The return of the Argentine striker Carlos Tevez to the first-team action helped Manchester City recently beat Chelsea 2-0 in the Premier league. The striker once again demonstrated his importance to the team by scoring the only goal of the game in the 1-0 win over Aston Villa on Monday night.

Speaking after the match, the defender Pablo Zabaleta has said that the striker is once again back to his best. Tevez’s City career looked to be over after falling out with the manager Roberto Mancini last season. However, he has forced his way back into the first-team reckoning, while also the becoming one of the important players in the first half of the season.

Pablo Zabaleta has acknowledged that it has been a difficult return for Tevez, but he has managed to prove his worth by being extremely good. Zabaleta has said that mistakes are made by everyone, but Tevez has managed to recover from his mistakes and provide his 100% to the team once again.

Tevez has been one of the main reasons for City maintaining their second position in the table. The 29-year-old has scored nine goals in 24 appearances this season. Despite this record, Tevez has been unable to prevent City from scoring 12 points behind their arch rivals Manchester United in the table. According to Unibet, United are 1/100 to win the league – similar odds offered in afl betting on Melbourne winning the championships!

“It’s been difficult for Carlos, for Mancini, for the club. From something small, it grew so big. After it happened, everything went crazy and it was so difficult. Everybody makes mistakes. The positive thing is Carlos came back again and the commitment for the club and team has been 100 per cent, so that is well done by him. Is he as good as before? Yes, definitely. He got a fantastic goal against Chelsea and he’s been great all season,” said the defender.