MAN CITY 3 – 0 Sunderland – PLAYER RATINGS
7 Oct
View From A Blue is delighted to offer an exclusive promotion for readers! Banc De Binary, the global leader in binary options trading, is offering a 100% sign-up bonus for us Blues. No fees, no commissions, and up to 500% profit in 1 trade. Start trading today or try a free $50,000 demo account. Claim your 100% sign-up bonus here!
Hart - Made one superb diving stop to thwart Fletcher although the striker had already been flagged offside. Produced another couple of simple saves as Sunderland failed to really threaten and will be delighted to keep his first clean sheet of the season - 6
Zabaleta - As he has been throughout this campaign, the Argentinean was a very prominent force down the right, providing width and energy out wide. Defended well when called upon - 8
Richards - A touch surprising to see him return but it’s a measure of how far down the pecking order Kolo Touré is that Mancini would rather risk a right-back who isn’t fully fit. That said, Micah vindicated the manager’s faith with a solid, resolute and powerful display. Almost scored two from attacking corners and was alert to any rare visiting forays forward - 8
Lescott - Benefited from injuries to both Kompany and Nastasic, but helped to shore things up at the back. Coped well with the physical presence of Fletcher but wasn’t required on too many occasions - 7
Kolarov - One of his best performances in a City shirt, opening the scoring with a trademark free-kick and then providing a stream of dangerous, pacy crosses. Had to produce one last-ditch sliding tackle which came about because of his initial poor positioning but when he’s faced with such a limited wide threat as Adam Johnson, he has all the freedom to bomb forward - 8
Barry - After being rested for the midweek Champions League tie with Borussia Dortmund, Barry returned yesterday and was key, as always, in the centre in terms of controlling possession, setting the tempo and keeping everything ticking over. His solidity and positional awareness has been missed, but he also showed a willingness to attack and almost got on the end of one David Silva flick - 8
Milner- Hasn’t had as much of a look-in as he would have liked so far this season but he was given an opportunity in his favoured central midfield role and was outstanding. We all know about his workrate, but there was quality, too. Linked up superbly with the likes of Silva and Tévez, looked to be an extra body in attack and also made a couple of superb sliding challenges. My man of the match - 8.5
Y. Touré - Operated in his more advanced role and was very neat in possession, offering a physical presence from Hart’s goalkicks and working well with those around him. Saw one ferocious drive tipped over - 7
Silva - More pleasing signs that he is returning to his majestic best. Looked so comfortable and fluid when running with the ball, his passing was, at times, exquisite and he seems to have recovered that spark which had been missing for a while - 8
Balotelli - Unlucky in the sense that he could have been through on goal a couple of times only to be dragged back by O’Shea and Gardner, but his retention of possession was poor. Struggled to hold on to the ball and although he worked hard to track back, his touch needed to be better - 6
Tévez - Lacks that yard of pace to burst away from defenders but stretched the Sunderland backline with his movement and seemed invigorated by the introduction of Aguero in the second half. Saw two shots flash wide and probably deserved a goal - 7.5
Subs
Aguero – Livened matters up when he was brought on, his movement, pace and touch providing that extra spark. Took his goal superbly and was a constant threat - 7.5
Clichy – Introduced for the final five minutes - No time to mark
Rodwell - Only on the field for a couple of minutes - No time to mark
Spot on ratings. Though I have been rightfully critical of Kolarov majority of times but I got to say he was outstanding. Please more of the same Kolarov. Milner was also my man of match, he truly worked his socks off.
Don’t feel I can agree on Ballotelli getting a 6. He was playing for fouls at every opportunity, rather than trying to get into space – the way we all know he can.
We need to see more commitment from Mario as – the BVB pen aside, he’s done very little to impress so far this season.
Can’t really argue with the marks, except perhaps to give Micah M.O.M. Mancini is keen to use the ‘squad’ system but some players, like the 20 minutes a game man, Yaya, always play. I think the performances of Milner, in his true position, Richards and Barry say to Bobby Manc leave me out if you dare. They deserve to play much more.
Richards should play in central defence. Partner him with Kompany and we have one of the best defending duo in the world. Zaba is great at the back right, we have maicon as a sub and you have richards as a CD. his positioning was superb, his tackling and air-duels were great.
Even Roberto Carlos and Cafu never managed to be at both ends of the pitch at the same time VFOM.
For full backs to offer the degree of attacking threat that Zaba and Aleks Kolarov are providing the team as a whole has to be able and prepared to compensate defensively.
I have a pal whose mantra is ‘full backs job is to defend’ and he has a point, which is probably why for the toughest challenges I’d always go for Zaba and Clichy.
Kolarov, Richards and Maicon all offer attacking threat and are a great asset IMO but I doubt we’ll ever see Kolarov and Maicon start a game together.