MAN CITY 2 – 2 Liverpool – PLAYER RATINGS
4 Feb
Hart - Beaten by two excellent strikes from distance but although he’ll feel disappointed to concede like that, it’s hard to argue he could have done much to prevent them. A couple of jittery moments otherwise, but largely untested. Poor distribution but secure handling - 6
Zabaleta – Bombed forward throughout the first half but the space which he left at the back was exploited intelligently by Sturridge. Defended very well in one against one situations - 7
Nastasic - One of the few occasions in which he’s looked uncertain. Was repeatedly dragged out of position by the pace and movement of Suarez and Sturridge, having to cover the space to his right. Replaced early in the second half as Mancini opted to change the shape - 5
Lescott – Given a tough time for periods and needed to be more assertive when Liverpool hoofed the ball forward. He had the strength and height advantage but allowed Suarez to nip in ahead of him too often. Made a few key clearances and blocks towards the end - 6
Clichy – Could have got tighter to Downing instead of allowing the winger to cut inside onto his favoured left foot. Adapted well in the second when he moved to form one of the back three - 6
Garcia – After a couple of impressive performances, this was back to the alarmingly poor Garcia. Painstakingly slow, both in terms of running and with the ball, and he was partially at fault for Liverpool’s opener when he dillied and failed to clear the ball - 5
Barry – A visible presence in the middle, covering for Garcia and providing some semblance of protection in front of our defence. As per usual, linked up neatly with Clichy and Silva down the left but faded slightly as the match wore on - 7
Milner - His movement, spatial awareness and energy allowed us to overload Liverpool in attacking areas and that created the goal for Dzeko. Drifting out to the left, he was unmarked and delivered a perfect cross for the Bosnian. After that, worked tirelessly but without that killer touch - 7
Silva – Delightful, first-time lay-off to Milner led to the opening goal but wasn’t as impactful as he usually is. Dropped deeper and deeper to pick up the ball, but even when he was moved centrally following the switch to 3-5-2, he couldn’t influence proceedings - 6
Aguero - Scored an absolute wonder-goal to rescue a point and produced a sterling performance which reminded us just how much better than our other strikers he is. Tended to pick the ball up in midfield and run at Liverpool’s backline, his low centre of gravity and pace enabling him to burst past defenders time and time again - 8
Džeko - Lovely movement for his finish, feinting in towards goal, then dropping off and then finally making his move towards the front post. Involved in the controversy for Liverpool’s equaliser when he was, undoubtedly, fouled but then instead of remaining on the ground uninjured, he should have got back to his feet and carried on. Looked disinterested in the second half - 6
Subs
Kolarov – His introduction enabled us to change formations which made a difference, even if Kolarov had no impact whatsoever. His first touch was to hit a freekick at the wall and he didn’t improve after that - 5
Maicon – Even though he was clearly not 100% fit, it is evident that he has that touch of quality in attacks. Knows when to cross and when to play it simple. He’ll be a very useful option if he manages to stay fit - 6
Nasri – Introduced with five minutes to go and barely had a touch of the ball - No time to mark
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Dzeko deserves nothing more than a 2. Gutless of him staying down, and I agree that it needs to be stamped out of the game. He is a big lad and he acts like an entitled trophy wife. He should be sat in the stands next to the Wags, and I for one cant wait to see the back of him. The Goal was all Milner. He has proven to score a number of goals this season, but I dont see anything overly creative or clinical about him and patience has run out. If he starts, I wont be watching from now on.
I made a point of watching Dzeko the entire game instead of the ball carrier when he was on screen and he doesn’t present himself to receive the ball and generally makes Berbatov look like a dynamo. Would love to see Guidetti given a shot when ready for the rest of the season and make our money where we can of our ailing saddlebags.
Get rid of him, and his “compatriot” Kolarov. They simply aren’t good enough and he has had his shot. We are carrying a lot of weight at the moment.
Playing with dzeko is like playing with ten men. Then he scores from time to time, but then he disappears.. Ok carlos may not score just as much, but he CREATES CHANCES TO SCORE to himself and to his team!
Maicon is a great player. Its a shame he’s been injured so much, as its obvious his quality compared to some of our other players.
Dzeko is the only player we have that can contrast tall strong defenders in the air so playing without him is limiting our attacking options especially when it was obvious we were planning to attack on the flanks (Milner,and Clicy on the flanks.) We need a player like RVP which can head a ball as well as kick one with pysical presence. Maybe Guidetti might be the man and our next game might be just right to give the guy 20 min to start testing him out. Most surly we need somebody fast in midfield to close the spaces cos everyone knows in the EPL everyone can hit a goal from outside the area
Mike
I don’t think we played all that bad, just Liverpool got the breaks & we didn’t. It has happened this season were we played a LOT worse and won games. Utd are not playing all that great and are certainly NOT 9 points better then us but they have been getting the breaks and squeaking out results. Best bet this season is 2nd and hopefully the Cup for a good day out.