Jack Grealish scores his first as Manchester City trounce Norwich City

Manchester City opened their 2021 Premier League account after a thumping 5-0 victory against newly-promoted Norwich City at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. New signing Jack Grealish was one of the scorers in the match that was extremely one-sided. The other City scorers were Aymeric Laporte, Raheem Sterling, and Riyad Mahrez. The victory will be a massive boost of confidence for the team and it sends a strong message to the other teams after City’s unexpected defeat in their first match of the season against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend. It was almost a sold-out crowd at the Etihad which saw fans after several months due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The first goal of the match came in the seventh minute and it was not awarded to a City player. It went down as an own goal for Norwich skipper Tim Krul. Rodri played a slick pass to Gabriel Jesus, whose run was completely untracked. The Brazilian chested the ball down and played a volley across the face of the goal. Norwich player Hanley tried to block it but the ball deflected onto Krul who could do nothing to keep it from going in.

Jack Grealish nets his first for City

The second goal is what fans at the Etihad were waiting to see for a while now. Jesus received a good pass from Kyle Walker on the right-hand side of the pitch. He then played a low cross into the box. The ball somehow found Jack Grealish who was not quite expecting it but scored as the ball deflected into the net off his knees. There was nothing Krul could have done to save it. It might have been a very fortunate goal for Grealish but it is the first of many that he will score for City.

The defending champions seemed like they had the game in the bag by the time the half-time whistle was blown. They started the second period in a similar way. A little past the hour mark, defender Laporte slotted in the team’s third of the day. A corner from Ilkay Gundogan was met with the defender’s head but was initially blocked. A sloppy clearance saw the ball once again at Laporte’s feet who did not miss this time.

Raheem Sterling was on the scoresheet next as he converted a simple finish in the 71st minute. It was another assist from Jesus down the right and the England international made no mistake. Jesus was arguably one of the best players on the pitch for City on the day.

Riyad Mahrez put the cherry on top of a perfect day with a peach of a goal in the 84th minute. Defender Ruben Dias played a beautiful pass over the top of the Norwich defence which found the perfectly timed run of Mahrez. The Algerian took the ball into his stride with a deft touch and curled it around Krul as the ball nestled in the far corner of the net.

It was the perfect performance from the defending champions who now look more than good enough to win the title yet again.