Manchester City 3 Middlesbrough 1:The exhilarating Brazilian samba beat at the heart of Sven-Goran Eriksson's revivified Manchester City thumped out again at Eastlands yesterday as Elano, first with a wonderfully struck right-foot shot, and then with a mischievously chipped free-kick, kept City in the top three and sent the home fans skipping out of the exits with thoughts of Europe and - whoever would have thought it - the title. "We are the champions", some sang.
"You can't say too much more about him. He's a top-class player," said Eriksson.
Manchester suddenly has two teams capable of challenging for the title again. Elano was cheered off, deep into the second half, with an intensity that has rarely been heard in this new stadium since Paula Radcliffe's Commonwealth gold in 2002. He blew a kiss and waved, a man assured of hero-worship status whatever happens now. And goodness knows what that will be. After all this is Manchester City, famous for turning gold into base metal.
Eriksson knows the history, but the only cloud he can see on the Blue horizon would be a spate of injuries. "So far we have been lucky," he said. He was also a little concerned about defensive frailties that allowed Middlesbrough, for all their lack of attacking ambition, notably in the first half, to score a late goal through Ben Hutchinson.
Not only has Eriksson bought well but he has melded the side together with such speed, too. For that he can be given unstinted praise. "They are happy to let you have the ball, and then hit you very quickly," said Gareth Southgate, the Middlesbrough manager.
Middlesbrough, with Tom Craddock their lone striker at the start, had come looking for a point, with George Boateng's role, just in front of the back four, to stifle Elano. By half-time that particular plan had failed. The east coast may be bracing, but Manchester City are finding the teams from that region are doing them a power of good. Hardly had Middlesbrough the time to settle into a cohesive unit before their defensive core was ripped apart inside 10 minutes.
Michael Johnson, although not fully fit, displayed a pragmatism and athleticism that is the perfect foil for Elano. The youngster's deflected shot led to City's opening goal when Martin Petrov's viciously hit corner saw Chris Riggott, facing the wrong way, sidefoot the ball into his own net past Mark Schwarzer. It was the sort of start that any visiting manager dreads, and Southgate grimaced accordingly.
With City leading 1-0, Joe Hart had saved well from Lee Cattermole, yet any latent Middlesbrough optimism was quickly dispelled by Elano, who seized on Johnson's back-heel to crack an unstoppable shot past Schwarzer, diving hard but to no avail. It was perfectly placed, as was the Brazilian's second-half free-kick after Jonathan Woodgate brought down Emile Mpenza, who was chasing Richard Dunne's excellent long ball.
Against Newcastle Elano had smashed home a free-kick from a similar range. This time, from a more central position, he weighed up where the Middlesbrough goalkeeper was standing, and spun the ball into the one place he stood no chance of reaching. It was a Seve Ballesteros sand wedge dropping straight into the hole. Perfection.
The Brazilian, at €11.6 million from Shakhtar Donetsk, already looks the snip of the summer. Not only are his midfield passes an inspiration to Eriksson's side, he's also scoring goals, and brilliant goals at that.
