Given – Shay looked as stunned as the rest of us with the Fulham goal. Thereafter it was most about organising those in front of him at set pieces. 6
Zabaleta – His big chance and he looked… rusty. Never really appeared on the same wavelength as those around him, which was a pity as he was outstanding in his last game against Celtic. 6
Toure – The captain bagged his first goal, and kept the defence focussed in a determined effort to silence the critics. 7
Lescott – A couple of misplaced passes, a couple of mistimed interceptions, but still looks decent enough. Good to see him have the confidence to venture forward in search of a goal. 7
Bridge – In the beginning there were forward runs, then there were sideways runs. Finally, as tiredness set in, the runs ceased. But where were the forward passes? 6
Wright-Phillips – Not able to influence the game on the right flank, he actually looked better when moving in-field after de Jong went off. 6
De Jong – Fulham didn’t offer much threat, but he won everything regardless. Some decent passing as well. The one player (apart from Bellamy who’s in a league of his own when it comes to commitment) who looked truly up for it. 8
Ireland – Another disappointing showing where none of the incisive passes seemed to come off. I know he hasn’t played much with Tevez, but neither have I and yet I know the Argentine doesn’t have the pace to chase balls played over the top. 5
Barry – Trundling, rather than sprinting around the middle, he was still able to play most of our better passes from the middle of the park. Popped up with a timely goal. 7
Tevez – Still doesn’t look fully fit. At least I hope he isn’t, otherwise his price tag is a little ‘toppy’ afterall. With a lack of pace and height, the Argentine isn’t cut out to play as a lone striker (Bellamy would be better) and it’s to be hoped that Hughes eventually realises this. 6
Bellamy – Earnt the biggest cheer as the teams were read out for his hat-trick (2 goals and 1 fan) on Sunday. Hilarious, as he gives his all and remonstrates with everything. At one point I swear the referee actually ran away to the middle after giving a debatable decision against the Welshman. 8
Subs:
Petrov – Within a few minutes of coming on, he’d put over more crosses than Wright-Phillips managed in the whole match. Thereafter he became increasingly erratic, but at least offered a threat. Adebayor and Santa Cruz will benefit from his delivery. 7
Weiss – A little to eager to impress initially and kept falling over. Steadily improved and gave the Fulham defenders something to think about. 6
Man of the match: de Jong, though it is tempting to give it to Sylvinho for a world record warm-up, covering first half, the whole of the second half, and going in to extra time. Guess it’s all part of that winning mentality.
Set piece City strike again! Despite a laboured performance, two headed goals from corners by Gareth Barry and Kolo Toure respectively, were enough to see off a well organised second-string Fulham side.
Following the high octane games against Arsenal and United, this was a gentler affair as was widely predicted. They’ll be no need for the FA to look again at any incidents in this match, although Zoltan Gera’s stunning strike to give Fulham the lead was perhaps worthy of a bigger fixture.
City will be grateful to come through without controversy. Toure’s first goal for the club came within an official 30 minutes of extra time, unlike a certain strike last Sunday.
Mark Hughes named the same side as against United, with the exception of Zabaleta who came in for Richards (sore shoulder allegedly). Whilst making wholesale changes to the first choice eleven is considered a gamble, playing the same team as at the weekend could also be considered a risk. Tired legs and a lack of focus could come into play, and that looked the case here.
Carlos Tevez was once again asked to fill what looked like a giant Adebayor shaped hole in our attack.
There was a distinct lack of zip in the first half, and tiredness seemed to set in before extra time. The introductions of Petrov and Weiss both perked the team up, and the case for these players having started along with Sylvinho remains valid. It’s worth noting that the only time Hughes did make changes was when Ireland and de Jong were injured.
City started the game with a decent amout of possession but the ball was spending to much time being knocked between the defenders. Fulham may have played a second choice team, but they had all the Hodgson hallmarks of discipline and organisation. City lacked a focal point up front and struggled to create any meaningful openings. A move down the right flank featuring some one touch passing with Tevez at the heart showed the way, but it wasn’t maintained.
After 37 minutes, Fulham broke forward and the ball came to Gera, fully thirty yards out. He struck it first time and the ball arrowed in past a despairing Given. It would be harsh to blame the defence for such a goal as there wasn’t time to close the Hungarian down.
City’s frustration continued to half-time and beyond. Tevez worked himself a couple of openings on the edge of the area but hadn’t brought his shooting boots, sending each shot trickling through to the keeper.
We kept plugging away amid murmurs of frustration, and eventually a Bellamy corner was missed by Stockdale in the Fulham goal. Barry had the relatively simple task of nodding the ball home.
City went on to enjoy their best spell, finally showing some of the team-play and movement required to keep the opposition pinned back. It was the kind of football we need to produce if we’re to properly dominate teams and force results. United gave us an example of it on Sunday, and Hughes and his coaching staff need to get City displaying it more often. We do have the players now.
This time we weren’t able to sustain it for long enough. Ireland went off looking dazed, and he’d had one of those nights where he seemed to lack a degree of awareness throughout. If he’s to play in the ‘number 10’ role behind Tevez, there needs to be a better understanding between the two of them. Lofting balls over the top for the Argentine isn’t going to work as he doesn’t have the pace to get away from defenders.
Petrov arrived to a cheer and Bellamy moved in to the centre to give Tevez some much needed support. The Bulgarian provided a series of crosses which either Adebayor or Santa Cruz might have gobbled up. When it became apparent that Bellamy and Tevez weren’t going to reach them, the game slipped back to it’s earlier level.
City looked tired and there were fears among the crowd as to whether we’d have the energy to survive extra time. The introduction of Weiss provided a helpful spark for the additional period. Wright-Phillips, who had been looking exhausted, appeared to get a second wind when moving in-field to replace de Jong. His ability on the ball kept him out of trouble on several occasions and we held our own.
A goal for either side was still looking elusive when another corner enabled Toure to pop up at the far post and nod in via the keeper.
City played out the remaining few minutes intelligently and we were all thankful for a lack of drama. One minute was indicated by the fourth official and one minute was played. It’s a lot simpler when it’s like that.
Mark Hughes:
“In the early part of last year we did not look a threat from set-plays. In games so far we look like a team that can now.
“We have told the players where we want the ball delivered and how they need to be a bit more dynamic in the box and make sure they get first contact.
“Fulham are very well organised and got plenty of people behind the ball. It was difficult to break them down. We had to be patient.
“We stuck at it and are in the hat for the next round which was the order of the day. We are pleased about that.”
Kolo Toure:
“My first job is to defend but if I manage to score and help my strikers, I will be very happy.
“Fulham played well, and scored an amazing goal, but we showed that this team has the guts to come back after going down.”
External reports:
BBC
The Guardian
The Independent
Manchester Evening News
Official site
Sky Sports
The Sun
The Telegraph
The Times
Blog reports:
Norfstander
Video:
Match highlights on Daily Motion
Mark Hughes post match interview
The last two visits of Fulham have been rather painful and tonight provides a perfect opportunity to redress that a little. Last season we looked exhausted from our Uefa Cup campaign and suffered a tired 1-3 defeat. The previous season was even worse.
Our last home match of the season had Thaksin in attendance hoping for a bit of adulation in an end of season party. City duly swept to a two goal lead, and were playing ole football. Fulham were staring relegation in the face, when somehow they managed to peg us back with their neat and tidy football. With Geovanni getting a rare run-out, it was suddenly end to end stuff, culminating in a Fulham winner.
Cue an exodus of City fans and a lacklustre lap of honour. Anyone remember the ill-judged raffle of a car in the centre circle? My abiding memory was Thaksin standing on the edge of the pitch afterwards, seemingly texting. Sven came out for the lap of honour, cast a sheepish glance in Thaksin’s direction, and set off timidly in a different direction. I’ve often wondered what our Bond villain chairman was tapping into his phone. “Bring me the head of Sven Goran Eriksson” sprung to mind.
Fulham never looked back after that day, while Sven was never seen at Eastlands again.
In some ways Roy Hodgson is an English version of Sven, having made his name across the continent by winning titles in a variety of countries, and having a crack at international management. Both like to set their teams up with an emphasis on maintaining shape and disciplined defending first, followed by neat, progressive football when the opportunity presents itself.
The highpoint of this in Sven’s City could be seen in our victory in the Munich derby, when we nullified United and picked them off with a couple of goals. While Hughes’ City may be better equipped to take us where we want to go, there are times when tactically the ex-England manager is missed. It’s hard to imagine a Sven team on a good day conceding the goals we did at Old Trafford on Sunday.
Anyway, back to tonight’s Carling Cup third round tie. Mark Hughes surprised everyone by fielding a full strength side against Crystal Palace in the last round. Whilst a strong line-up is expected tonight, there is more likelihood of changes from the team that played on Sunday.
Martin Petrov could come in on the left flank. Bellamy may be rested given his fragile knees, or Tevez may be given more time to recover his fitness. Quite possibly they will play a portion of the game each. Pablo Zabaleta would be a popular starter at right-back in place of Richards.
Hughes may also want to give some match time to Sylvinho, Weiss and Taylor. It would be good to see Sylvinho make his debut, and a further glimpse of Weiss’ skills should help lift the crowd.
The club have pegged prices for the game, which implies tickets may not have been going like hot cakes. It will be a shame if there isn’t a decent crowd as Hughes has stated the club are taking this competition seriously in our bid to win a trophy.
Mark Bowen and Joleon Lescott have both spoken about the need to get our defending back on track and I couldn’t agree more. While we did start the season with a series of clean sheets, it’s undeniable that fortune smiled on us in each of those games. Upcoming league games against West Ham and Villa will provide sterner tests, but this is an excellent opportunity to rebuild our confidence at the back.
Kolo Toure:
“When you come back three times like we did in the derby and score in the 90th minute you should not lose no matter how much time is added on. We showed a lack of experience and concentration and must not let it happen again.
“Lessons have to be learned because good players and good times don’t make the same mistake twice.
“The Carling Cup is very important to us and we are now 100 per cent focused on the tie … Winning a trophy of any description is a fantastic feeling and that is what we want to do.”
Roy Hodgson has said he’ll be fielding a similar side to the one that took on CSKA Sofia in the Europa League last week. Of the starting 11 in that match, only Pantsil started against against Wolves on Sunday. Hodgson knows where his priorities lie, and they aren’t the Carling Cup. We should win.
Possible line-up: Given, Sylvinho, Lescott, Toure, Zabaleta, de Jong, Barry, Ireland, Petrov, Bellamy, Wright-Phillips.
Prediction: 3-0 to City
Given – There is surely no justice in the world when Ben Foster can finish on the winning side and Shay on the losing one. For a long period in the second half, the Irishman appeared to be holding out United, and Berbatov in particular, on his own. 9
Richards – A bad start when he was out of position for the first goal, and it didn’t get much better. The tighter marking of Zabaleta would have given Giggs and co a harder time. Had a chance to make up for things, but didn’t react quickly enough to Petrov’s cross. 5
Toure – The captain didn’t cover himself in glory for Rooney’s goal either, and failed to climb high enough to keep the ball from Fletcher’s head for the third. In between times he managed to get forward and instigate our move for Tevez’s big chance. 6
Lescott – Like the captain he was overworked in the centre of defence. Didn’t do badly, but didn’t command the area either. A little more authority would have been welcome. 6
Bridge – Having to focus on the defensive side of his game isn’t his preference, but that’s the way things are sometimes, especially when you concede possession as regularly as Wayne did. At least he saw off the threat of Park and Valencia fared little better. 6
de Jong – An excellent 1st half when he helped us get a foothold in the game. Less effective in the second and has to take some responsibility for us sitting to deep. 7
Barry – A coolly taken goal was the highlight. The low point was being outjumped by Fletcher for United’s second. For the second game in succession his influence faded in the second half, at a time when we needed his controlled passing to relieve the pressure. 7
Ireland – The lay-off for Tevez on the stroke of half-time was a good touch, but that’s not enough and he’ll know it. Moving him out to the left flank in the second half didn’t do him any favours. We needed more from him in the middle to take the game to United. 6
Wright-Phillips – Spent to much time at right-back. Shaun looked dangerous on the few times he managed to get forward. 7
Tevez – His trademark harrying won us our first goal. He’ll be equally remembered for hitting the post with his golden chance. Lack of fitness caught up with him in the second half and he shouldn’t have played for the full match. 6
Bellamy – His game’s not just about work-rate. Two brilliant goals looked to have salvaged us a point. It’s cruel on the Welshman that they proved to be in vain. 9
Subs:
Petrov – Managed two quality moments in the short time he was on the pitch. The first was a low, driven ball that flashed
across the goal and was nearly turned in by Richards. The second was the quick thinking lay-off to release Bellamy for City’s third. 7
Blue Days
21 September 2009