Pep Guardiola came to Manchester City to fight for so much more than a top-four place but this, at least, will feel like progress of sorts as a difficult first season in England draws to a close.
Failure to qualify for the Champions League was almost unthinkable for a coach of Guardiola’s calibre with the resources at his disposal.
But a straightforward victory at the Etihad over a tame West Brom side has all but blown away that particular cloud hanging over his head barring a disastrous combination of results on Sunday.
Gabriel Jesus slots home the ball from Kevin De Bruyne’s cross to give Manchester City the lead against West Brom
On a night when City paid tribute to Pablo Zabaleta and City’s women’s team paraded their Treble success, Guardiola will look to the future and hope that things will only get better.
His team were totally dominant here, taking an early 2-0 lead through Gabriel Jesus and Kevin De Bruyne which enabled their supporters to go through the repertoire of tribute songs to Zabaleta.
The Argentine came off the bench to rapturous applause on the hour mark with City three goals ahead after Yaya Toure did his hopes of a new contract no harm at all with a well-taken third goal.
Guardiola and Tony Pulis had both dismissed Arsene Wenger’s claims that teams like West Brom might be ‘on holiday’, but a record of two points from their previous seven games suggested that Albion were, at the very least, hardly on top form.
City had won the 10 previous Premier League meetings between the two clubs and victory No 11 was all but confirmed before half-time as they surged two goals in front.
Guardiola started Sergio Aguero and Jesus together for only the second time, and Aguero certainly looked in the mood to make an impression from the opening exchanges.
The Argentine muscled Jonny Evans off the ball and flighted a cross just over Jesus’s head before setting up City’s first real opening in the 17th minute.
Again he caught a West Brom defender napping, taking the ball off Craig Dawson and playing a lovely reverse pass into the path of Leroy Sane.
The youngster was through on goal and should have scored but drilled the ball wide of Ben Foster’s left-hand post when a little more composure was required.
Foster also pawed away a 30-yard free-kick from Aleksandar Kolarov and City had a penalty appeal waved away by referee Craig Pawson for Allan Nyom’s challenge on Sane before they struck twice in the space of three minutes.
A touch of magic from Aguero helped set up the first in the 27th minute as he flicked Toure’s pass into the path of De Bruyne.
The Belgian accelerated away from Nyom and Darren Fletcher and crossed to the far post for Jesus to tuck the ball into an empty net, claiming his sixth goal in eight attempts on target since joining City.
Breaking West Brom’s resistance with that first goal was always going to be the hard part, and the visitors barely had time to clear their heads before City struck again in the 29th minute.
Again Aguero was involved, flicking the ball into Sane as Guardiola’s side broke forward. Marc Wilson got in a smart tackle to knock the ball away from Jesus, but it ran to De Bruyne 25 yards out who guided it into the bottom corner with an excellent side-footed finish.
The only luck City needed in the first half was the referee’s decision to only award a free-kick for Fernandinho’s forearm into the face of Chris Brunt, just three days after he left Leicester’s Marc Albrighton with a nasty black eye here.
There was a bit more bite about Albion after the break, Nacer Chadli picking up a yellow card for clipping the lively Sane before Craig Dawson followed into the referee’s book for launching himself into a challenge on Aguero.
But Albion simply could not live with City’s movement going forward and they were sliced open again in the 57th minute.
Toure sized up the situation before playing a clever one-two with that man Aguero again and galloping clear into the box. Foster came out to narrow the angle but there was never any doubt in Toure’s mind as he slipped the ball past the West Brom keeper.
The Ivory Coast star was also given a huge ovation when he was replaced by Fernando towards the end and time will tell if this was also his farewell appearance.
Hal Robson-Kanu’s late consolation, turning Nyom’s low cross home from close-range in the 86th minute, could not detract from an emphatic win that leaves Guardiola in touching distance of the top-four as City head to Watford on the final day.
It’s not the scenario he or the club envisaged when he arrived at the Etihad last year, but it could have been worse.
There was a painful moment for Nicolas Otamendi in the dying moments as he collided heavily with a City goalpost
One banner in the stands at the Etihad calls Zabaleta a ‘warrior’ and a ‘hero’ after his massively successful City career
