Manchester City
The ongoing saga finally came to an end when Lescott moved to Manchester City for a fee speculated to be £22 million with Lescott signing a five-year contract with the club on 25 August 2009. Lescott made his debut for City on 27 August in a 2–0 League Cup away victory over Crystal Palace and scored his first City goal in a 2–2 draw with Fulham on 25 October 2009. Lescott's first season and a half proved to be a frustrating time for the defender with him struggling to find the form he had shown at Everton, along with picking up a number of injuries, which included re-injuring his knee after hyper-extending it in a 3–3 away draw with Bolton Wanderers. Pundits and journalists alike felt Lescott was finding the pressure of performing after the big fee City had spent to bring him to the club difficult. Roberto Mancini replaced Mark Hughes as manager in December 2009 and preferred Lescott after his return from injury to Kolo Touré to partner the fast improving Vincent Kompany for a few months which in this time, including an impressive 4–2 win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in March 2010. With Lescott finally showing good form he would once again find himself frustrated after picking up another niggling injury, which would see him struggle to get back into the side in his preferred central defensive role for the foreseeable future.
On 28 December 2010, Lescott scored a header, City's first of the season, in the 4–0 victory over Aston Villa at the Etihad Stadium, but during the January 2011 transfer window, with Lescott making few first team appearances during the first half of the 2010/11 season, there was speculation that he would be moving back to Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan, Roberto Mancini however continually insisted that Lescott was a part of his plans. In February 2011 Kolo Touré was suspended for failing a drug test, this would represent a huge opportunity for Lescott who was reinstalled as the partner of Vincent Kompany in central defence. Lescott went from strength to strength as the two formed a formidable defensive partnership. On 17 April 2011, he started and played the full 90 minutes against Manchester United in the 1–0 FA Cup semi-final victory at Wembley Stadium as City reached their first major-final since 1981. On 25 April, eight days after that win over their rivals, Lescott partnered Vincent Kompany again in an important game vs. Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park and completing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 win, also making his 30th appearance of the season for City in the process. Lescott was part of the Manchester City team that won the FA Cup, beating Stoke City 1–0 in the final at Wembley and ending a 35 year wait for a major trophy in the process. He would also score two more headers in the final two games of the season, in a 3–0 win against Stoke three days later and also against Bolton Wanderers in a 2–0 win, as City ended the season in third position and qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time.
On 7 August 2011, in the 2011 FA Community Shield, Lescott scored in a 2–3 loss against Manchester United, this would prove to be City's last defeat on English soil until a 2–1 defeat by Chelsea on 12 December, during this time Lescott firmly established himself as a vital part of the team in defence, as City recorded incredible 5–1 and 6–1 away victories over Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United respectively, in which Lescott started both, and assisted a goal in the victory over United. Lescott scored an own-goal in a 1–1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield in November but has continued to show strong form throughout the season on the whole as City have gone on to make their strongest ever start to a season, breaking a number of Premier League records in the process. Lescott also made his Champions League début against S.S.C. Napoli, City however failed to progress past the group stages after away defeats to Napoli and Bayern Munich in Group A, finishing third and dropping into the Europa League as a result. On 22 January 2012, he scored a goal in a 3–2 win against Tottenham, giving City a 2–0 lead at the time. On 12 February 2012, he scored a winning goal against boyhood club Aston Villa in a 1–0 win. On 13 May 2012 he helped Man City win their first premiership title in 44 years. Lescott's excellent partnership formed with Vincent Kompany has led to him becoming a fan-favourite at Manchester City, with a chant honouring him regularly sung on matchdays.
Read more about this topic: Joleon Lescott, Club Career
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