick-off (and only three ahead of Newcastle), City turned up the heat with a sweeping move that carried Dzeko down QPR's right flank from where he crossed for Silva. When the tapes of Silva's contribution to this campaign are cut City's second goal here ought to feature. Most strikers would have swiped at the ball first time, but Silva guided it to a position where Gabbidon, his nearest pursuer, might have been in another county.</p><p>The finish was a calm, graceful affirmation of Silva's mastery over time and space. QPR's equaliser was less pretty: a Bothroyd header that struck Helguson's crown and went in as he crouched on City's goalline. Then came Yaya Touré's deal-closer. Anything you can do, they can do better.</p><div class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/premier-league-2011-12">Premier League 2011-12</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/qpr">QPR</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/manchestercity">Manchester City</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/premierleague">Premier League</a></li></ul></div><div class="author"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/paulhayward">Paul Hayward</a></div><br/><div class="terms"><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> &copy; 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds">More Feeds</a></div><p style="clear:both" />
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