Throughout the full 90 minuted we played very well. I have seen varied stats concerning possession but most say City had 52% of the ball, a quite accomplished feat for an away game at Old Trafford.
There were a few surprises in the starting line-up, not least the inclusion of Lescott over Kolo Toure in the centre of defence. I genuinely presumed at the time that Kolo must have picked up an injury, obviously not the case as he was on the bench. The decision in hindsight wasn't such a bad one, he didn't make any real mistakes and looked comfortable on the ball. One criticism I would have made was in the build up just before Nani's goal. Lescott was easily beaten in the air by Rooney, a challenge which I think Kompany of Toure would have dealt with.
In the key areas of the field we kept the ball very well, Bary and Yaya were very tidy in possession and Silva virtually ran the first half single handedly. Although very comfortable in possession we lacked any creativity other then David Silva, Tevez was uncharacteristically quiet and our aforementioned midfield duo tended to push the ball sideways lacking any real penetration.
The first and perhaps most clear cut chance of the game fell to david Silva in the first ten minutes. a great passing move involving Yaya and Silva saw the ball end up at the Spaniard's feet 6 yards out only for him to roll the ball agonisingly wide of the far post.
The game was eventually won by a goal that can only be described as a fluke off the shin astonishing. The technique, athleticism and timing was enough to win any game.
No comments:
Post a Comment