Man City 2:1 Chelsea: Player Ratings
Given 8
Bridge 7
Toure 8
Lescott 8
Richards 7
DeJong 9
Barry 7
Tevez 8
SWP 8
Robinho 7
Adebayor 7
More thoughts later…..
Man City 3:0 Arsenal: Party Like its 1981
After seven successive league draws, some against sides whose point gained against City could mean Premiership survival, a domestic cup competition saw the side refocused and playing good football. Manchester City’s focus on the League Cup has in fact paid off.
The first half was a dour affair, but second half wonder goals from Carlos Tevez and SWP as well as a nice finish by Vladamir Weiss gave the Blues passage to the clubs first Cup semifinal since 1981. In recent years City has come close to making the semifinals of a major cup, reaching the Quartfinals of the FA Cup in 2007 and the UEFA Cup last Spring.
Much more later on the upcominf two leg semifinal tie with Manchester United.
Birmingham 0-0 Man City: Searching for Answers
Manchester City’s return to glory 2009-10 campaign has officially ground to a halt. Four successive draws coupled with some unattractive football have the critics coming out for Mark Hughes.
But in a Premiership season that has been more competitive at the top than any in recent memory, City’s consistent draws away from home have left the side in a good position to remain in the top six all season.
Hughes clearly has some difficult decisions to make about the squad. Vincent Kompany, whose return was heralded by some, including myself as a solution to City’s defensive woes was regularly out of position on Sunday. Micah Richards has already demonstrated that he has slipped tremendously from being considered for England, to being perhaps only a marginal Premier League player.
In the midfield, City is lacking the essential link up play, and creativity in the center of the pitch to be truly dangerous going forward. The side has been heavily relying on long balls and counter attacks to stimulate any scoring opportunities recently.
A mystery remains as to the status of both Martin Petrov and Stephan Ireland. City spent millions on Garreth Barry, but from where I sit, it is obvious the midfielder fits the England setup under Fabio Capello and Martin O’Neill’s Aston Villa much more comfortably than he does Hughes setup at Eastlands.
Yet, Barry continues to feature as does Roque Santa Cruz whose career at Bayern Munich was a disappointment, and whose form for Paraguay has been missing for sometime.
I still believe Sparky is the man to lead City, but the last four league matches, all of which have seen City outplayed by sides with far smaller payrolls, is worrying.
PLAYER RATINGS FROM THE BIRMINGHAM GAME:
Given 8
Bridge 6
Kompany 5
Lescott 7
Zabaletta 7
Barry 5
DeJong 6
Bellamy 7
Tevez 5
SWP 6
Santa Cruz 5
Ireland 6
Petrov 5
Joe Royle Interview
Listen to my exclusive interview with former City manager and player Joe Royle via the EPL Talk Website.
Manchester City 5- Scunthorpe 1: Blues Advance
Viewed within the context of the pathetic recent history of City in the League Cup, this year’s run and especially tonight’s victory are remarkable. Also from a squad building perspective this was an important match. Tonight saw Roque Santa Cruz open his Manchester City account, Sylvinhio get a run out, Vladimir Weiss play a key role late, and Benjani return to the pitch after months of injury.
While many in the media have stated that City has a deep side, I have begged to differ. But today we saw Mark Hughes try and work some new players into the fold, something that will serve City well as the weather gets colder and the football more intense in the upcoming weeks and months.
For now, advancement in the League Cup is a significant accomplishment for a side that last won a major trophy in 1976. City’s last Cup run in the 2007 FA Cup was largely based on beating Championship sides (Southampton, Preston, etc) before being taken apart by Hughes’ Blackburn team in the Quarterfinals. Let’s hope Hughes change of venue marks a change of fortunes for City against bigger sides in the deep stages of a cup competition.
MORE LATER
Wigan 1-1 Man City: Still Winless at Wigan
For all the active discussion of how intense the Manchester Derby is, it is the third top flight club from Greater Manchester that has given City the greatest fits over the past five seasons. Today was no different, as Pablo Zabeletta’s sending off for a reckless foul after a strange yellow in the first half, made a draw the best City could hope for.
The Blues still have not won in Wigan since the local club was promoted from the old First Division after the 2004-05 season. Some of City’s worst performances under Stuart Pearce were against Wigan, both home and away. While today’s match was even on the balance of play, as is the norm, the Blues performed significantly worse than they normally do against other opponents.
I’ll have more postmatch thoughts later.
The Most Difficult Derby?
When City travels to Wigan tomorrow, the Blues will face a side that has been difficult to break down since winning promotion to the top flight in 2005. City’s record versus Wigan over the past four years is the club’s worst against any Premier League save Chelsea in that period of time. It’s more difficult to understand, because Wigan itself is filled with City supporters, and the JJB Stadium is often filled with City fans on matchday.
What are the thoughts of our readers on the Wigan clash?
Aston Villa 1 - Manchester City 1 : Dunne versus Barry
Garreth Barry was greeted with boos as the teams took the pitch at Villa Park, while longtime City skipper Richard Dunne looked unfamiliar in claret and blue.
Villa got off to a flying start testing the city defense early. This eventually led to a great goal in the air, from guess who? Richard Dunne, who else? Dunne was ironically marked by Garreth Barry for whom boos and flashes of fifty pound notes showered all night.
Perhaps the greatest player City has featured this decade, who never wanted to leave the club came back and bit Gary Cook and Mark Hughes in the rear end.
Dunne’s classy non goal celebration was a stark reminder to City supporters of the man and leader we lost this August. City threatened to equalize late in the first half, but American keeper Brad Friedel was up to the task saving a good effort from Adebayor on goal.
The City midfield failed to control the first half the way they had controlled the opening half of City’s last several fixtures. Garreth Barry, in particular was poor on the ball. Whether his performance was related to the crowd or not is immaterial.
Mark Hughes tactical change shortly after the half time break to bring on Stephan Ireland for Nigel DeJong failed to stem the tide of the match: in fact it gave Villa more space for counter attacking.
Jolean Lescott’s nightmare City start continued in this match, as his multi million pound transfer continues to bewilder even the most sympathetic observer. City had the option of bring Slyvian Distan back to Eastlands or to keep Dunne, but choose to pay top dollar for a player whose quality has been in short supply since arriving.
Craig Bellamy’s goal while a great piece of play by Ireland, Adebayor and Bellamy was undeserved based on the run of the match to that point. But the mark of a Top four contender is the ability to score goals and survive in matches when far from your best.
The result was harsh for a far superior Villa side, but it could prove to be an important point earned for City.
Manchester City 3-1 West Ham: Tevez Brace
Martin Petrov and Carlos Tevez were both brilliant today for City at Eastlands/Sky Sports Photo
Carlos Tevez feels differently about West Ham than he does Manchester United. After scoring his Premiership goal for City against one of his former clubs, the Argentine apologized openly to the West Ham fans, something he was unlikely to do had he scored last week at Old Trafford. Tevez, it is recalled almost single handily saved then manager Alan Curbishley’s Hammers side from relegation in the 2006-07 season with an amazing final month of the season.
Tevez scored again in the second half, after Martin Petrov subbing for the injured Elano on the left side scored on a free kick late in the first half. City missed countless other opportunities to score goals early, and West Ham took advantage with a nifty piece of finishing touch from Carlton Cole. Additionally, West Ham had a perfectly good goal waived off when Cole was incorrectly whistled for a foul.
City’s midfield play was exemplary today, and West Ham though game did not provide stern resistance after about the 60th minute. Also outstanding for City today was Nigel DeJong, who sat in front of the back four and broke up many a West Ham opportunity. Craig Bellamy provided his normal quality and energy on the attacking end.
This was City’s final game without the suspended Emmanuel Adebayor, who returns for next Monday’s fixture versus Aston Villa at Villa Park.
PLAYER RATINGS
Given 7
Zabaletta 6
Lescott 5
Toure 6
Bridge 5
Barry 6
DeJong 8
Petrov 9
SWP 7
Bellamy 8
Tevez 8
Santa Cruz 5
Johnson 5
Roque Santa Cruz About to Return?
Santa Cruz, the Paraguayan international who featured for Mark Hughes at Blackburn, after a long stint at Bayern could be about to return. Santa Cruz would add depth to the City side up top, while also giving the club a finisher to spell Adebayor during the African Nations Cup and any future suspensions. Santa Cruz does however have a history of injuries, and that will certainly factor into how Hughes manages his comeback and pitch time going forward.
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