For the opening exchanges it was all QPR. Their passing was quicker and more accurate, the defense was stronger and their mentality and attitude was right. Warnock had sent them out there with a specific gameplan and they were frustrating the heck out of City and Mancini. Although for Mancinis part the City players themselves I think had more to do with that. The number of loose passes, balls going straight of of play or straight to the opposition was un-citylike!
So it was no surprise when a QPR freekick was delivered into the box for Jay Bothroyd to jump highest and direct it past a helpless Hart. Straight from the restart City tried to even up the tie but again the forcing of passes and final balls were letting them down. In fact QPR had a couple more good opportunities to increase their lead but for the woodwork and a mangle of City bodies they may have done.
If City could get in at half time with no more damage then you felt that Mancini could make a couple of changes and get the boys in blue back on the right track. However Dzeko had other ideas and ran with the ball into the box before unleashing a shot low and hard, which Kenny had no chance of stopping.
Finally Aguero hit the post with seconds remaining to ensure QPR knew that City had finally found their stride. Half time arrived and with all the teams directly below them winning earlier it was important that City played better in the second half.
And so they would. A break from QPR led by Barton was looking promising until Traore's misplaced pass went straight to Milner. Milner put it into the path of Dzeko who drove up the wing an passed to Silva who fainted as if to leave it for Aguero but knocked it past the defenders and found himself with only Kenny to beat, which he did!
City were then rampant and seemed to cut through the QPR defense with ease. However you get no points for possession or ease of attack but for wins, and that looked in doubt as Helguson put the ball in the back of the net via his back. City claimed offside but again the linesman proved to be correct as replays would show that as the header came in from Bothroyd, Savic was playing the eventual goalscorer onside. QPR fans will feel it would be the least that they deserved and honestly the way they pressured and hassled City all through the game it would have been a fair result.
However, when you have the abundance of talent that City have it only takes one spark of inspiration to turn a game. With a little over 15 minutes left on the clock City broke through Kolarov and it was his cross that was met the head of Yaya Toure to put City ahead once more.
Again, City didn't close it out and to QPR's credit they kept attacking and pressuring City all across the park. In the final minute of stoppage time QPR pressed and won a corner which pretty much everyone was up for, including goalkeeper Paddy Kenny. It was all set up for a late twist but the ball was headed wide and when Joe Hart kicked it back in to play the referee blew his whistle. Three tough points for City, but it is games like this that you look back on at the end of the season as Champions and realise how important they were, City had no right to take all three points, but they did, and with it restore the five point cushion over United.
Written By: PA Cityboy (www.facebook.com/pacityboy)
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