Player ratings: Manchester City v Bolton Wanderers

Given – Clearly under instructions to try and play the ball out to defenders, and not to be concerned about initiating attacks with a quick throw. The result was a few a sloppy clearances from the normally reliable Shay. 6

Zabaleta – A big improvement on his performance at Hull, where the broken nose must have affected his preparation. Very strong defensively and needed to be against Wilshere. 7

Toure – Battled hard against Kevin Davies but didn’t always look comfortable. His departure for the physically stronger Lescott proved to be a bonus. 6

Kompany – Great to see him back and standing tall in the face of Davies and Elmander, even if he wasn’t fully fit. 7

Bridge – Began the game with the freedom of the left flank and was looking dangerous. A much better peformance in both attack and defence than against Hull, even if he didn’t last the 90 minutes. 7

Vieira – Still to early to judge. The positional sense was good as were some of the passes, but at other times Patrick was off the pace and to slow to the tackle. A plus was the way he stood up to the test when we switched to a central midfield two. 6

De Jong – Despite the presence of defensive midfielders on either side, Nigel was still a busy man as Bolton knocked the ball about well in the middle of the park. 7

Barry – Not as bad as his Portsmouth nadir, but still seems to trundle through games. Even the passing has become hit and miss. In fairness he had to cope with several positional changes, including a trip down memory lane to left-back. 5

A. Johnson – A fans favourite already! Plays like a younger Martin Petrov, with pace, tricks, whipped crosses and a ready eye for goal. The only difference is Adam likes playing on the right! 8

Adebayor – There was more energy about his performance than against Hull as he sought to close down the opposition and even attempted a sliding tackle! Nearly did himself an injury. As a target man he didn’t win much against Zat Knight and to often drifts offside. Having said all that, he scored with a superb strike that demonstrated the difference between the two sides. 7

Tevez – A bit lucky with the penalty – he can’t keep belting them down the middle and expect to get away with it. Otherwise there was plenty of welcome perspiration on a night when the midfield wasn’t getting forward to support. 6

Subs:

Lescott – Good to see him back. The centre-back pairing of Joleon and Kompany is our strongest physically and could be useful with two games against Stoke coming up. 7

Wright-Phillips – Looked eager to impress after his recent spell on the bench. Showed some good touches and was fortunate to escape injury after one “tackle” in particular. 7

Sylvinho – A late appearance to shore the game up. The way he looks to play the pass and retain possession should be a lesson to some of his younger team-mates. 7

Man of the match: Adam Johnson.

Preview: Manchester City v Bolton Wanderers
Verdict: Manchester City 2 Bolton Wanderers 0

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