Hart – Beaten for the first goal by the poacher’s instinct of Shevchenko. No chance with the second and produced a terrific block in the closing minutes. 7
Richards – Drifted offside a couple of times in the first half, but continued to push on and posed a danger throughout. 6
Continue Reading →City embark on the latest round of the Europa League with a trip to the Ukraine and a potentially difficult tie against Dynamo Kiev. With a tired squad, it will be interesting to see the level to which Roberto Mancini rotates from the side that narrowly beat Wigan.
The manager has recently complained how injuries have reduced his options. This wasn’t entirely true, particularly for the likes of Boyata and Jo.
Continue Reading →If City continue to progress in the FA Cup and Europa League then they’re likely to have to play twice a week every week until the end of the season. The league games against Tottenham and Stoke would need to be moved to accommodate cup games with the only available slots being around Wednesday 20 April for Spurs and Wednesday 11 May for Stoke.
Having not played in a cup final since 1981, City could face the ridiculous situation of having to play two before the final league game at Bolton! A replay against Reading could leave City playing three games in one week.
Continue Reading →It was hoped that City would continue from where they left off against Notts County and so they did. Edin Dzeko bagged an early brace to set Roberto Mancini’s side on the road to a comfortable victory which was sealed with a deflected second half strike by Yaya Toure.
Mancini deployed Tevez, Dzeko, Balotelli and Silva for the first time and the results were impressive. Those who believe Mancini has been overly cautious in not deploying them before are guilty of overlooking Balotelli’s injury problems.
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