Blue Days

Given – Held on well to one shot. Shay probably expended most energy berating his teammates for sloppy defending at corners. 7

Zabaleta – A chance to play 90 minutes in his rightful position and he was excellent. Tigerish in the tackle and put over a superb cross for the first goal. 8

Dunne – Started on left side of central defence and completely lost his man for the first goal. Subsequently returned to right hand side and had no further problems. …

Given – Pulled off a peach of a save prior to the second goal, when he was uncharacteristically caught in no-mans land. 6

Richards – Another game under his belt, and he now needs to forge a better understanding with Toure. 6

Toure – Arguably the pick of the defenders but that wasn’t saying a lot! 6

Dunne – Trademark challenges, but the Hughes method of defenders being left one on one with attackers still doesn’t suit him. 5

Bridge – Suffered a nightmare …

Given – Required to make a couple of decent stops and saw the woodwork rattled before being beaten late on. 6

Richards – Didn’t look unduly weakened by swine flu and had a solid game. 7

Toure – The debutant fitted in well alongside Onuoha, but doesn’t give the height we’ll need. 7

Onuoha – Still having to play as left sided centre half, and still doing it admirably. 7

Garrido – Just doesn’t convince defensively and it needs to be addressed. 5

Wright-Phillips – …

Given – A spectator for much of the match. Produced one decent save that resulted in the corner for the goal. 6

Vidal – Over eager to chase a ball into the box that lead to an unfortunate injury. 5

Dunne – Skipper looked comfortable prior to leaving the field for what has proved the briefest of tours. 6

Onuoha – Good to see him back and looking solid as ever. 6

Bridge – Got forward well and good …

Taylor – Kicking was more erratic than Saturday, but demonstrated his abilities with a low fingertip save in the second half. 7

Zabaleta – Competitive at right back though he was done for pace a couple of times. 7

Mee – An improvement on Saturday’s showing and no silly penalty conceded. 7

McGivern – Strong and assured. It was good to see him in the first team. 8

Bridge – Bombed forward when he could and linked up with Petrov in …

Taylor – To get beat from so far out for the second goal initially looked embarrassing, but in truth there wasn’t anything he could do about it.  Otherwise capable without looking exceptional.  6

Zabaleta – Half time switch to midfield reminded us of his flexibility.  Competitive and capable in midfield without ever dominating.  5

Ben Haim – Must have been as surprised as the rest of us to see him starting a game.  5

Mee – Wholehearted, but let down by giving away …