FC Timişoara 0 – 1 MAN CITY: Player Ratings and MotM POLL

Solid and professional. Three words that succinctly, yet accurately, reflect the match last night. But why use three words when 300 will suffice! Anyway, those three words don’t quite sum up the entertaining first impression we received of ‘Super’ Mario Balotelli.

Looking at the game, it was, truth be told, a fairly drab affair. Our Romanian hosts started at a vigorous tempo, much in the same way as Spurs, but unlike their London counterparts, FC Timişoara were not able to keep up the pressure for long. City soon got a foothold in the game, and it was clear that patience would be required as the home side put ten men behind the ball in an effort to frustrate us.

Indeed, just like against Tottenham, the Blues were lacking a spark; that creative force which could supply a chance in a moment. Enter Mario Barwuah Balotelli. The Italian was only on the pitch for about 30 minutes, but he was certainly in the thick of the action. An off target shot at least showed his intent, and that intent reaped rewards in the 72nd minute when he converted a Manu Adebayor cross from close range. Although not a difficult strike, it was reminiscent of Shaun Goater, the man for whom the phrase ‘in the right place at the right time’ was created.

Not content to finish there, Mario got into a heated ‘discussion’ with the opposition captain after he had been manhandled to the ground, received a booking for his troubles, and fired another shot narrowly off target to cap an eventful debut!

Player Ratings:

Hart – Fortunately for the Blues, Joe was not called into service with any regularity, but he can expect to be busier against Liverpool – 6

Zabaleta – Recalled in place of Micah Richards, Pablo defended solidly and managed to put in a few teasing crosses – 6.5

K. Touré – Not tested greatly, but handled everything with relative ease, and looks to be forming a good partnership with Kompany – 6

Kompany – Much the same as Touré, Vincent has had tougher days at the office, but he remained concentrated throughout and didn’t allow FC Timişoara a sniff of goal – 6

Lescott – Admittedly, I’m a big fan of Joleon, but I thought he did a very good job down the left, especially considering he’s not a natural there. He will never bomb forward like Ashley Cole but he was very solid at the back – 7

Y. Touré – Looks a really promising acquisition. Powerful and good with the ball at feet, Yaya had one superb run forward which nearly resulted in a goal – 7

De Jong – For me, the man of the match. Does the dirty work, winning the ball back on every occasion. Won’t always be praised for his work, but I thought he was very impressive – 8

Barry – Couldn’t really get in the game to a great extent. We’re not entirely sure of his position in the side, and may be at risk if Milner plays – 5

Silva – Clearly lacking match fitness, but wants to be involved in the play all the time, which is a good sign. His quality is not in doubt - 6

Tévez – The captain is dropping too deep for my liking. You don’t score that many goals from the halfway line do you?! Needs to be further up the pitch to support the lone striker, but worked hard nonetheless – 6

Adebayor – Manu was underwhelming as far as I was concerned. His first touch was noticeably poor although his heading was indubitably better than last season – 5

Subs:

Balotelli – I remain unconvinced, but he looked lively and certainly added that extra ‘va va voom’ to the side. Scored the winner, got into handbags and got booked – all within 30 minutes. As Fred Eyre said, ‘if he would have started, he’d have scored a hat-trick and got sent off!’ – 7

A. Johnson – Bright and breezy without a cutting edge. He adds energy when he comes on, and I would like to see him maybe start a game - 6.5

Jo – Mancini warned us against complacency, but any manager who brings on Jo is clearly not taking the game seriously! - No time to mark