MAN CITY 4 – 0 Porto – PLAYER RATINGS
23 Feb
Hart - Made one important stop in the first half and kept Porto out again near the end but relatively untested. Distribution as poor as it has been for a while - 6.5
Richards - Didn’t have as great an attacking impact as normal, only managing to foray forward occasionally. Troubled, as in the first leg, by Porto’s movement and pace down the left. Notably when Hulk drifted out wide, Micah struggled to stop him - 6
Kompany - Gave away a couple of niggly free-kicks in and around the box but for the most part was a commanding presence at the back. Quick to the tackle and powerful in the air - 7
Lescott - Continued his superb recent form with another impressive showing. Read the game well, intercepting attacks and his distribution was improved. Has really stepped up his game over the past month or so and now firmly established as Kompany’s centre-back partner - 7.5
Clichy - As with the game last Thursday, I felt Clichy put in a very solid display. Not overly creative in attack but that’s not his job. What he does well is defend, stop crosses coming in and Porto’s threat down our left was minimal - 7.5
De Jong - More signs that the De Jong of last season is returning. Put in a number of crunching challenges, not always timing them, but proving a strong, physical presence in the centre of midfield. Struggled at times to stop Porto’s impressive passing - 7
Barry - Not quite as effective as he has been recently, but competent enough. Found it hard to gain a foothold in the game in the first half, but once it became stretched, he improved. Replaced early - 6
Nasri - I can’t help but get frustrated by how Nasri slows down the pace of our attacks by taking too many touches, stopping, turning round and then making his decision. Neat enough in possession but must up the tempo - 6
Y. Touré - Operated in the first half from his more advanced position and was a real thorn in Porto’s side. Managed to link up well with Aguero and made space with his surges. Dropped deeper, alongside De Jong, in the second period and his influence was limited - 7
Silva - Back to somewhere near his magical best. His close control and trickery when surrounded by numerous Porto defenders was sublime. Worked tirelessly, passing was inventive and got on the scoresheet - 8
Aguero - After sitting out the majority of the first leg, he was full of running and constantly caused Porto’s defence problems. Dragged them out wide and then exploited the space with his electric pace. Movement was clever, finishing was generally good and he was my man of the match - 8.5
Subs
Milner - A hardworking substitute appearance in which he mainly operated from our right and provided good support to Richards. Put in a few strong challenges - 7
Džeko - Took his goal well but otherwise hardly touched the ball - 6
Pizarro - Clear to see that he reads the game so well. Intercepted a Porto move to create an assist and then finished well for his strike - 7
Quietly impressive performance from DJ and Gael had his best game for us to date. Yaya showed why we missed him so much, Kun was exceptional. I love the little fella but even though he knocked home his goal nicely, I didn’t think it one of Silva’s best performances.
Don’t get too concerned about Zazza, he’s finding his feet in a different role from the one he’s played at Arsenal for some time, he’s a class player and we’ll see just how clasy if Silva gets an injury.
Zazza?
Who’s he
Fat fingers, small keyboard!
Have to agree that Silva was quality last night, just the half time highlights which had 4 city chances and 3 of them silva was heavily involved tells you all you need to know about his performance, agree also that nasri does dwell at times,but also with alfie that he may come to the fore if silva is out-god forbid
Barry really out of form recently. Time to play Milner and NDJ at defensive midfielder. glad to have yaya back, and cant wait to see what pizarro capable of