Manchester City got back to winning ways in the Premier League with a 3-1 victory at Leeds United and the player everyone is talking about is Jack Grealish. The England international was handed a start by Pep Guardiola on the left side and the 27-year-old turned in two very different performances in each half as he went from zero to hero.
Ever since Grealish was further thrust into the spotlight following his record-breaking £100 million move from Aston Villa, the bigger his profile grew and so too the weight of expectation on his shoulders. Many thought the move was a strange one on City’s part due to Grealish, despite thriving at Villa, not looking like the typical City signing.
We are now 18 months into the wide man’s move and before Wednesday night, he had only been involved in 11 goals across all competitions. Obviously Guardiola’s lineup roulette may have been a factor in Grealish struggling to set the world alight thus far, but when he has been handed opportunities by the Spaniard, he hasn’t shown much to warrant a consistent run of starts.
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Against Leeds, he was given a start on the left side of the attack in place of Phil Foden. And while he brought his trademark driving runs which drew fouls, there were times where there was a pass on and he wasn’t switched on to make it. This is what he desperately needs to improve if he wants to flourish in Guardiola’s system. At Villa he wad the driving force of the side and now he is part of a collective driving force that are expected to move the ball swiftly with precision.
One thing that was clear at Elland Road on Wednesday evening was that he needs to be a lot more clinical with his goalscoring chances because in the first half he could’ve easily scored a brace. But on both occasions he blazed his effort over the bar and you can’t help feel that Foden would’ve been clinical if he had been presented with those opportunities. He may have spurned his chances but Rodri was on hand to put City ahead just before half time.
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It appeared as though Guardiola had a word with the winger at the interval because he came out for the second half looking a lot sharper and we got to see him at his creative best as he assisted Erling Haaland twice as City took the game away from Leeds.. His quick reactions saw him pinch a loose pass from Leeds in midfield leaving him and the striker through on goal. Grealish rolled the ball across for the Norwegian to tap home and double their lead. For his second contribution he demonstrated that his decision making was getting better as he rolled the ball back to Haaland from the left and the forward poked home his second of the game.
The two assists were only Grealish’s second and third goal involvements this season and while there is still a lot of work to do for him to live up to his price tag, getting an assist against Leeds will only improve his confidence for a crucial second half of the campaign. For a player with all the pressure of the £100 million label and not always guaranteed a start in the Premier League, his second half display showed such promise for the player moving forward.
His confidence will have been given a huge boost after that and what’s more impressive is that he was able to deliver after missing two huge chances in the first half which no doubt would have been stuck in his mind during the break.
Once he completed his zero to hero arc Guardiola decided to take him off, to which he was serenaded by the travelling supporters. Both they and Grealish will be hoping there is a lot more to come from him in the coming weeks as they look to make up ground on Arsenal in this year’s title race - with the reigning champions still five points adrift of the Gunners.
