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Given - 6: Didn't have much to do really, blameless for the goal.
Zabba - 8: Defended brilliantly and tried to help SWP going forward.
Bridge - 9: MoM. Especially in the first half linked well with Bellamy.
Toure - 8: His usual solid self.
Lescott - 7: Still a bit scary but he dealt well with what was thrown at him.
de Jong - 8: Was best player in the first half, but unfortunately had to go off injured. Would've preferred Ireland to come on for Barry or Tevez.
Barry - 5: Very static, didn't improve on his last performance. Poor defending for their goal, and Dunne nearly had a second thanks to shite defending from Barry again.
Tevez - 4: One great pass to SWP early on in the second half but apart from that was muscled off the ball too easily, too selfish and passing wasn't up to scratch.
SWP - 5: Doesn't dare to attack their left-back and just slows down play before traping the ball too far ahead of him or tripping up over his own feet.
Bellamy - 7: Worked hard again, crossing wasn't up to scratch but took his goal very well.
Adebayor - 8: Held the ball up well, got others involved and set up Bellers for the goal.
Ireland - 7: Looked very lively, great pass to Ade for the goal.
RSC - wont give him a mark, cos wasn't on for long & don't want to get on his back so early on in his City career. However, he constantly lost the ball (think he found a team-mate once or maybe twice) and generally just looked like a block of wood. Sure it's down to lack of match practice.

Adebayor 8?! I thought he was pretty dire tonight

Most guys would get a 7 as away from home against a top 6 rival 1-1 aint bad. extreme points from me as per iraqigoals

Bridge - best game for city, well pleased for the lad and the highlight was chasing down in centre mid at about 94 minutes.
SWP - needs to find his forward play form. nowt wrong with his chasing etc.
Zabba - mint!
Roque - 2 things are in play here a) a month too soon b) Samaras 2 on the rocks.
Ade - seemed to make a positive impact for only about 20 minutes. I'm interested in others' views.

Douglas. get down to asda and take some vampire outfits to training tomoz!

Given - 7: Goal was not his fault, great distribution.
Zabba - 8: Defended brilliantly and had to pull forward to cover for SWP, more than managed it.
Bridge - 9: Best match in a decent blue shirt.
Toure - 7: Good, not great.
Lescott - 7: Good moments, decent game.
De Jong - 8: Great player who doesnt show his full effect next to Barry as they are too similar, shame we lost him.
Barry - 4: The crowd got to him, but this is an excuse not a reason that he had a distinct lack of effort in set pieces.
Tevez - 6: Too many stray balls, Villa had him well covered.
SWP - 4: Cannot out run anyone, Cannot win a ball, Cannot Go One on one, Cannot cross well, he has lost everything I once loved about him.
Bellamy - 8: Hard work, good goal, Villa always had someone watching him.
Adebayor - 7: Decent game but went missing, again Villa had him marked.

Given - 7 - Couldnt do anything about the goal. Safe as houses for the rest of the game.

Zabaletta - 7 - Shaky first half when Young was running at him. Solid second.

Toure - 8 - Tried to get us going on numerous occassions and was strong at the back again.

Lescott - 7 - Best ive seen from him. Looked commanding at times. Defends well 1 on1.

Bridge - 9 - MOM. Brilliant defensivly against Milner and excellent going forward. Top class.

De Jong - 7 - Looked surprised by the workrate of the villa players. They gave him no space. Put a foot in where needed.

SWP - 5 - Worked for his teammates but created nothing and his crossing was dire. No end product.

Barry - 5 - The error for the goal was criminal. Did the easy things fine and without overextending himself. Didnt thrive under the boos.

Bellemy - 7 - Biggest threat going forward. Great goal. Crossing with the left foot needs some work however.

Tevez - 6 - Didnt really get going but always showed for the ball. Saw little meaningfull support from the midfield before the introduction of Ireland.

Adebayor - 7 - Gave the aerial 50 50's a miss which wasnt a bad idea. Created the goal and could have had a header before HT.

Subs

Ireland - 6 - Great pass to make the equiliser. Seemed to want the ball in midfield which made a change. Still to hit the heights of last season.

Santa - 5 - Off the pace. Ill be kind and leave it there.

Given 7- Exceptional reaction save early on. Not tested massively after that but solid as you'd expect. Helpless for Dunnie's goal.

Zabaleta 7- Dealt well with Young I thought, until the injury after which it was obviously much easier. Got forward on numerous occasions but raced into position whenever he did. Gave his all and you can't ask for more than that in a player.

Touré 7- Continues to impress in terms of his composure and ability on the ball. I expected certain things but a player this classy I have to admit I didn't. Even when he looks under pressure he deals with it.

Lescott 6- He's slowly finding his way with us, it was bound to take a while to bed in. Better aerially and in possession but his speed of thought (or lack thereof) still makes be a bit nervous.

Bridge 8- Another very good performance. When he joined last season he was generally solid at home but lost the plot when we traveled. He's come on tenfold in that respect since August. Much calmer in possession, positionally more reliable, better decision making and like Zabs he's responsible enough to come back straight after going forward. I'm really impressed with Bridge so far.

de Jong 4- Possibly his poorest performance in a City shirt. His distribution was appalling, positionally not much better. It was like watching a puppy running after a ball in the park at times. Also the challenge on Young could easily have earned him a red and put us under huge pressure. Irresponsible and it was the right decision by Hughes to substitute him. He's been very impressive up to now so hopefully it's a one off.

Barry 6- Not a brilliant performance but did plenty of good things nonetheless. It can't have been easy keeping his concentration whilst being berated by the Villa fans all night either. His tackling and closing down wasn't at the level he's set for himself- his marking for their goal was especially disappointing In terms of linking with the attack and distribution of the ball he was very good overall though.

SWP 6- Disappointing stuff from Shaun again. He looked a shadow of his normal self but kept on going looking for a way through. He's a great player and a great lad but he'd want to look over his shoulder because he could be replaced quite easily by Hughes if his performances aren't at a higher level.

Bellamy 8- Man of the Match once again! Not even a difficult decision. I'm so, so glad to have been proven wrong about Bellamy because he's quite simply the one winning us games at the moment. An outstanding effort, he just didn't stop tormenting the Villa defence and the goal (very well taken) was due reward. Let's pray he can keep going with getting injured because right now he's our outstanding player (who'd have predicted that in August?)

Adebayor 6- A quiet day by Ade's standards but he did good things. His hold up play continues to impress and he laid off some very good balls to Tevez in particular. He'll be back firing on all cylinders very soon, no doubt about it.

Tevez 6- Overall, pretty poor. In terms of effort, he gave everything you'd expect and really got stuck in but in terms of quality he did very little. A few speculative shots from long range is about all I can think of. He's another who isn't a guaranteed starter and Robinho's best route back into the team might be taking Tevez's place.

Ireland 7- His introduction swung the game in our favour, so credit to Hughes for getting him on nice and early. Much more composed than de Jong and much more forward thinking. A couple of beautiful through balls culminating in our goal. Hopefully it's a sign that his poor early season form is out of the way and he can crack on with more of what we saw last year.

Santa Cruz 4- Awful. Absolutely awful. Conceded possession every time he got the ball and there was one suicide pass backwards that could've cost us the game. But I suppose he deserves the benefit of the doubt having only come back from a long term injury. He can only go upwards from this anyway surely.

Colin the King wrote:
SWP 6- Disappointing stuff from Shaun again. He looked a shadow of his normal self but kept on going looking for a way through. He's a great player and a great lad but he'd want to look over his shoulder because he could be replaced quite easily by Hughes if his performances aren't at a higher level.

Do you really think Les fancies a few games on the right wing mate?

Steve wrote:

Colin the King wrote:
SWP 6- Disappointing stuff from Shaun again. He looked a shadow of his normal self but kept on going looking for a way through. He's a great player and a great lad but he'd want to look over his shoulder because he could be replaced quite easily by Hughes if his performances aren't at a higher level.

Do you really think Les fancies a few games on the right wing mate?

Is Pearce manager now? Playing strikers on the wing...pah, Hughes Out!

Colin the King wrote:Given 7- Exceptional reaction save early on. Not tested massively after that but solid as you'd expect. Helpless for Dunnie's goal.

Zabaleta 7- Dealt well with Young I thought, until the injury after which it was obviously much easier. Got forward on numerous occasions but raced into position whenever he did. Gave his all and you can't ask for more than that in a player.

Touré 7- Continues to impress in terms of his composure and ability on the ball. I expected certain things but a player this classy I have to admit I didn't. Even when he looks under pressure he deals with it.

Lescott 6- He's slowly finding his way with us, it was bound to take a while to bed in. Better aerially and in possession but his speed of thought (or lack thereof) still makes be a bit nervous.

Bridge 8- Another very good performance. When he joined last season he was generally solid at home but lost the plot when we traveled. He's come on tenfold in that respect since August. Much calmer in possession, positionally more reliable, better decision making and like Zabs he's responsible enough to come back straight after going forward. I'm really impressed with Bridge so far.

de Jong 4- Possibly his poorest performance in a City shirt. His distribution was appalling, positionally not much better. It was like watching a puppy running after a ball in the park at times. Also the challenge on Young could easily have earned him a red and put us under huge pressure. Irresponsible and it was the right decision by Hughes to substitute him. He's been very impressive up to now so hopefully it's a one off.

Barry 6- Not a brilliant performance but did plenty of good things nonetheless. It can't have been easy keeping his concentration whilst being berated by the Villa fans all night either. His tackling and closing down wasn't at the level he's set for himself- his marking for their goal was especially disappointing In terms of linking with the attack and distribution of the ball he was very good overall though.

SWP 6- Disappointing stuff from Shaun again. He looked a shadow of his normal self but kept on going looking for a way through. He's a great player and a great lad but he'd want to look over his shoulder because he could be replaced quite easily by Hughes if his performances aren't at a higher level.

Bellamy 8- Man of the Match once again! Not even a difficult decision. I'm so, so glad to have been proven wrong about Bellamy because he's quite simply the one winning us games at the moment. An outstanding effort, he just didn't stop tormenting the Villa defence and the goal (very well taken) was due reward. Let's pray he can keep going with getting injured because right now he's our outstanding player (who'd have predicted that in August?)

Adebayor 6- A quiet day by Ade's standards but he did good things. His hold up play continues to impress and he laid off some very good balls to Tevez in particular. He'll be back firing on all cylinders very soon, no doubt about it.

Tevez 6- Overall, pretty poor. In terms of effort, he gave everything you'd expect and really got stuck in but in terms of quality he did very little. A few speculative shots from long range is about all I can think of. He's another who isn't a guaranteed starter and Robinho's best route back into the team might be taking Tevez's place.

Ireland 7- His introduction swung the game in our favour, so credit to Hughes for getting him on nice and early. Much more composed than de Jong and much more forward thinking. A couple of beautiful through balls culminating in our goal. Hopefully it's a sign that his poor early season form is out of the way and he can crack on with more of what we saw last year.

Santa Cruz 4- Awful. Absolutely awful. Conceded possession every time he got the ball and there was one suicide pass backwards that could've cost us the game. But I suppose he deserves the benefit of the doubt having only come back from a long term injury. He can only go upwards from this anyway surely.

Agree with most of that.
Except Craig it would maybe be 7.5 or 7 for me as I think he wasnt very effective in the first half

Given-7 Did nothing wrong but didn't have to do that much.

Zabba-7 Skinned a couple of times but that's only to be expected against a decent winger. Did very well on the whole.

Bridge-8 Excellent game again. Wish he'd have the courage to play an occasional pass with his right foot though, misses 1 or 2
openings because of it.

Lescott-8 First City defender since Andy Morrison to actually deal with Carew/Heskey type players in the air successfully.

Toure- 8 Quality. Completely stopped Agbonlahor.

DeJong-7 Noticable how there was no option for the defenders to pass to when he went off. Borderline red card though.

Barry- 4 Couple of good moments but generally poor in posession. Hopeless challenge for goal; height no excuse for being that bad.

SWP- 5 Worked hard but useless going forward. No point in having him as a spare defender who creates nothing.

Tevez- 6 Shooting was off but movement provides a great link between defence midfield & attack. In hindsight could've stayed on.

Adebayor-7 Rarely gave the ball away & did well with poor service.

Bellamy-9 Fullback, winger & striker rolled into one. Remarkable.

Ireland-6 Immediate impact when he came on but gave away posession too easily afterwards & created little else.

RSC- 5 Gave the ball away too much, looked nervous & as we didn't put a single cross in, no use to the team whatsoever.