'City go top of the League' were what most City fans were hoping to hear at the final whistle today. To be fair City still are unbeaten and did go top of the league but not in the way they would have hoped.
When the lineups were announced I was surprised that more rotation wasn't involved, given the depth and talent of the City squad. I hoped that wouldn't turn around and bite them in the end. It all started so well for Mancinis men as they opened the scoring first with Aguero notching his seventh goal of the season. Barry passed to Silva on the adge of the box and he in turn thread Aguero through to put the away side 1-0 to the good. After that City went on a rampage but has half time arrived they were only ahead by the single goal. Mancini had spoken on previous games about converting chances into goals and City could have easily netted three more before the break, however, just like against Wigan it was just the one.
The second half started a little better with Aguero pouncing to double the visitors lead just twelve seconds on the clock. Clichy unleashed a cross field ball that was nodded down by Dzeko into Agueros path, one touch and in. City were 2-0 up and City were cruising.
However the home side still thought they might have a say in the game and indeed in the 55th minute, against the run of play, they did. Bobby Zamora was given way to much space and when the ball came to him he turned and struck the ball sweetly and it flew into the top corner. Again just like in midweek the opposition had been given too much space just outside the City area.
It was then that Mancini made, in my opinion, a bad move. He brought off David Silva, the player capable of putting the spark back in Citys attack, and brought on Zabaletta. This did nothing but encourage Fulham on to us and admit they had us rattled. Sure enough that's exactly what it did and they were the next to score. With 15 minutes left on the clock, and Hart having already saving smartly twice, he was helpless to stop the Murphy deflected shot. Fulham had pulled it back and honestly looked like the most likely to score. Mancini, maybe feeling he had made a mistake, or maybe just feeling he needed an attack with bite and penetration put on Adam Johnson. Quickly backing that up with Tevez on for Aguero but it was all in vein. Certainly it can be said that City were wasteful in front of goal, that is undeniable but it is also fair to say that when Mancini gets spooked he tries to close up and sometimes attack is the best form of defense. That said, we are still undefeated and, at worst only be 2pts behind United and where we need to be to push on. This season will provide us with lots of lessons and we need to be quick to adapt.
When the lineups were announced I was surprised that more rotation wasn't involved, given the depth and talent of the City squad. I hoped that wouldn't turn around and bite them in the end. It all started so well for Mancinis men as they opened the scoring first with Aguero notching his seventh goal of the season. Barry passed to Silva on the adge of the box and he in turn thread Aguero through to put the away side 1-0 to the good. After that City went on a rampage but has half time arrived they were only ahead by the single goal. Mancini had spoken on previous games about converting chances into goals and City could have easily netted three more before the break, however, just like against Wigan it was just the one.
The second half started a little better with Aguero pouncing to double the visitors lead just twelve seconds on the clock. Clichy unleashed a cross field ball that was nodded down by Dzeko into Agueros path, one touch and in. City were 2-0 up and City were cruising.
However the home side still thought they might have a say in the game and indeed in the 55th minute, against the run of play, they did. Bobby Zamora was given way to much space and when the ball came to him he turned and struck the ball sweetly and it flew into the top corner. Again just like in midweek the opposition had been given too much space just outside the City area.
It was then that Mancini made, in my opinion, a bad move. He brought off David Silva, the player capable of putting the spark back in Citys attack, and brought on Zabaletta. This did nothing but encourage Fulham on to us and admit they had us rattled. Sure enough that's exactly what it did and they were the next to score. With 15 minutes left on the clock, and Hart having already saving smartly twice, he was helpless to stop the Murphy deflected shot. Fulham had pulled it back and honestly looked like the most likely to score. Mancini, maybe feeling he had made a mistake, or maybe just feeling he needed an attack with bite and penetration put on Adam Johnson. Quickly backing that up with Tevez on for Aguero but it was all in vein. Certainly it can be said that City were wasteful in front of goal, that is undeniable but it is also fair to say that when Mancini gets spooked he tries to close up and sometimes attack is the best form of defense. That said, we are still undefeated and, at worst only be 2pts behind United and where we need to be to push on. This season will provide us with lots of lessons and we need to be quick to adapt.
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