We had plenty of opportunities for the second goal to clear the ball away. Boyata’s header was weak, but it was the way Kolarov wasn’t committed to stopping a goal that really irked me. We saw Kompany throwing his body in the way of Meireles’ shot, but then saw Kolarov amble slowly towards Kuyt, with no intention of putting his body in line. That’s nothing personal, but it shows a worrying lack of commitment to defending.

Mancini isn’t the first City manager to demand his full backs play in a narrow back four. The reason for this is to pack the box and deny room to the strikers or attacking midfielders. We allow space out wide and even allow crosses knowing that we’ll have a numerical advantage when the ball does come in. Not the way I’d play but it is a legitimate way to play and I really wish people would stop thinking this is a ‘fault’ on the part of the full backs (in this case Kolarov and Boyata) rather than a conscious tactic.