Early in the 2010–11 season he scored the second goal in the Europa League play-off match against FC Timişoara on 26 August, his first for the club. His form continued to improve and was chosen to start against Chelsea on 25 September, who had been undefeated in the start of the season. Boyata played the match at right-back and put in a good performance as City kept a clean sheet to win the match 1–0. He was shown a red card just five minutes into a 3–0 home loss against Arsenal on 24 October, for fouling Marouane Chamakh while being the last man before goal. In total he clocked up 17 appearances during the season and was an unused substitute as Manchester City won the 2010–11 FA Cup. After that, Boyata spent a large part of the next two seasons away on loan, first at fellow Premier League club Bolton Wanderers and then in the Netherlands with FC Twente.