Blue Days

Frustration ultimately gave way to satisfaction as Carlos Tevez once again inspired City to victory with a 12 minute hat-trick in the second-half. Wigan will point to the sending off of Caldwell on 71 minutes as the turning point, but City fans won’t care as we maintained our chase for a Champions League place.

Given – Kept a welcome clean sheet thanks to a couple of excellent saves. The opportunity to demonstrate his skills ought to be a confidence booster. 7

Zabaleta – Was given some testing moments by the strong and pacy Rodallega. A tenth booking of the season sees him miss the next two fixtures. 6

Despite City’s poor record against Wigan, there are reasons to be optimistic about tonight’s fixture. Following wins for both Spurs and Liverpool, victory is essential and Mancini’s new attacking style should be improved by the return of Emmanuel Adebayor.

Given – A spectacular diving save in the first half, and a crucial deflected one at the end were the highlights. He’ll be disappointed not to have kept a clean-sheet on his first outing as captain. 7

Zabaleta – His tackling can be his strength, but a degree of recklessness can also be Pablo’s downfall and so it proved with the needless challenge that saw him sent off. Was also caught out of position for Wigan’s goal, when Richards was left two against one. 4

Martin Petrov struck as City came from behind to gain a point with a mixed performance that was divided by Pablo Zabaleta’s sending off. Prior to the Argentine’s dismissal, there was a disjointed look to Mark Hughes’ side with stray passes and a lack of cohesion in our attacks. Reduced to ten men, City found their focus, looked compact and could even have snatched a win.

City look to consolidate their place in the top four this weekend with a trip to Wigan. With so many players having picked up knocks in the past couple of weeks, the options for Mark Hughes are unclear. The same squad who went to Villa could all be available, or injuries could take take their toll on Zabaleta, Toure, Lescott, Bridge, de Jong, Bellamy and Petrov.

Added to that, Carlos Tevez has only just returned from Argentina, though he was hardly overworked with Diego Maradona’s team selections giving him just the final four minutes of a possible two matches.