The last day of the transfer window is done and it was quieter than anticipated for City fans. Robinho was the expected high profile exit and only Adam Clayton joined him in leaving Eastlands.
Shay Given, Roque Santa Cruz, Jo and Felipe Caicedo all remain along with Shaleum Logan and Kelvin Etuhu who also qualify for the 25 man senior squad. Given, Santa Cruz and the newly in favour Jo are surely set to be included in the squad.
With closure at 6pm (or shortly after) transfer deadline day is well under way. At the time of writing it’s looking like outgoings only for City.
As it was two years ago, the big story of the day is set to be Robinho and it’s looking ominous for City getting a decent return on the Brazilian.
After a promising first half, City allowed Sunderland to take control in the second period and paid the ultimate price with a last minute Darren Bent penalty conceded by Micah Richards. It could all have been so different had Carlos Tevez not spurned an open goal in the first half.
The Tevez miss will dominate the headlines after the match, and questions will also be asked of Micah Richards. The England U-21 player blotted an otherwise decent defensive performance by allowing Bent to get goalside, giving him the opportunity to crumple to the floor when Micah tried to jump over him. It showed Micah hadn’t learnt from a similar offence commited at White Hart Lane last year.
Hart – Commanded his area with confidence, and made sharp saves when required. Managed to dive over the penalty. 7
Richards – His concentration, positioning and defending were all looking good until… allowing Bent to get goalside and clumsily leaping over him. The penalty was all to reminiscent of one he conceded at White Hart Lane last year. 6
City will head to the north-east full of confidence after their third consecutive victory and will be looking to add a fourth. Steve Bruce’s Sunderland are an unpredictable side with the capacity to cause problems as we found out last season when a last minute equaliser was required from Adam Johnson.
If we show the same resolute defending as we did against Liverpool then victory should be within our capabilities with Carlos Tevez in attack. The obvious danger man is Darren Bent now that Kenwyne Jones has departed.
City qualified for the Europa League group stages with goals from Shaun Wright-Phillips and Dedryck Boyata in a game so comfortable it often resembled a pre-season friendly. The Romanians’ packed defence and lack of ambition made it a game of patience for City before the seemingly inevitable breakthrough arrived.
City’s best performers were a central quartet of Kompany, Boyata, de Jong and Vieira who exerted total control over procedings. In our previous European campaign under Mark Hughes, we made heavy weather of the early rounds by failing to dominate teams. There was none of that here.
Hart – With only a couple of routine saves to make, there’s only his distribution to rate: short range good, long kicks need to find their targets better. 6
Richards – Once again solid in defence, this was another chance to focus on attacking. Took up decent positions but the delivery was mixed. Looked in need of a trick to go past an opponent. 6
And a big Eastlands welcome to… Jo! Yes the signs are that are Brazilian hitman will take another step in his Lazarus like comeback. Yesterday saw Roberto Mancini singing his praises, recalling the goals Jo scored to against the Italian’s Inter side in the Champions League for CSKA Moscow.
City produced a solid display in Romania before cutting loose in the closing part of the game to clinch a win thanks to Mario Balotelli’s debut goal.
Amidst all the glory of Monday’s victory over Liverpool, one thing overlooked was the appearance of Jo ahead of Adebayor to lead the attack for the final few minutes. Could this have any significance in the City careers of these two players?
Rumours of Mancini not being a huge fan of Adebayor have been circulating all Summer, yet in public the club continue to back the Togolese.
City got their home campaign off to a fantastic start with this 3-0 demolition of a Liverpool side that is considered a rival for the Champions League places. Scoring early in each half enabled City to take control of the game in a grip they never allowed to weaken.
This was particulary good given the presence of Sheikh Mansour in the stands overlooking his massive investment for the first time. Initially there was a terrible fear that ‘typical City’ would rear itself against the canny Roy Hodgson. Thankfully Mancini and the players had other ideas.
