No doubting the headline maker in this Carling Cup victory. Owen Hargreaves capped his City debut with a sweetly struck opening goal from outside the penalty area.
A second from Mario Balotelli ensured Roberto Mancini’s side enjoyed a comfortable evening. Birmingham clearly had other priorities this season than defending the trophy they won against Arsenal.
Continue Reading →Pantilimon – The Romanian giant is surprisingly known for shot stopping rather than catching crosses and this is an area the coaching staff need to work on. He’ll also need more games against English opposition before we can be confident of him as a deputy for Joe Hart. 6
Onuoha – Welcome back Nedum. Strong in defence but lacked the deftness of touch required in the attacking third. 6
Continue Reading →The Carling Cup may lack the glamour of the Champions League but there is plenty to interest City fans this evening. Grabbing all the headlines is the likely debut of Owen Hargreaves, three years to the day after he last played a full 90 minutes.
Kolo Toure is also set to return and hopefully we can get a good look at Stefan Savic, who will be hoping for his first competitive start. Roberto Mancini has also promised to have some youngsters on the bench.
Continue Reading →Hart – A bizarre crossfield free-kick in the first half suggested Joe’s mind wasn’t fully on the job. In contrast to others he had a better second period with a couple of excellent saves. No chance with either goal. 7
Richards – Not able to get tight enough on Zamora for Fulham’s opener, but pulled off a superb last ditch tackle on Dembele. 7
Continue Reading →