Crystal Palace 0 – 2 MAN CITY – PLAYER RATINGS
28 Apr
Hart - One comfortable stop, parrying wide to deny Puncheon, and looked commanding when the ball was hoofed into his area but barely tested - 6
Zabaleta - A customary early booking but that didn’t diminish his eagerness to tackle and he was a bundle of energy down the right. Forged an effective relationship with Milner, powering down the outside when the England man drifted infield - 7
Kompany - Still perhaps feeling the effects of his knee injury but sharper than he was in the past couple of games and was a tower of strength at the back - 7
Demichelis – He’s quickly becoming a cult hero! With scepticism from the media about his role still widespread, he produced yet another authoritative showing, powerful in the air and sharp to any loose ball. Were it not for Yaya’s heroics, he would have been a strong contender for the man of the match award - 8
Kolarov - His strength has always been his capacity to send over dangerous deliveries into the box but whilst he wasn’t a particularly lethal threat in attack yesterday, his defending, often a weak point, was superb. Covered intelligently, held his position well and was nifty on his feet to prevent any cross from entering the box - 8
Garcia – His performance mirrored that of the team: efficient without being spectacular. Won the odd challenge and screened the defence well from long balls - 7
Y. Touré - Back from injury with a bang. His assist for Dzeko was perfectly-weighted, his vision outstanding. And then he rampaged down the right, got slightly fortunate with the ball bobbling to him and then deliciously curled a shot home. Two moments of brilliance to seal the three points - 8.5
Milner - In terms of productivity in possession, he’s at his best when Silva is in the team and Milner offers darting runs, but without the Spaniard yesterday, he showed he can still be an influential figure. Set the tone with his dynamic pressing and his attitude characterised the team’s gritty display - 8
Nasri - Purposeful. In Silva’s absence, much of the onus was on him to provide creativity and whilst we weren’t particularly fluent in the final third, he showed plenty of drive and passion. Off the ball, too, he worked ferociously - 8
Aguero - Looking sharper with every appearance. Much more of a threat than in the previous couple of fixtures, turning well and drifting around to link up with Milner, Nasri and Yaya - 7
Džeko - His aptitude in the first half to close defenders down, work the channels and offer a focal point for our attacks was superb – and a pleasant change from what we have often seen. His touch wasn’t always there and he wasn’t quite on the same wavelength as Aguero but scored once again and contributed to the side - 7
Subs
Fernandinho - A surprise to see him dropped but settled in to proceedings without any problems when he was introduced - 6
Jovetic - Didn’t have too much time to make an impression - No time to mark
Negredo - A very brief appearance - No time to mark
Garcia was unsung hero in yesterday’s game. Credit to Pellers that has brought the best out of him. And my man Yaya was definitely the MOTM. 3 more wins and we are the champs, come on City, we can do it, I know we can do it …
Apparently we were well out of it without a prayer, the managers a disgrace and Aguero isn’t interested anymore. The usual nonsense I’ve come to expect with 1 or 2 average performances; and this is from our own fans!
There could be another a twist but I just hope some people will actually learn from what we’ve seen in recent weeks; no I know it wont happen either
No doubt Yaya MOTM,Demichelis close second…
Dzeko deserved more than 7, but again we know that your ability to grade Dzeko is clouded.
Eduardo I totally agree with you. They always grade dzeko will the lowest.
I personally will give yaya 9 nd dzeko 8. Aguero did not perform well yesterday but
They still grade him with 7 same with dzeko who atleast scored.
I’m just hoping that Dzeko extend his contract
Yaya was exceptional, but when you consider his status at the club and the wages we pay him…I expect him to perform like that every week.
Yesterday provided a smack in the mouth to all the doubters of our squad players… Players like demichelis, Garcia, kolorov, dzeko have never been given the credit they deserve, always made scapegoats cos we didn’t get the result expected. Seldom have fans apportioned the blame to our big time, high wage earners, who have gone missing in too many games.
A very professional performance against a very difficult team to beat.
Tony pullis always causes us problems but we passed the test, let’s hope we pass the Everton test next week.
#together
#believe
P.s….your ratings for dzeko are a joke.
Kudos my good man. You are spot on about Demichelis, Garcia, Kolarov & Dzeko. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, you need your carthorses to go along with your thoroughbreds if you want to win trophies. Kolarov in particular showed what an intelligent player he can be as did Garcia and DeMichelis. Dzeko can be ungainly at times but he always puts in a but because he doesn’t do the headless chicken act that so many fans associate with workrate (yes I’m referring to Tevez) fans don’t always appreciate what he can bring to the table. Further Kudos to Dzeko for acknowledging the fans in the post match interview, but the City away fans have always seemed more appreciative of Dzeko to me…
Really impressive by city, great team showing & a really professional job, yaya steals the show yet again.. A nice stroke by the gaffer starting with Garcia instead of fern, great to see that togetherness & spirit, you can’t have a team without that, its not possible to have it every game but that was very pleasing to see in a high pressure game, so big congrats to you boys…class, let’s hope we can win it, all tough games now, I feel for a club like liverpool with there history & tradition have completely lost their marbles over the past couple of months, the arrogance & the sense of entitlement by the majority of their fans & pundits has been jawdropping, I know all clubs have wanker fans but the way they have been carrying on is embarrassing, (Gerrard will keep for another day), did you see the daily mail pics with them fighting Chelsea “fans”??, it doesn’t look good, Rodgers sounded like a little girl after the game, have you ever seen a bus score Brendan??, like us at home you got schooled, you will never be in a position to speak about ethic’s & morals in football as long as you have Louis in your team, the fans are not stupid so please,I never realished Chelsea were a pub team, come on city we love you either way.
Glenn ‘comma man’ Kavanagh; I whole heartedly agree with everything you just said, especially in relation to the sense of entitlement amongst Liverpool fans and pundits. Rodgers and his 2 buses comment I also agree was ridiculous.
Gerrards tears after they beat us and the reception the Liverpool bus received on arrival yesterday which was akin to that of a title celebration has all been very premature whatever happens from here.
Dzeko 7!? You seem to be an expert.
Another good game from Garcia, he’s been really good the past few months. Good game from Dzeko, and he’s probably the player I want next to Aguero the rest of the way, he’s got a knack for important goals.
And yaya, WOW, what can you say? What’s the record for goals in a season by a midfielder???
If 7 for Dzeko is a ‘joke’ what did he deserve? A 9? A 10?? Really?
He played well and scored a goal. 7.
In a tough game away from home, he worked his socks off, closed men down, brought others in to play and scored a very good goal. I think an 8 would be a fair score for his performance, especially considering aguero was also rated 7…. Dzeko contributed far more than aguero, who seems to be trying too hard.
Unfortunately, the author of this blog is anti dzeko, it’s the same negative comments every week. I am considering an un-follow. Credit has to be given when due…..we all have players we don’t rate….I personally think ( wait for an avalanche of abuse ) zaba is over rated and would take Micah over him all day.
Micah is no better answer to Zabba. He is bigger, stronger & faster over a sprint but all our fullbacks have poor distribution bar Clichy. His problem though is going to sleep when defending like against Wigan.
I am not saying they are not all good players in their own right…they would get into every premier league squad. They are not the answer if we want to win the champions league is my point…not as first choices anyway.
Dzeko did play a lot better against Palace. More chasing down defenders, took his first chance for a change and better link up play. Shame he doesn’t do that all season…even when Pellegrini gave him the confidence boost of being first choice striker last August!
Maybe his girlfriend is visiting more often and helping him to settle into his new pad. Or maybe his contract is up for renewal. I’d love to see the Dzeko that banged in four against Spurs in August 2011 more than once every 3 or 4 months if he is wanting a new contract.
I’d actually argue that Kolarov’s distribution is as good if not better better than Clichy. The speed of Clichy allows him to make vital interceptions but yet his distibution is always safety first even in the final third where Kolarov gets the nod for me as he is more assertive and more incisive and his 6 assists to Clichy’s nil is worth noting. Clichy a fine player but given his speed he should be getting to the byline more often then he does. Kolarov’s improvement puts him on equal footing with Clichy.
Dzeko wasn’t that special, he scored a goal and tried a bit harder, his first touch was still poor at times. 7-7.5 is fair, I’m not sure if the author is anti-Dzeko or all the people that have issue are just very pro-Dzeko, he is a player that definitely divides opinion.
Author is anti Dzeko and if we didn’t score that early in the game all could be different.. Pretty special to me to score that early, pretty special… But grading is relative and it should in big part reflection of players contribution to final result.You can have Bolshoi theater out there on the field with great first touch and give them all 8 for performance but you’ll miss Dzeko in his killer instinct.