City 4 - 3 Wolves (15/01/2011)

A 7 goal thriller without ever really being thrilling. In a game in which nothing less than three points was acceptable we certainly made it hard for ourselves. Our approach to the game was contradictory of everything implemented under Mancini's reign and was more reminiscent of the 'we'll score more than you' approach we saw under Keegan and Sven.

The City line up was pretty much as I predicted with what I see as our strongest back four and our usual spine. One surprise in the team was a debut for Edin Dzeko who spearheaded the attack with Adam Johnson on the right and Carlos Tevez initially pushed out to the left.

We started surprisingly slow with the early pressure from Wolves hurrying our play and causing a lot of errors. The wolves front three of Doyle, Jarvis and Hunt were pressing high up the pitch and not allowing our centre backs any time on the ball. We initially looked short of options with the continued absence of David Silva we failed to utilise the space between the opposition back four and midfield. There was a lack of dominance from either team but the Wolves pressure told when Kolo failed to clear a cross and Milias scrambled home from close range. This provoked a reaction from Mancini which proved to be an inspired one. Tevez was pushed further inside and Yaya further up the pitch, this saw Carlos have a lot more of the ball, picking out some inch perfect passes and spreading play with great effectiveness. Another change was the positioning of Alex Kolarov, moving into a more advanced position and providing the width which allowed Tevez so much time and space inside.

I personally think this was Kolarov's best game for City. It has been established that he is not the best defender in the league world, but I think he is very important to the system Mancini enforces. Against wolves he looked competent defensively (including two crucial goal saving tackles) and going forward provided the width we so often lack. On Saturday in particular he looked very comfortable on the ball, his passing was incisive and  for the majority of the first half he looked like our biggest threat going forward.

It was Kolarov's corner that was eventually turned in by Kolo Toure giving us a vital lift just before half time. (It would be a shame to avoid cliche here...) This really was a game of two halves. We came out after the break looking more positive and a lot livelier both with and without the ball. Two magical moments from our captain and an impressive goal from Yaya Toure looked to have put the game beyond doubt. The first goal was some fine skill and close control from Tevez which saw him beat 4 defenders before calmly finishing underneath Wayne Hennessey. His second goal was a contrast but showed the range of his telents, a chipped ball in from his Argentinian team-mate Zabaleta which Tevez met and superbly guided in off the bar. Tevez skills are undoubted, not just amongst City fans but the footballing world, therefore to most blues, the goal scored by Yaya Toure was equally, if not more encouraging to watch. Gareth barry cleared on the edge of our box out to Dzeko on the left, a swift pass and move with Tevez then a perfectly weighted pass finding Yaya's powerful run who finished deftly. This is the kind of goal any football fan loves to see, a real team goal involving 6 incisive touches from box to box and a neat finish.

His pivotal role in the goal was just one of the many encouraging signs from our £27m Bosnian. He looked strong, had a good first touch and looks surprisingly mobile given his build. Dzeko's link up play with Tevez was impressive especially given this was their first game together. Dzeko certainly has a lot of confidence in his own ability which was typified as he out muscled a centre back before delightfully nutmegging another Wolves defender then playing an easy ball and taking up a position in the box. He is a Different option in our attack and as Mancini said he offers something that our other forwards can't. All that was missing from a very impressive debut was a goal, which could have came was it not for a heavy first touch (which I put down to his recent lack of match practice).

In true City fashion we made things difficult for ourselves in the last ten minutes, first Lescott's clumsy challenge resulting in his former club converting a penalty. A very frustrating moment from a frustrating player. Doyle was heading away from our goal, posing no real threat when Lescott saw fit to bundle him over from behind. Concentration and irrational decisions like this are the source of many peoples doubts about him and he certainly did himself no favours here. Lescott was only on the pitch because of an earlier injury to Kolo Toure. At 4-2 we still looked to be cruising with Tevez and Dzeko linking up well in the right areas. That was until Ronald Zuubar was unchallenged from a corner and his free header was adjudged to have crossed the line despite Nigel De Jong's best efforts. The last 10 minutes did look nervy, the pressure was increased as the 4th official somehow found five minutes to add on despite the lack of any real stoppages.

Back to the positives from the game, it was nice to see David Silva back on the pitch, he didn't have much to do in the ten minutes he played but his return to fitness is a huge boost ahead of the replay with Leicester and next week's trip to Villa.

I think a lot of credit should go to Mancini for being pro-active and changing the game when he did, the flexibility of our system and the slight positional changes that we find so easy to adapt to, can really change a game and this win was a perfect example of his cute tactical awareness.