Hart – Once again showed sound handling and judgement. Pulled off several good saves and was unlucky with his attempt to palm out David Luiz’s opener. 7
Richards – Appeared very unlucky to concede the free-kick which led to the first goal. Forced to concentrate on the defensive side of his game, and the focus shown by the new look Micah was impressive. 7
Continue Reading →With the Europa League out of the way it’s time for City to switch focus to Chelsea. The champions have been resting players in readiness for this fixture and Roberto Mancini will do well to come away with anything positive after fielding a full-strength side against Kiev.
Torres, Essien, Luiz all had a midweek rest while Yaya will be playing his fifth full game in fifteen days on Sunday. It doesn’t bode well against a rejuvenated Chelsea looking to reclaim third place.
Continue Reading →City recorded their most impressive victory of the season so far thanks to a goal from Carlos Tevez and a defensive performance to rank alongside the best in the clubs recent history. With the same defenders as Mark Hughes had available, it doesn’t take a Match of the Day analyst to see where Mancini has had the greatest effect.
With injuries accounting for four players likely to have played full-back, this was a real testament to Italian managerial organisation and motivation. Dedryck Boyata was the young central defender asked to play right-back and did so with great composure and beautifully timed tackling.
Continue Reading →Hart – With brilliant protection in front of him, Joe picked up another clean sheet with a minimum of fuss. A few straightforward saves combined with better judgement in coming off his line than we sas in the Blackburn game. 7
Boyata (Boateng, 88) – Outstanding, bearing in mind he played a full match on Wednesday night, and isn’t a right-back. Mancini showed real faith in the teenager by not giving him obvious cover with a Milner type player in front. Chelsea kept working Dedryck and he kept coming up with the answers. 9
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