Roberto Mancini has taken a lot of stick in the last week for incessant tactical manoeuvring and on Saturday evening he gave us three more different formations to add to the three at Ajax, plus two different teams.

At one point, the sight of Aleksander Kolarov marshalling the right wing must have had football tacticians all over the planet searching in their almanacs for details of switched false leftbacks. This may have been because City were playing two leftbacks anyway (Clichy would end up vying with Hart and Tevez for man of the match with his incessant second-half raiding far up the left wing) or because Mancini could no longer bear to watch the Serb loafing around left midfield. After one last swipe of defiance, a free kick that seemed to be homing in on Piccadilly Gardens, Kolarov was hooked for Mario Balotelli.

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The difference between City's first and second half performance was so stark, you would have been forgiven for thinking Mancini had swapped the sky blue staff entirely at the half-time break against a gallant, willing but (eventually) beatable Swansea side. City had been so lethargic during the first 45 minutes that the first shot on goal from Tevez was timed at 37 minutes and 50 seconds, the first corner, a duffer from Sergio Aguero, duly arrived two minutes before Mr Atkinson's shrill half-time whistle. It had been a half peppered with misplaced passes and runs into cul-de-sacs, with Mancini explaining it thus:

"It was important to get three points today after defeat in midweek. We did not play well in the first half because we were so tired and we were better in the second half."

If the side was tired, the second-half showing belied this completely, as City, fast out of the blocks, suddenly looked interested. Quicker to the loose balls, sharp in the tackle, incisive in their attacks, they were everything that they had failed to be in the first 45 minutes.

It was still less than impressive stuff, but alongside the first half, it looked a little like more what the doctor had ordered. Part of this was down to the addition of Balotelli, his loping, slope-shouldered presence having the opposite effect to what onlookers would expect from someone who occasionally appears detached and half-interested.

"We have to learn to take our chances," Mancini continued, alluding to the crucial missed effort which would have put the Blues 2-0 up in Amsterdam last Wednesday. It was a fitting comment, as the opportunities here were thin on the ground to say the least.

The Italian, under pressure from some quarters of the press for a perceived weakness in European competition, has often stressed that the importance of the result is paramount. Here was a good example of this mantra, as City laboured over the finishing line a full 12 minutes after the 90 had been passed. This was down to two rather odd injuries, both collected in the tamest of circumstances. Vorm was left holding his groin after failing to reach Carlos Tevez's rocket shot in the 60th minute, leading to thoughts of the British rugby player who had caused an unfortunate, embarrassing and painful injury to that part of his body a couple of weeks ago, whilst Micah Richards collapsed in full flight and had to be given oxygen before being removed from the pitch.

Mancini's insistence on result over performance is logical, especially during a phase where performance is not up to last season's high standards. There have been very few sightings of the slick, incessant passing, the overwhelming possession, the lung-busting powerplay that marked so many of City's games during 2011-12. As in Amsterdam, it was again conspicuous by its absence, but the sight of City in second place in the table with nine games played, despite not yet having hit anything approaching their stride must be a sobering one for the rest of the top six.

In this respect, Mancini's search for a system has yet to damage the league position. The question remains, however, whether changing a winning formula from last season was entirely necessary, or if it is - like the much talked about Babybliss hairdryer given such prominence in the Manchester Evening News during the week - a sign of the manager's vanity.

By the end of this game, there was just enough time for one more tactical trick with City introducing enough centre backs to enable a military blockade, Kolo Toure and Joleon Lescott entering in quick succession as the clock ticked comically past 100 minutes.

Mancini had stopped the rot. City had survived. In the wake of the second-half improvement, it was tempting to ask what the Italian had said (or done) to his troops at half time. The infamous hairdryer might just have been turned up to full Govan Volcano on this occasion. Whether its effect is permanent or not, we will just have to wait and see.

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