Man City ‘v’ Middlesborough – Review

Result: Man City 1 – 0 Middlesborough

A professional performance from City earned them a deserved victory over a poor Middlesborough side at the City of Manchester Stadium on Saturday. Although many of the plaudits will go to Craig Bellamy, who scored the only goal of the game in the second-half, credit must also be awarded to Shay Given, who, on his debut, produced a string of world-class saves to deny Afonso Alves and to secure the three points for the Blues.

Team News

Mark Hughes decided to keep faith with the players who succumbed so depressingly away at Stoke in the previous match, opting to make only the one change, with Shay Given, just days after joining the club from Newcastle, replacing the unfortunate Joe Hart in net. Elano would have been disappointed to start on the bench, where he was joined by the returning Ched Evans.

Joe Hart made way for new signing Shay Given

‘Boro kept faith with goalkeeper Brad Jones following his heroics against Blackburn, while Didier Digard returned after suspension, and Afonso Alves partnered January signing Marlon King up-front. Dangerous Turkish striker Tuncay Sanli was surprisingly left on the bench, a move which Gareth Southgate surely regrets now.

City Line-Up

                                       Given

Richards       Kompany               Onuoha       Bridge

                     Zabaleta               de Jong

Wright-Phillips             Ireland                     Robinho

                                    Bellamy

Subs: Hart, Garrido, Fer******, Vassell, Caicedo, Elano, Evans

Report

City started like a house on fire, creating a couple of opportunities just moments into the game. ‘Boro ‘keeper Brad Jones thwarted Bellamy after two minutes, when he raced off his line to clear the ball following a sublime through-ball by Stephen Ireland. For once, the Blues’ corners were posing problems, with Ireland becoming the first City player this season to clear the first-man from a set-piece. After a succession of corners, City’s captain-for-the-day, Vincent Kompany, saw his shot on the turn flash wide with Jones rooted to the spot. Tricky winger Shaun Wright-Phillips saw his 20 yard effort fly wide, albeit with the aid of a deflection which went unseen by the referee, Andre Marriner. City were totally dominant up until this point, but were starting to wonder whether they would pay for failing to take their chances.

Bellamy has adapted well to life at City and he scored the only goal of the game

Shay Given then showed just why City forked out £6 million for his services. After some tidy work down the right by the away side, the ball found its way to Brazilian striker Alves, who was only two yards out and had all the time in the world. He swept the ball goalwards and I turned towards the net, waiting for it to bulge. Alas, no! Out of nowhere, Given stuck out his arm and saved a certain goal. It was the first of four miraculous stops from the Irish international.

That wonder save sparked both City and the fans into life, and just a couple of minutes later, it was Brad Jones’ turn to pull off a save, this time from a Craig Bellamy snap-shot. ‘Boro were starting to come more into the match now, and Alves forced Given into another save shortly before half-time. After some poor positional play by Micah Richards, the ball fell to the former Heerenveen striker who hit a viciously swerving effort towards the City goal. Despite being wrong-footed, Given somehow stuck out his land-hand to palm the ball away and keep the score level.

Alves was thwarted by Given on a number of occasions

The Blues then had two glorious chances to break the deadlock as half-time approached. Firstly, Wayne Bridge, forward from left-back, found Ireland with his cross, who flung at himself at the ball and saw his header rebound off the crossbar with the ‘keeper beaten. Then, just a minute later, Bellamy somehow failed to connect with the ball from one yard out, after Ireland’s driven cross. City were left ruing their missed opportunities as half-time arrived with the score at 0 – 0.

The second period started slowly with both sides content to pass the ball about with penetrating the opposition. That all changed however on 51 minutes when ‘Nifty Nige’ Nigel de Jong, one of his extremely rare forays into the opposing half slid the ball forward to the perpetually angry Bellamy on the edge of the box. He seemed to be crowded by the presence of Middlesborough defenders, but managed to create half a yard of space, turn past ‘Boro centre-back Robert Huth, and fire an accurate shot into the bottom corner of the net. It was the Welshman’s second goal for City, the other coming against another side from the North-East, Newcastle.

Nifty Nige played a key part in the build-up to the goal

The home side had the chance to double their advantage just after the hour mark, when Robinho was played through after good work from SWP and Ireland. The Brazilian superstar looked to have rounded the ‘keeper, only for Jones to recover splendidly and touch the ball away. By this stage, City seemed comfortable and were pushing for the second goal that would have killed the game off. However, the visitors had a golden chance to equalise following some confusion between the previously imperious pairing of Vincent Kompany and Nedum Onuoha. The men in question again were Afonso Alves and Shay Given, with the City stopper pulling off his fourth magnificent save of the afternoon.

City brought on Ecuadorian striker Felipe Caicedo in place of the largely disappointing Robinho, who failed to convince yet again, to add strength to the attack. He saw a couple of shots saved by Brad Jones, whilst at the other end, referee Andre Marriner, who had a superb game, dismissed ‘Boro’s claim for a penalty when the ball seemed to strike Wanye Bridge on the upper arm. City managed to see out the game convincingly, and earn a valuable three points.

Key Battles

Nedum Onuoha ‘v’ Tuncay Sanli

Tuncay surprisingly didn’t start the game, and when he eventually came on, he as positioned on the wing, well away from man-mountain Onuoha = No Winner

Stephen Ireland ‘v’ Didier Digard

Ireland was impressive throughout and was at the heart of many of city’s moves. Digard had no impact on the game and was withdrawn when ‘Boro needed a goal = Ireland

Craig Bellamy ‘v’ David Wheater

Bellamy ran the visiting defence ragged with his sheer pace and aggression. Wheater was playing in an unusual right-back position but was moved into the centre of defence later on = Bellamy

Robinho had a very poor game, but he sees the funny side of it

Player Ratings

Given – What a debut!! Made numerous match-saving stops from Alves and looked composed when dealing with crosses. Joe Hart should stay and learn from him and not leave the club – 10

Richards – Once again, very poor. Distribution was shocking as was his (lack of) work-rate. Hopefully, will be dropped for the next game when Richard Dunne returns – 4

Kompany – Captain again and looked calm at the back. Has formed a good partnership with Onuoha – 8

Onuoha – Is getting a row of games now and looks a fantastic player. Dealt with Marlon King easily and should retain his place in the future – 8.5

Bridge – After a couple of errors against Newcastle and Stoke, he was back to his best. Showed great energy and commitment when bombing down the left and supplied a few decent crosses – 8

Zabaleta – Played in his new midfield role again and seemed to relish every moment. Got forward well and added solidity to the team – 8

de Jong – Small in stature but surprisingly difficult to knock off the ball. I think he only gave the ball away once in the whole match. Keeps it simple but plays an effective role – 9

Wright-Phillips – Lively down the right, but spent a lot of the game covering for Richards. Facing an FA ban and would be sorely missed – 8

Ireland – Returning to his best form. Involved in everything and his work-rate was marvellous – 9

Robinho – Very disappointing again. Slows down the whole tempo of any attack and failed to produce any good moments – 4

Bellamy – A better version of Paul Dickov!! Works ever so hard and scores goals. He hassled the ‘Boro defenders throughout the game and looks like a top buy – 9.5

Subs:

Caicedo – Only brought on late in the game but added a physical dimension to the City attack. Tested Brad Jones with a couple of shots – 8

Man of the Match – Shay Given