Many people mark their birthday by doing something unusual and James Milner joined their ranks yesterday.
The Manchester City man-for-all-seasons marked his 29th birthday by scoring twice in a game for the first time in six years.
An unflashy, unglamorous individual whose best work often goes unnoticed, Milner’s match-winning double, including an injury-time decider, thrust him into the headlines in uncharacteristic fashion.
Until his intervention, Sheffield Wednesday had a deserved lead and Manchester City were heading out of the FA Cup against lower-league opposition for the second successive season.
The biggest surprise of the third round was on the cards.
Then Manuel Pellegrini made a double change, with David Silva and Samir Nasri coming on to give City the fluency they had lacked.
After a first-half in which City had failed to register a shot on target, Milner was restored to the role he has adopted in the last three weeks, that of the makeshift centre-forward.
His previous games in attack saw Milner as the selfless decoy runner, freeing up space for others.
This time he was the predator.
When Nasri and Silva dovetailed beautifully, the Englishman drilled a shot between Chris Kirkland’s legs.
When Jesus Navas crossed, he bundled the winner over the line.
“I am very happy for him,” said Pellegrini. “He always plays with 100 per cent commitment and intensity.”
More powerful, more purposeful and more potent than Stevan Jovetic, the supposed specialist striker, Milner represented a vast improvement after the half-time reshuffle.
Pellegrini’s words afterwards were telling.
“When we returned to our normal offensive formation with Navas, Silva. Nasri and Milner on top we scored two goals,” he said.
It was not normal a few weeks ago, which reveals the impact Milner has had in the absence of Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero.
On this occasion, though, he had greater similarities with Frank Lampard.
Three days earlier, City’s winner had come from an Englishman whose future had been uncertain but that veteran eventually signed a new contract.
Milner, whose deal expires in the summer, has not.
“I hope we will find an arrangement,” said Pellegrini, but there is no more news and with every impasse, the risk grows that City will lose a pivotal player.
His eventual impact had a certain cruelty for Wednesday as a Yorkshire club were beaten by a Yorkshireman.
A replay was the least the Championship outfit merited, not least for their strength of character.
They visited the Etihad Stadium in September and departed defeated 7-0. They fared better on their return.
Body: “I am so proud of my players, they have pushed the champions to the last minute,” said manager Stuart Gray.
They led for almost an hour, striking when Stevie May outpaced Eliaquim Mangala and delivered a low cross that Atdhe Nuhiu met with an assured finish.
It was a reward for Wednesday’s boldness – there are few Premier League teams who go to the Etihad Stadium and play with two strikers. The side who are 10th in the Championship did and they combined for the goal.
Thereafter, they found it surprisingly comfortable to protect their advantages.
This was essentially a reserve City side, albeit one bolstered by the presence of Yaya Toure, who now goes off to the African Cup of Nations, but they fashioned few opportunities until Nasri and Silva joined proceedings.
“We played very bad except in the last 20 minutes when we [went into] another gear,” Pellegrini said.
“We didn’t play in the way we normally do. We didn’t press well so we didn’t recover the ball. We didn’t have good possession or movements. We didn’t create good chances to score.
“Sheffield Wednesday had one chance and they scored. After that it is double difficult.”
Even when City levelled, Wednesday threatened to increase their difficulties.
They counter-attacked from a corner with Jacques Maghoma breaking into the box and lining up a shot when Jesus Navas, who had run the best part of 100 yards, slid in to execute a superb saving challenge.
“He defends very well,” said Pellegrini.
It was a Milner-esque contribution from Navas, even as Milner was untypically prolific.
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