Player ratings: Manchester City v Newcastle United

Hart – Made one spectacular fingertip save from Coloccini and showed good judgement in dealing with crosses. No chance with the goal. 7

Boateng – Left completely exposed in the first half thanks to the wandering David Silva. Jerome inevitably struggled to cope as Newcastle doubled up on him. Never really got into the pace of the game and we’ll be looking for more once he’s improved his match fitness. Did well in the final quarter defending crosses against Carroll. 6

Lescott – Very fortunate not to concede a penalty. Joleon again struggled with his crossing when going forward, as you’d expect from a centre back playing out of position. Otherwise he was steady and his physical presence was useful against the combination of Ameobi and Carroll. 6

K Toure – Another solid showing from Kolo aside from the goal, where he could have been sharper to reach Kompany’s clearance ahead of Gutierrez. Dealt well with his height disadvantage to Ameobi. 6

Kompany – Once again our best defender and tried to invigorate the side with a couple of charges upfield. 7

De Jong – Having been rested in midweek, Nigel released his pent up energy in the tackle on Ben Arfa. Strong stuff but he got the ball and kept his feet down. From then on he was his usual reliable self, ensuring Nolan had little influence on the game. 6

Barry (A Johnson 73) – Blew his golden chance to score when clean through and that summed up the way we played for much of the match. Looked a little sluggish but managed some telling passes. Wasn’t missed when replaced by Johnson in what proved a game changing substitution. 6

Y Toure (Adebayor 57) – There’s been a few undistinguished performances by Yaya already and here he hit a new low. Sluggish around the pitch and with his passing hit and miss, this was bitterly disappointing. Yaya looked frustrated in the first half and Mancini may need to rotate him more to allow time to work on his fitness. The sharpness required for the Premier League just isn’t there, even if the ability is. 5

Silva – As space opened up in the second half, so David looked increasingly likely to exploit it. Despite some good touches there’s still a frustrating absence of goals created or scored by the Spaniard. Needs to do more to justify the absence of a defensive side to his game. 6

Milner – Nothing he attempted came off and it was hard to believe James was one of the players rested during the week. Being so one paced, it’s difficult to tell whether being rotated has any effect. Being a willing worker, he’s on Mancini’s good side, but whether he warranted a starting place ahead of Johnson is debatable. 6

Tevez (Vieira 86) – Another powerfully struck penalty went in off the keeper to keep his scoring rate ticking over. There were a couple of times when teammates failed to pick him out while Carlos tried to do it all himself on other occasions. Might not have been 100% fit as he was often slow to get back on side. 7

Subs:

Adebayor – Provided a more conventional focus to our attacking moves when he came on and linked up play well. Nearly fashioned a couple of chances and ought to start when we play more defensive sides. 7

A Johnson – After the toil that had gone before, Adam’s winner stood out all the more. A terrific piece of skill to weave past the full-back and Barton before rifling a shot into the far corner. The cheer was immense as fears of a stalemate were released. 8

Vieira – Brought on to close to the game out, which we did, with Patrick making one perfectly executed tackle in particular. 6

Man of the match: The stadium announcer naming Adam Johnson as the official man of the match was as much a comment on the efforts of others as it was on Adam’s brilliant goal. It’s hard to argue otherwise. Adam Johnson.