Newcastle 0 – 2 MAN CITY – PLAYER RATINGS
31 Oct
Pantilimon - Much of the spotlight was on him to see how he would react to the possible availability of the goalkeeping berth and he responded impressively, saving crucially from Cissé in extra-time and producing an authoritative display, commanding his box with ease. I’m veering towards thinking he should start against Norwich at the weekend - 7.5
Richards - One surging run in the first half was full of pace and purpose but he seemed to lack concentration when defending crosses into our box. Switched off on occasions, failing to track runners or get tight enough to his man and he was bailed out by our central defenders - 6
Boyata - Arguably the forgotten man at the club but this was a largely towering and solid performance. Coped well with the aerial onslaught, anticipated danger quickly and was comfortable with the ball at his feet - 7
Lescott - Showed his experience and nous to deal with the physical threat of Newcastle’s strikers and his natural defensive instinct was evident in his clearance off the line to deny Ben Arfa. Awkward in possession but the feeling persists that he has been harshly sidelined by Pellegrini - 7
Kolarov - Struggled to have any real influence on proceedings. With City unable to control the midfield until the introduction of David Silva, it limited his threat out wide as we couldn’t work the ball to him in space - 6
Garcia - One of his more reassuring showings. His fitness deserves a special mention as he was the only one to feature having also started away to Chelsea and he looked fine throughout, even in extra-time. Didn’t offer himself enough in midfield, which is why much of the first half saw Boyata and Lescott passing to each other, but was solid in the tackle - 6
Rodwell - Understandably rusty, bearing in mind his stop-start campaign so far, but there was the odd burst forward which hinted at his potential. Similarly to Garcia, needed to make himself available more often to receive the ball from our defenders, but he’ll benefit from the game time and he’ll continue to offer a dynamic option - 6
Navas - Wins plenty of corners thanks to his drive to get to the byline and supply crosses, but he’s still adapting to the pace of the game and the fact he’s often double-marked and forced to take another, less direct, route - 6
Milner - On the fringes until he was moved into a central role. From there, he saw more of the ball and was able to inject some purpose to our play, linking up well with Silva and providing Dzeko with a perfect throughball for City’s second goal - 6
Jovetic - A couple of delicate early touches but then taken off with an injury - No time to mark
Džeko - A classic Dzeko display. For the vast majority of the match, he was abysmal. He looked disinterested, had no work ethic and seemed to do nothing but stand around and moan. And then he produced the two key moments, showing a turn of pace to assist Negredo and then rounding the goalkeeper with composure to secure the victory - 6
Subs
Negredo - Worked tirelessly without much reward but came to life following Silva’s introduction. Should have done better with one chance, but then opened the scoring and continued his hugely positive first impression - 6
Silva - The one player all evening to bring control and technical brilliance. He energised our team, added a sense of control to our play and was the influential presence in terms of breaking the home side down - 7
Zabaleta - Replaced Richards late on during normal time and slotted in seamlessly - 6
Garcia _ solid in the tackle ??? what bloody tackle ? he does not tackle ever, he points , he runs slowly next to a player then leaves him go, go hiding for every man city throw in, doesnt offer himself for anything, our central defenders are so often out of position coming out to make a tackle further than they should because of his incompetance. Stamina ???? he has the speed of a slug ! He won 3 headers, one hurt his head ! the guy is the worst footballer i have ever seen and our manager must be clueless as he rates him above everyone !!
+1
I don’t think lescott has been harshly treated nastasic is better then him so nastasic plays
“then he produced the two key moments”
1 nice asist and 1 nice goal in a game with final score 2:0, you got to be kidding me,
It is rated 6 in your book, it is key player of the game in mine…
Pants was fine, Boyata was fine and surely ALWAYS a better option than Garcia, Kokarov missing as usual, Richards missing as usual, Lescott is soooo uncomfortable with the ball it’s scary, Navas ok, Milner fine better last 15, Garcia words fail me shocking, dzeko touches were poor, Rodwell fine, Negredo fine
Ok performance that Silva won for us in his short spell on the field.
Lescott is like C3PO when on the ball. It’s amazing how he can look so awkward in possession when he is a professional footballer. Yet as a man marker he is very good and should be ahead of Garcia any day.