Napoli 2 – 1 MAN CITY – PLAYER RATINGS
23 Nov
Hart - Kept us in the game single-handedly in the second half with a string of crucial stops. Could arguably have done better for both goals which means that, being the demanding character he is, he’ll be disappointed with his performance overall - 7
Zabaleta - Was selected ahead of Richards for the fourth time out of five Champions League games due to his greater defensive awareness and despite letting Dossena in once, he did a decent enough job at the back. However, we needed someone to bomb forward down the right but Zabaleta, sadly, isn’t great at that part of the game. Richards would have offered far more - 6.5
Kompany - For the most part, shackled Cavani well, although the striker was superb in his movement and caused a few problems. One unfortunate slip nearly allowed Hamsik to score - 6.5
Lescott - Looked desperately uncomfortable with the ball at his feet when Napoli’s attackers pressed him. Panicked on occasions and resorted to hoofing the ball upfield. Made a few important interceptions - 6
Kolarov - Having been promising recently, this was a return to the awful Kolarov of last season. Can’t defend to save his life and the ease with which Napoli exploited his lack of pace was alarming. Didn’t have an end product further up the field, either - 5
De Jong - Was influential in the first half when he won his tackles, kept possession and made us tick over. Struggled to gain a foothold in the game in the second half and was withdrawn early - 6
Milner - My man of the match and one of the few to come out of the game with his reputation enhanced. A superb, all-energy performance throughout, always making himself available to receive the ball. Tracked back well, put in some challenges and looked bright going forward. His form recently has been terrific - 8
Y. Touré - Another one who had an impressive first period but really struggled after the break. His passing was superb early on and he spread play well but as Napoli grew into the game, he needed to display his experience - 6.5
Silva - Busy, dropping deeper and deeper as the match went on in order to pick up possession. A few nice touches and shimmies, but generally lacked an end product in the final third. Shooting wayward - 6.5
Balotelli - At times in the first half, I thought he was trying too hard to impress. Attempted to dribble past his man instead of finding a better-placed teammate. Looked one of our brighter players though, and should have done more with his chances near the end - 7
Džeko - Contributed absolutely nothing as we tried to make inroads. Was a reminder of his struggles at times last season as he failed to win headers, hold up the ball or bring others into play. Surprised he wasn’t replaced earlier - 5
Subs
Nasri - Apart from attracting the camera’s attention for his rather colourful display of underwear, he did little. Slotted into central midfield but like many of his teammates, couldn’t find a way to break down Napoli’s organised defence - 6
Aguero - I was shocked that he was brought on with only ten minutes to go. Made a difference with his clever runs and tested the goalkeeper towards the end - 6.5
A. Johnson - A couple of overhit crosses but had little time to make an impression - No time to mark
Dzecko is typical City
I thought it was bad team selection. Dzeko was not bad but he was made to look that way with no supply nor support. I was impressed by the napoli manager in allowing only lescott time with the ball and giving us no easy pass in the midfield. What i felt was most telling was that they outnumbered us when attacking and quickly outnumbered us when we counter attacked. There were too many of ours in the middle of the park bypassed- yaya in particular.
Kolarov was terrible. Had it not been for Joe Hard, Napoli would have scored at least two more because of Kolarov’s lack of defensive ability. His crosses was terrible. It makes you wonder why Clichy was on the bench, at least he is consistent all along when it comes to his defensive side.
A touch harsh in the comment department on Hart. The first goal, it would have taken superb reflexes to stop that. Kolarov should have been on the post to stop the ball getting that far. The second, maybe he COULD have stopped it. Apart from that, some of his keeping was awesome.
Back 4 were poor. Vinny hasn’t looked sure-footed since his ban and we’ve been poor defensively since then too.
Aleks, as much as I want to like him, was a joke. Simple as
Yaya – did he play?
Silva – some sublime touches again but still needs work on his shooting
Dzeko – for all his progress this season. Last night saw the return of the Dzeko that played for us in February
Balo – It had to be him that scored, didn’t it?