My word, that was uncomfortable viewing. Manchester City's trips to Goodison Park are very rarely comfortable viewing, anyway, unless you're of an Evertonian persuasion, and, for that reason, any visiting fan from Saturday evening would have happily taken any sort of win -- be it a 6-0 battering or a 3-2 nervy, scrappy victory. And it was the latter that Blues fans got.

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Mind you, they also got about 40 years older with the stresses and strains of how City did things on Saturday. If coroners in Manchester could cite "Manchester City" as a cause of death, I'm sure there would have been many a death certificate inscribed with those words -- the club specialise in making things as hard as possible for themselves.

Three games to go until the end of the season and three wins would ensure the Premier League title for the Blues, providing there isn't a huge goals swing towards Liverpool, and City bring to the fore a poor performance in what had been billed as their hardest remaining match.

It was a weird mood inside Goodison Park, with the Everton fans not really sure what they wanted. Did they want their side to win and aid Liverpool's title bid, despite it being supremely unlikely they could unseat Arsenal in fourth place? Or, with their season virtually over, did they want to put in a good performance but dent their rivals' title hopes by taking nothing from the match? The dilemma felt confusing, and, with City's fans nervous, you could hear a pin drop for most of the game.

One of the goals of the season didn't help those City fans' nerves, either. Despite having the better of the opening chances, the visitors had to do it the hard way. Goalkeeper Joe Hart -- who would go on to be the away side's man of the match -- could do nothing about Ross Barkley's opener, as the Everton man bent it over and around his England colleague from the left side of the box.

The City fans had that same old sinking feeling from Goodison Park. Their side, looking fragile, had fallen behind, and that had been the story of virtually all of their Premier League visits there. Before manager Manuel Pellegrini arrived this season, only Peter Reid and Mark Hughes had earned top-flight wins there since the division reformed in 1992.

It does feel somewhat as if there are mitigating circumstances for the past two wins, too: In 2009, Hughes was able to capitalise on Everton's FA Cup final distraction to take three points from Merseyside, and on Saturday Pellegrini took advantage of the home supporters' confused feeling inside the ground and Everton's not-really-got-much-left-to-play-for performance.

The away end might have been thinking everything was back in their favour on 22 minutes when longtime injured Sergio Aguero equalised, but those thoughts were quickly snuffed out when the oft-injured Argentine picked up another injury. With 17 goals in 19 league starts this season, one must surely wonder whether the title would have already been in City's grasp had the Blues had their top scorer available for longer this year. In comparison, Liverpool's Luis Suarez hasn't missed a game since his suspension in the opening weeks.

It was at this point in the game that the visitors bucked their ideas up (if only briefly). Edin Dzeko got onto the end of a James Milner cross -- and the work of the English midfielder on the right flank shouldn't be underestimated, since it was no simple ball across he played with the defender sticking tight to him -- and headed into the bottom corner.

Straight after the break, the Bosnian netted his second of the game, as he turned a Samir Nasri pass over the line from close range.

It was a typical Dzeko performance, though: He didn't have his greatest game in a City shirt, with his first touch ranging from decent to nonexistent, and his work rate looking as if it was an end-of-season dead rubber, yet he bagged two very crucial goals in an important win for his team. Throw in a yellow card for time-wasting (when he clearly needed attention from the physio, yet bizarrely referee Lee Probert wouldn't allow it) and it was a mixed bag … with two vital strikes. Dzeko and Hyde, if you will.

Though, if City's fans had any ideas of it being a simple task from then on in, they were gravely mistaken. This is Manchester City, remember? This is the club that don't do things the easy way -- anyone who thought they would do anything other than take their foot off the gas, concede to make it 3-2, and then end the game with their fans watching from behind their hands, terrified of an equaliser, clearly hasn't been watching the Blues for long enough.

Romelu Lukaku's header -- another effort Hart had no chance with -- came far too early for the Blues to just see out the game but far too late for the manager to change his mind on the substitution, as Aleksandar Kolarov replaced Yaya Toure immediately after. One wonders whether the paperwork had been submitted and couldn’t be changed because it certainly seemed a bizarre switch with the pressure building.

The final say, however, must go to City's goalkeeper. Much maligned earlier in the season, Hart has shown in recent weeks how Pellegrini's decision to drop him for Costel Pantilimon in the autumn was the right call. The No. 1 is back with confidence; against Crystal Palace he was off his line quickly to deal with aerial threats, and against Everton he pulled off two hugely significant saves.

Barkley could have forced an equaliser in the first minute of the second half, as he drove through to play Stephen Naismith in on a one-on-one. But the goalkeeper stood him up well and produced a brilliant touch around the post from the side-footed effort.

And then, at 3-2, he prevented another potential leveller, as Gerard Deulofeu weaved his way through the City box to get a shot away at the near post. If the title is headed to the Etihad this season, Pellegrini will look at his goalkeeper in Saturday's match as one of the reasons why.