City qualified for the Champions League with a single goal victory over Spurs, scored with sweet irony by Peter Crouch. The result was significantly better than the performance, though the resilience instilled by Roberto Mancini ensured there was no repeat of Saturday’s defeat.
Instead there is the promise of a new era with the club being able to attract better players at more reasonable prices just as Financial Fair Play kicks in. The importance of this result for Garry Cook’s “project” cannot be overstated.
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Hart – Made up for allowing Distin’s header to sneak in on Saturday with a world class save to claw out a Pienaar header at the start of the second half. Has now equalled Nicky Weaver’s club record for the number of clean sheets in a season. 7
Richards – Great to see him back and Micah was a strong attacking threat in the opening minutes. Thereafter Rose got in too many crosses, but Micah helped Kompany in nullifying the Crouch aerial threat. Saved his best till last with an injury time tackle on Defoe. 8
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Forget Everton and the Cup Final, a win tonight puts City in the Champions League. That should be the focus for everyone at Eastlands, in front of what looks like being a sell-out crowd.
There would be no better send-off for Wembley than having a top four place secured. For that reason Mancini is likely to go with his strongest line-up.
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Once again City managed to find a way of losing to Everton, this time having led at half-time courtesy of a Yaya Toure strike. It should have been more but unlike against West Ham we paid for our profligacy as Everton upped the tempo for a spell in the second half.
As with our last trip to Merseyside, Mancini made changes from his strongest side. Ultimately the result was the same, but this defeat could be put down to profligate finishing rather than an ill-judged selection.
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