Manchester City 2015/16 Premier League season review
Sunday 15 May 2016 19:33, UK
Stats, quotes and expert opinion on Manchester City's 2015/16 Premier League season.
Finishing position: 4th (-2)
Total points: 66 (-13)
FA Cup: Fifth round
Capital One Cup: Winners
Champions League: Semi final
Top scorer: Sergio Aguero (24)
WhoScored Top Rating: Nicolas Otamendi (7.47)
Season review
What would turn out to be Manuel Pellegrini's final season as Manchester City manager began impressively enough with five straight Premier League victories. City didn't even concede a goal in those games. However, a home defeat to West Ham in September was the first of five defeat at the Etihad Stadium - an indication of the team's frailty.
Tottenham thrashed them 4-1 in the next game, but City showed they could still dish it out themselves with Sergio Aguero scoring five goals in 20 minutes in a 6-1 win over Newcastle. When Yaya Toure scored a late penalty to see off Norwich at the end of October, Pellegrini's men were top of the Premier League.
The slip ups became more frequent over the winter with another 4-1 defeat - this time at home to Liverpool - being the worst of them. There was a 2-0 reverse at Stoke and a 2-1 loss at Arsenal, a blow that felt like it would be significant in the title race at the time. But even so, City went into their February home game against Leicester knowing that victory would put them top again.
Instead they were beaten convincingly and the performance raised doubts about the decision to announce earlier in the week that Pellegrini would be leaving at the end of the campaign. City lost the next two Premier League games as well and never looked likely to catch the leaders again - only all-but confirming a top-four finish with a point at Swansea in their final game.
More focus was on the cups with Willy Caballero the unlikely hero in a penalty shootout victory over Liverpool in the Capital One Cup final at Wembley. There was not such a happy ending in the Champions League when a fine run to the last four - including a quarter-final win over Paris St Germain - came to an end with a dull defeat to Real Madrid.
At least there will be another opportunity to play in the competition next season and incoming manager Pep Guardiola will be expected to rebuild. That's likely to be without Toure, who may have played his last game for the club at Swansea, while there will be fears for skipper Vincent Kompany too - he's out for the start of next season as his injury troubles continue.
Quotes of the season
"Now I feel like I'm getting up to full fitness for games and trying to miss as few games as possible." - Sergio Aguero in January (he has started all but one Premier League game since)
"Before we finish I will tell you that I talked with the club and I will finish my contract on the original date in June. They are not doing anything behind me. I knew this one month ago." - Manuel Pellegrini announcing his own departure
"I prefer to lose a title than to lose my word, so Willy Caballero played tonight." - Manuel Pellegrini on sticking with the goalkeeper for the Capital One Cup final
Stats of the season
City won none of their eight Premier League games against the top five, drawing three and losing five.
Sergio Aguero became the first Manchester City player to find the back of the net in six consecutive Premier League appearances in the 2-2 draw against Arsenal.
Kelechi Iheanacho scored eight goals from just 12 shots on target in the Premier League.
Matt Le Tissier's view
I imagine they're fairly disappointed. They have taken a step in the right direction in the Champions League but they've underachieved in the Premier League. Finishing this many points behind Leicester with the squad they've got isn't acceptable. They've scored plenty of goals but they've mainly been at home and they struggled away. Until the final day, Sunderland had scored the same number of away goals and that tells the story.
Finishing this many points behind Leicester with the squad they've got isn't acceptable.
