Jack Grealish made his first Premier League start in 102 days vs Leicester and scored his first Manchester City goal in the league since December 2023.
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MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - APRIL 2: Jack Grealish of Manchester City celebrates scoring his team's first goal with teammate Omar Marmoush during the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Leicester City FC at Etihad Stadium on April 2, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)
MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - APRIL 2: Jack Grealish of Manchester City celebrates scoring his team's first goal with teammate Omar Marmoush during the Premier League match between Manchester City FC and Leicester City FC at Etihad Stadium on April 2, 2025 in Manchester, England. (Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)
Jack Grealish took just two minutes to score his first Premier League goal of the season on Wednesday at the 17th attempt.
It was a personal moment for Grealish - pointing to the sky to remember his brother who passed away 25 years ago - and he was visibly emotional his post-match interviews when discussing the poignant goal. There must have been a flood of relief in a professional sense, too.
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Grealish has been overlooked on a weekly basis for Manchester City this season, challenged publicly and privately by Pep Guardiola to improve his output as Jeremy Doku and Savinho have offered more out wide. This was Grealish's first Premier League start since the week before Christmas and only his third since October.
It is a season that has spiralled away from Grealish, whether that be due to form or another string of badly-timed injuries. When he notched a match-winning assist at Leyton Orient in the cup in February he was rewarded with a start against Real Madrid a few days later, setting up an early goal in that one before limping off before the first half was up.
He has struggled to return to the starting line up since then, starting only in the FA Cup (and even then snubbed at Bournemouth on Sunday), however Erling Haaland's injury might strangely benefit him as he was handed a surprise start against Leicester. It feels like no surprise that his two best Premier League performances this season have come in the centre of midfield, the natural number ten role that made him a £100m player in the first place.
Guardiola praised Grealish's control of the tempo from a central position, while the Nico Gonzalez and Ilkay Gundogan partnership looked as good as it has done too. Has Guardiola inadvertently stumbled upon an unlikely midfield trio to support Omar Marmoush in Erling Haaland's absence?
For Grealish's part, he pointed back to last season as a reason why he should get a run of games in the run-in. "I think it was actually the same last year. I didn't go to the national team in March and then I came back and played a lot. Palace and Real Madrid home and away last year.
"I ended up playing a lot in April. At the moment it's difficult because we have so many attacking players, especially in the attacking areas. I think every single one of us is fit apart from Erling. It's going to be difficult but I'm here and ready when I'm called upon."
Grealish is right, after the international break rest in March 2024, he was a substitute against Arsenal before starting consecutive matches against Aston Villa, Crystal Palace and Real Madrid. A rest between Champions League games was granted vs Luton, before another start against Madrid and then against Chelsea in the FA Cup at Wembley a few days later. In total in April he started six of eight games before illness struck with a week left of the season and he was a spectator from the bench against Spurs, West Ham and in the FA Cup final.
So Grealish will look to replicate that kind of run in April this year, starting against Manchester United on Sunday. If he does get the nod, he may well be preferred to Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne - both unused substitutes against Leicester, alongside Bernardo Silva.
That trio had started in the FA Cup at Bournemouth on Sunday, perhaps rested against a weak Leicester opposition. But with no Haaland, Grealish has sent a message on the pitch and in his interviews that he's ready to make that number ten spot his own. He clearly feels he is fresher than his rivals for that starting place and made sure he reminded Guardiola of what happened last season.
If he gets his way, at least one of Foden, De Bruyne and Bernardo will likely be pushed out to accommodate him - an unthinkable scenario earlier in the season.
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