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| Kevin de Bruyne claimed all three points with a stoppage time strike |
MANUEL PELLEGRINI does not appear much of a gambler.
Yet after starting the night by taking a risk, it was ultimately the strength of his own conviction that helped Manchester City scramble over the line once again.
There had been murmurings when, with his side locked at 1-1 and in danger of dropping more crucial points at home in the Champions League, Pellegrini withdrew a striker in Wilfried Bony and ushered on a defensive midfielder in Fernando.
Yet it was the sense of liberation City gained elsewhere that was to pay off handsomely.
Kevin de Bruyne was pushed forward into attack, Yaya Youre deployed behind him, and an absorbing contest had moved into added time when the plan reaped a spectacular reward.
Toure launched a rapier counter attack and fed £54m De Bruyne who cut inside Vicente Iborra and dispatched a left foot drive with unerring precision into the corner of the net beyond Sevilla goalkeeper Sergio Rico.
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| Yaya Toure, after a difficult week, produced the kind of display that makes him so valuable to City |
In an instant the dynamics of Group D changed and Pellegrini's decision to leave captain Vincent Kompany stewing on the substitutes' bench once again until the final seconds no longer dominated the narrative.
The momentum is back with City, although if it is to remain with them after the trip to the Estadio Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan in a fortnight they will have to perform far better than they mustered in this smash and grab.
Nothing ever comes easy for Pellegrini's side in Europe it seems, though with hindsight he might consider he had made matters rather more difficult with his treatment of Kompany.
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| Yevhen Konoplyanka had opened the scoring at the Etihad |
It is all very well imposing his authority by keeping his skipper on the bench after he defied him by playing for Belgium last week, but not when it is to the detriment of the team.
City had conceded just once in the six games before their Kompany was injured and 11 in the six preceding last night. Pellegrini will know he is fortunate the tally rose only by one. Yevhen Konoplyanka thudded a free-kick onto the woodwork after 17-minutes and the early threat Sevilla posed against opponents who struggled to exert any control was to pay off.
Ever Banega somehow smuggled a pass between Toure and De Bruyne and when Vitolo proceeded to conjure a clever cut back there was Konoplyanka to dispatch the opportunity from 12 yards.
A frustrated Hart bellowed to his team-mates to wake up and it was Toure who took up the challenge to restore parity before the interval.
The Ivorian's persistence saw him wriggle beyond Timothee Kolodziejczak when seemingly boxed in on the by-line and pick out Raheem Sterling lurking by the penalty spot.
A thunderous shot was saved by Rico and when Bony attempted to turn home the ricochet he was fortunate a mis-hit effort deflected off the unsuspecting Adil Rami and into his own net.
That the equaliser did not pep City will perplex Pellegrini when he watches a re-run of what was a laboured, anaemic performance which should have been punished by the Spanish.
Kevin Gameiro, unmarked and 10-yards out, wasted a headed opportunity after Grzegorz Krychowiak's cross-shot had reached him in the 43rd minute and soon after had reason to chastise himself once again.
More defensive slackness from City allowed Benoit Tremoulinas to charge down the right and deliver a cross which proceeded to cut out both Nicolas Otamendi and Eliaquim Mangala.
France striker Gameiro, under late pressure from the covering Bacary Saga, could only direct his header a yard too high to the annoyance of coach Unai Emery.
In contrast, it felt as though City had used up all their chances - and goals - in those 6-1 and 5-1 victories over Newcastle and Bournemouth in front of their own supporters. They were reduced to shooting from distance until another of those dramatic late twists which have served to forge recent history in these parts.
Krychowiak's failure to cut out a pass to Toure felt ominous and his sortie forward and De Bruyne's expert finish from just inside the penalty area did the rest. Instead of the change Pellegrini did not make, it was the one he did which proceeded to rescue Manchester City from another night of torment.
Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Hart, Zabaleta (Kolarov 60), Otamendi, Mangala, Sagna; Toure, Fernandinho; Navas, Sterling, De Bruyne (Kompany 90); Bony (Fernando 76).
Booked: Bony
Goal: Rami (own goal 36), De Bruyne (90)
Sevilla (4-2-3-1): Rico; Coke (Ferreira 84), Rami, Kolodziejzcak, Tremoulinas; Iborra, Krychowiak; Vitolo, Banega, Konoplyanka (Nzonzi 78); Gameiro.
Booked: Gameiro
Goal: Konoplyanka (30)
Referee: Bas Nikhuis (Netherlands)
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