Stoke 1 – 1 MAN CITY – PLAYER RATINGS
25 Mar
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Hart - Beaten by an absolute wonder goal, but wasn’t otherwise called into action a great deal. Made one unorthodox save in the second half and dealt quite well with the barrage of long balls. Kicking poor - 6
Zabaleta - One of our better performers, full of energy down the right and committed in the tackle. Limited the threat of Etherington by staying tight to him, but opted to pass instead of shoot when in a great position in the first half - 7
Richards - For the most part, coped well with the aerial bombardment even if some of his clearances were a little unconventional! Has settled better than expected into the central defensive role although we do miss his pace down the wing - 6.5
K. Touré - As he has done in the past couple of games, marshalled the defence well and took responsibility. Walters’s non-stop running and closing down made life tough for him but he produced a solid display - 7
Clichy - Defensively sound against the physical Jerome but although he found himself in a number of promising attacking positions, his crossing was poor. Apart from one occasion when he found Dzeko, his end product was severely lacking - 6.5
Barry – Fortunate to escape punishment for a terrible tackle on Whelan but was otherwise superb. Used the ball effectively and did as well as he could to stop the supply line to Crouch. Taken off in a tactical reshuffle but he was my man of the match - 7
Y. Touré - Scored a thunderbolt from distance, albeit via a deflection, but struggled to impose himself as he so often does. Saw plenty of the ball but lacked any intent in his passing. Not aided by the lack of movement from the likes of Dzeko ahead of him, but needed to show more desire - 6
Nasri - Couldn’t reach the heights he hit against Chelsea as he found it tough to link play between midfield and attack. Forced to drop deeper and deeper and as a result didn’t impact proceedings in the final third - 6
Silva - Looked brighter than he has done recently, especially in the first half, but frustratingly his final touch was missing. Picked up the ball in a number of threatening positions but failed to provide the strikers with enough of an opportunity. Took a blow to the head which ought to have been punished - 6
Balotelli - Did superbly to avoid reacting to Stoke’s pathetic, but understandable, attempts to rile him. Was kicked, dragged back and pushed every time he touched the ball, most notably by the thuggish Andy Wilkinson, but didn’t retaliate. I thought he was good in possession, turning the Stoke backline on one occasion, but didn’t see enough of the ball - 6
Džeko - Won a number of headers, but his overall performance was well below-par. Doesn’t offer anywhere near enough movement and needs to work on this aspect to give other players options when they are on the ball - 5
Subs
A. Johnson - One jinking run in half an hour was a disappointing way to make an impression. Neglected to shoot once, favouring a sideways pass which was the wrong option - 5
Tévez - I felt he ought to have come on earlier but he didn’t make any impact. Picked up possession in areas where he couldn’t hurt Stoke - 5
Milner - Operated as an attacking rightback, replacing the injured Zabaleta, but had little time to make an impression - No time to mark
We are lamenting to mention the fact Zabaleta had the best chance of the game for City where he opted to pass ratehr than bury it.
Disagree with Mario though, and youre sticking up for him as you are a fan of his. He did react, and gave away 3 (to my memory) petulant fouls having been brought down himself in the proceeding moves fairly but toughly.
Zaba was by far Man of the Match, and he ought to play week in week out
Zaba was MoM for me too but I’m with you as far as Mario is concerned. He stayed remarkably calm really all things considered and was subjected to a great deal of provovation. You won’t agree with my next comment as you seem usually to be in the “Hates Kolarov” corner but, with Dzeko and Balotelli on the pitch, we could have done with Alek’s quality of ball into the box. Clichy is the better defender for sure, but that wasn’t really an issue against Stoke, the lack of penetration was.
I agree about your Kolarov point. His crossing would have brought the best out of Dzeko but they rarely seem to play together these days.
What takes Mancini so long to make a change?? It’s like we have to concede the lead before he does. You can make a sub before the 60 min mark you know. It’s so painful watching us pass sideways for 60 minutes every game. And we desperately need Aguero. We truly are worthless with Dzeko in the lineup. He doesn’t fit our style of play one bit and I can’t believe he was bought for so much.
Other than that, let’s go Fulham
hopefully in the summer we can buy a winger who can cross the ball this wil had widthtand play to dzekos prefered style y not play aleks in left mid?