How Edin Dzeko saved Manchester City's season
Flashback to the beginning of the season: Manchester City is loaded from top to bottom. Their most impressive depth is at forward. Sergio Aguero, Alvaro Negredo and Stevan Jovetic will score a ton of goals, powering City to their second title in three years.
They also have Edin Dzeko.
It's November. Negredo is acclimitizing incredibly well to the rigors of the Premier League. He's big and strong, bullying Premier League defenders with ease. He scores his first Manchester City hat-trick against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League. Aguero is doing just fine himself, scoring his ninth and 10th goals of the season in a 6-0 win over Tottenham. Jovetic is hurt, but it doesn't matter.
Things begin to go wrong. Aguero gets hurt in December, during City's 6-3 win over Arsenal. A calf injury rules him out for a month. Negredo suffers a shoulder injury. Jovetic is called on to make his second Premier League start of the season in February. Dzeko is deemed 'too inconsistent' by fans and press alike.
Aguero's calf injury morphs into a hamstring problem. He's never fully right for the rest of the season. Negredo's shoulder injury is no longer a problem, but the Spanish bull is finding recapturing his early season form difficult. Jovetic is once again relegated to substitute duty.
Enter Edin Dzeko.
The Bosnian striker scored twice against Aston Villa on Wednesday, helping Manchester City inch closer to a title that was seemingly slipping away following a 3-2 loss at Liverpool.
The 28-year-old rewarded Manuel Pellegrini's faith, providing crucial goals at critical parts of the season.
Liverpool slipped up themselves, losing against Chelsea and drawing Crystal Palace after a late collapse.
Manchester City's toughest remaining fixture came at Goodison Park on Saturday. There Dzeko scored twice. After Wednesday's performance, he has 16 on the season. He's been involved in 89 goals in all competitions since moving to Manchester, but this has been his greatest month in a City shirt.
Yaya Toure, David Silva and Pablo Zabaleta have been terrific this season. Without Dzeko, however, this title run doesn't happen.