Remember this? For some reason, Edin Dzeko is still a bench player for Manchester City. Once again he saved them from a loss, coming on as a substitute and scoring two goals in the last 10 minutes to give the champions another dramatic win, this time a 2-1 away win against West Bromwich Albion.

It was just over two weeks ago when the Bosnian striker scored a late goal to give City a dramatic win over Fulham in West London. The next match? Unused substitute against Sunderland, although City did fine at home without him.

International break, and Dzeko is on the bench again while Mario Balotelli and Carlos Tevez got the start. Both of them didn’t finish the match, while Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko came on to save the day. Tevez set up the first goal, and Aguero set up the winner in the 90th minute. Dzeko continues to be a bingo every time.

So how much is it now? Five goals in seven matches? Four of them when coming off the bench. Not that he isn’t scoring when he’s starting, but Mancini likes to save him till the end. Why? It’s been working for his so far, so I’m betting he’s telling himself there’s no reason to change the rotation. Aguero and Tevez are usually his go to guys, while too much grumbling from Balotelli probably helps him get a starting spot once in a while.

And Dzeko? During the summer we heard rumors of him looking for a new team, where he’ll be guraunteed a start. Thoughts of Bayern Munich and Juventus came to mind, but nothing actually happened. Eventually, he stayed on a City team where he’s the first option off the bench, but so far this season, he has at least 6-7 points in a rough start to their title defense campaign written on his name alone. That alone warrants a spot in the lineup. But Mancini sees things differently, for now.