MAN CITY 1 – 0 Crystal Palace – MY THOUGHTS
29 Dec
A win is a win. As bland and clichéd as that saying is, it rings true and every three points, whether acquired through eye-catching and exquisite attacking football or by more dour means, is vitally important. Against Crystal Palace on Saturday, it was most definitely the latter as City laboured towards victory but it matters not a jot with regards to the league table. One goal was enough to defeat a spirited but limited opposition and continue the Blues’ spell of excellent results.
After such a pulsating affair against Liverpool just a couple of days earlier, it was understandable that we were not at our vibrant, dynamic best. Changes aplenty had been made and there was no rhythm to our attacks. With the visitors sitting back, we controlled possession but lacked meaningful impact and penetration, whilst for all our domination in the middle there was no sense of urgency until after half-time and frustrations grew.
Too much of our play was without tempo. Credit must be given to Crystal Palace, who were organised and resilient in defence, putting numbers behind the ball and stifling our endeavours, but our efforts were largely predictable. Without Pablo Zabaleta overlapping down the right, Jesus Navas needed to stick to his wing and offer variety and directness, but he tended to drift infield and that made our play narrow. And missing Alvaro Negredo’s tireless running and Samir Nasri’s drive, there was a lack of movement in forward areas. It was never likely to be one of City’s brightest performances but our fringe players should have caused more problems than we did.
And yet we still managed to find that crucial goal, thanks to Edin Dzeko. The Bosnian’s overall performance was, to be generous, abysmal. Whereas Negredo has the ability and work ethic to bring the best out of those around him, Dzeko’s inability to hold on to the ball and his refusal to contribute to our pressing style act as a hindrance. He was City’s worst performer by a considerable distance yet scored the winner. It was classic Dzeko.
At the other end of the pitch, Joe Hart was back to his best and was announced as man of the match at the ground. That in itself says much about how average we were going forward but it also represents a return to form for England’s number one who didn’t let a nasty eye injury affect his shot-stopping ability. Crystal Palace offered a limited attacking threat but when they did produce a rare foray forward, they invariably had an end product, forcing Hart into a string of impressive saves. Manuel Pellegrini has handled an awkward situation well.
And that was that. It was by no means a comfortable victory, nor in any way exciting, but one goal secured three points and kept City moving towards the summit of the Premier League table. That is all that matters.
A nerve-wrecking game indeed. Come January, am sure we will not miss Dzeko
I was there and I can remember feeling calm throughout (something I’m not normally used to being) that we would score and win the game. We just needed patience and some calm approach play and the goal duly arrived. Unless Jovetic returns to full fitness I wouldn’t want to see Dzeko depart. The general crowd derision about him and Garcia may be understandable but it also does nothing to help a player’s confidence.
Yes we struggled to create clear chances but we were in control throughout after a very tough Liverpool game 2 days earlier. It was never going to be a free-wheeling, scoring frenzy like we’ve become used to. Palace forced two saves from long-range shots, another from a mis-directed cross that turned into a shot and had a header wide from a corner. A comfortable win despite many second-string players starting.
I know that a lot of fans critise him, however the team looked smaller and less powerful without YaYa menacing the opposition. Rodwell could fill this role but seems to be out of favour at the moment.
An important 3 points secured – 41 before new year, we are staying up! Our problems are nice problems to have!
Cheers and Happy New Year, 2014 lets hope it is a good one.
Three points were vital and we got them but I was shocked by the performance of Dzeko and Garcia.
Although Dzeko scored the winner his inability to fit into our system of play is obvious and for me his days at City are numbered, Garcia tries his very best but the lack of pace at this level cannot be ignored !
Hope we can make a couple of Jan changes to improve our 25 man squad.
Looking forward to a great footballing new year CTID
Garcia has been okay for the past couple of games despite the fact that he is slow. Keep in mind Barry was slow but he made up for this shortcoming with his excellent positional awareness not to be caught off guard. However; what truly pisses me off with regard to Garcia is that Rodwell is being unjustly eclipsed by him for reasons I can not think of.