Man City Player Ratings

[martyn]

Weale 7.5 - No chance with the goals realistically. Good saves from Tevez and Yaya

Naughton 7.5 - Thought he was tenacious and solid although never tried to get forward unlike Berner.

Bamba 7.5 - Quick, rugged and composed in possession. Looks good individually.

Hobbs 6 - Thought he was shaky , partially culpable for 2 goals and also gave away the penalty. We need an old fashioned organiser in that defence

Berner 6 - Was exposed a few times but then again, he did try his best to get forward.

DEFENCE AS A UNIT 3

Abe 6.5 - Horror show first half but a much improved display 2nd. Lovely ball for Dyer

Wellens 6.5 - Reasonable showing in the first 45, hope he's back for Saturday

King 5 - Good first 10 minutes breaking forward but anonymous thereafter. Form a slight concern at the moment.

Gallagher 7 - Was a good link between the midfield and attack whilst on the pitch.

Howard 4.5 - Thankless task as a lone frontman but was totally ineffectve

Dyer 8.5 - MOTM. Scared Kolarov with his direct running and showed that there is no substitute for genuine pace. More of the same please Lloyd

Subs:

Moussa 6 - Some nice touches immediately after coming on but barely involved thereafter

Oakley 5 - Inconsequential. Minus points also for failing to take a booking twice when Man City were breaking dangerously.

Waghorn 5.5 - More mobile than Howard and pressured their centre halves more.

[Heart-Shaped Fox]

Weale 7

Naughton 7

Bamba 6

Hobbs 5

Berner 6

Abe 7

Wellens 7

King 6

Gallagher 7

Howard 6

Dyer 7.5

Subs

Moussa 6

Oakley 5

Waghorn 5

[Ricey]

Weale 7.5 - Good penalty save

Naughton 7.5 - Seemed reluctant to get forward but coped with Tevez well when he drifted wide

Bamba 8 - Cult hero already? He scares me at times but was solid throughout

Hobbs 6 - Not at his best, at fualt for their second and seemed on edge

Berner 6 - Lack of pace showed today but supported well going forward

Abe 6.5 - Crap first half, much much better 2nd

Wellens 6.5 - Did ok

King 5.5 - Forgot he was playing, when he did get the ball he gave it away

Gallagher 7 - Not his biggest fan but thought he was great whilst he was on

Howard 3 - Might as well not have been there. Sven's fault for playing him on his own but I can't even remember him winning a header or anything!

Dyer 8 - Scared Man CIty all night, shooting a bit wayward but our only consistent attacking threat

Subs:

Moussa 6 - Quick feet but too lightweight and his deliveries weren't up to much

Oakley 5.5 - Slowed down play well at times but just not good enough, get rid

Waghorn 6.5 - 10x better than Howard, should have started

[ScouseFox]

Weale 8.5 - save from johnson twice one-on-one, a few other good saves, and a penalty save.

Naughton 6.5

Hobbs 5.5 - not stepping up with the defence on two occasions, rash for the penalty and lucky not to be sent off

Bamba 7

Berner 6 - positionally unaware for their second, ran out of steam

Abe 6 - 5 first half, 7 when pushed forward

Wellens 6

King 6

Gallagher 7 - nice penalty though, we missed him when he went off

Howard 5

Dyer 8 - bright, ran at them, won a penalty, scored a goal

Subs;

Moussa 6

Oakley 5

Waghorn 6.5

[Corky]

Weale- 7

Naughton- 7

Hobbs- 5

Bamba- 6

Berner- 5.5

Abe- 6

Wellens- 6

King- 5

Gallagher- 6

Howard- 5

Dyer- 8

Moussa- 6

Oakley- 5

Waghorn- 5.5

Halsey- 6 (Superb return ball for Yuki to lay on for Lloyd)

[Guest Basildon Fox]

Weale - 7 Perhaps could have done a bit better for the first goal but it was hit with venom. Some very good saves tonight otherwise.

Naughton - 6 Ball watching for the second goal. Poor awareness of the player behind him.

Bamba - 7 Solid.

Hobbs - 4 At fault for the 1st and 3rd (jointly) goals. Looks a pale shadow of last season and probably should have been sent off for the penalty decision.

Berner - 4 Jointly at fault for the 3rd goal by leaving his man and was not tight enough all night. Too slow at top level.

Gallagher - 7 Shame he went off because he looked our best player when he was on.

Wellens - 6 Distinctly average

Abe - 6 Awful 1st half. Much better in the 2nd playing further forward.

King - 5 Anonymous after the first 10 minutes.

Dyer - 8.5 Fantastic when he is in that kind of mood. Gave them problems all night.

Howard - 3 Always liked Howard but the time has come for him to move on to a lower league team. Simply no longer good enough.

Subs

Mousa - 5 Only got that for the bit of trickery in the first half.

Oakley - 6 Didn't do anything spectacular but wasn't nearly as shite as everyone is making out.

Waghorn - 5 Anonymous

We look short of enough quality to reach the play offs at the moment. Having said that the Yak and Vassell would have made a huge difference if they had been available tonight.

Make no mistake, Man City won at a canter. They were at half pace for the 2nd half and went easy on us. Hopefully we will push on and win on Saturday.

[ozleicester]

From TV...

Weale 6, did well with peno, thought could have been better positioned for a couple of their goals

Naughton 7.5. - When given the option to drive forward he looked terrific, tight at the back

Bamba 8 - skilled, composed, and always looking to move the ball effectively from the back... always a threat upfront

Hobbs 5.5 - Positioning left much to be desired, seemed flat footed.

Berner 6 worked hard but looked well stripped a couple of times.

Abe 6.5 - quiet early, dont think he was comfortable at all, had a terrific second half and very creative

Wellens 7 - Happy with his effort and gave his all.

King 5.5 - Typical King game... missing for most of it, but in the past has had a moment of brilliance.. not tonight!

Gallagher 8 - Super game, he is the creative heart of City, when he went off, we were lost and lacked any penetration

Howard 4.5 - Should not have been in this side tonight, just thew wrong player aganst that Man city side, no threat at all.

Dyer 8.5 - cracking game, kept them on the back foot, created chances and good runs MOM for me

Subs:

Moussa 7 - happy with his input, quality player

Oakley 6 - Good effort nothing special

Waghorn 6.5 - Tried hard, still a young player and needs more development.

Sven 6.5 - disapointed to see Howard start, changes werent made fast enough when Gally went off.

Crowd 10+ ... fabulous turnout, loud and all looked to be standing.

all in all a great effort and proud of the boys.. now back to chasing promotion

[shailen]

Firstly must say fans were good

Weale 9 - awesome

Berner 6 - looked weak

Hobbs - 6.5 made to look weak by berner being out of position

Bamba -7.5 - solid

Naughton - 8 awesome match good tracking bak especially

Wellens - good first half

King 7 - was decent i thought

Abe - 7.5 hes gonna be a star. Defensively solid and nice ball for dyer

Dyer - 8.5 playing like he was in sousa reign

Howard - 5 didnt do anything but tbh he had no support

Gally - 8 i thought he was amazing until he went off

[Starkwell]

From TV:

Weale - numerous very good stops, and really at no fault for any of the goals, without him we would have been humiliated

Naughton - hard to criticize him as his support of dyer was superb and provided good support, yet contributed significantly to the ease of their 2nd and 4th goals

Bamba - worked hard and was the standout player at the back, easily the best defender on the field

Hobbs - jack, jack, jack - once again a great performance marred by a sorry bit of defending to gift Tevez the opener -could be a great defender but has to cut out the errors

Berner - pushed up and tracked back, but was outclassed and could barely move by the end of the game

Abe - probably my man of the match - i can't remember the last time i saw a football player so consumed by the game, relentless and skillful - and he really seemed to enjoy stepping up as a playmaker when wellens and gally went off

Wellens - not quite up to the previous game, i'm guessing he got a knock, as he seemed to fade as the half went on.

King - low key early on but stepped up with abe and was really involved in the 2nd half, sadly this limited his runs into the box

Gallagher - worried to see him go off, he has become one of our key players just lately - makes you wonder what we might have done if he and wellens had stayed on.

Howard - surely the end of the line for the big man - i expect a centre forward to cover as much ground as anyone, especially playing as the lone striker/centre of a front three. the little he contributed was hard to spot, his performance was summed up by a rare flick on going straight to Hart, a minute later he was jogging along the half way line. Sorry - centre forwards do not stroll around the pitch

Dyer - glad to see him back on form, and enjoying himself, a close runner up to Yuki for MOTM

Subs

Moussa - much improved from his calamitous appearance against preston, tried hard, but a little out of his depth

Oakley - not a bad contribution and linked well, but another clearly at the end of his career

Waghorn - did more in a brief appearance than Howard did all game, Man City were clearly struggling with Dyer's pace, would have liked to see Waggy come on much earlier to really test them.

[Kitchandro]

Weale 7.5 - Made some great saves, including the penalty. Could have done better with the 4th, think people are being harsh about the first though

Naughton 6 - Hit and miss, gave the ball away a lot but showed some willingness to get forward. Defended pretty well but was at fault partly for 4th goal and was often out of position.

Bamba 8.5 - MOTM - looked very assured on the ball, even showed us some tricks, generally didn't make any individual errors, not really a threat from corners though (although the delivery wasn't as good especially when Gally went off)

Hobbs 5 - Seemed to be chasing shadows a lot of the time. The offside trap didn't work and TBF he was often left to pick up the pieces, namely with their penalty when he should have been sent off. Needs to be calmer in possession.

Berner 3 - Poor tonight, looked out paced and outclassed. Think he needs a rest, but he's still my 1st choice left back.

Abe 6.5 - Shocking first half, was to blame for the first goal because he jogged by the side of Tevez instead of trying to tackle him or get goal side. His game is based on effort and running and he showed little first half. Second he was much more energetic and played well, contributing in an attacking sense. I don't really understanbd though with Gally off - why wasn't he given a chance with setpieces?

Wellens 7 - Thought he was very good in his 45 minutes, got stuck in and sprayed the ball about well. Typical Wellens basically.

King 5.5 - He ran at them a few times, stretching their midfield, but his final ball wasn't the best. Never really looked a goal threat. Had a few bad touches in crucial parts of the pitch

Dyer 7.5 - One of his better games. Beat his man quite a few times, but unfortunately had no one waiting in the middle. Took his goal well. His effectiveness weakened though because he refuses to use his right foot. That's not good enough tbh, especially if we never switch him to the left.

Howard 3.5 - Won a few headers early on but that's about it. Spent most of the game wandering around, he moved up to a jog now and then but had very little impact. As I Suspected, he did not hold it up. Was nowhere to be seen when Dyer was looking for a pullback, that is when we needed a real goalscorer. I think he's had his day with us now.

Gallagher 6.5 - Wasn't on that long but played pretty well I thought, passed it nicely and scored the peno. Nothing wrong with his work rate again, yes he's not much good at tackling but I've never thought he doesn't try.

Subs:

Moussa 5 - reasonable performance, didn't give it away much but didn't have much of an impact either. Delivery was average. he looks nothing special IMO but this is the first I've seen of him so not fair to judge.

Waghorn 6 - Looked far more interested and threatening than Howard, didn't really do much of note but he held it up when it came to him, and passed it to his teammates. Had little service.

Oakley 5.5 - Barely noticed him all of the time he was on. But didn't make any real errors either. Past it.

[gibwarrior1988]

Weale 7.5 - Made some great saves, including the penalty. Could have done better with the 4th, think people are being harsh about the first though

Naughton 6 - Hit and miss, gave the ball away a lot but showed some willingness to get forward. Defended pretty well but was at fault partly for 4th goal and was often out of position.

Bamba 8.5 - MOTM - looked very assured on the ball, even showed us some tricks, generally didn't make any individual errors, not really a threat from corners though (although the delivery wasn't as good especially when Gally went off)

Hobbs 5 - Seemed to be chasing shadows a lot of the time. The offside trap didn't work and TBF he was often left to pick up the pieces, namely with their penalty when he should have been sent off. Needs to be calmer in possession.

Berner 3 - Poor tonight, looked out paced and outclassed. Think he needs a rest, but he's still my 1st choice left back.

Abe 6.5 - Shocking first half, was to blame for the first goal because he jogged by the side of Tevez instead of trying to tackle him or get goal side. His game is based on effort and running and he showed little first half. Second he was much more energetic and played well, contributing in an attacking sense. I don't really understanbd though with Gally off - why wasn't he given a chance with setpieces?

Wellens 7 - Thought he was very good in his 45 minutes, got stuck in and sprayed the ball about well. Typical Wellens basically.

King 5.5 - He ran at them a few times, stretching their midfield, but his final ball wasn't the best. Never really looked a goal threat. Had a few bad touches in crucial parts of the pitch

Dyer 7.5 - One of his better games. Beat his man quite a few times, but unfortunately had no one waiting in the middle. Took his goal well. His effectiveness weakened though because he refuses to use his right foot. That's not good enough tbh, especially if we never switch him to the left.

Howard 3.5 - Won a few headers early on but that's about it. Spent most of the game wandering around, he moved up to a jog now and then but had very little impact. As I Suspected, he did not hold it up. Was nowhere to be seen when Dyer was looking for a pullback, that is when we needed a real goalscorer. I think he's had his day with us now.

Gallagher 6.5 - Wasn't on that long but played pretty well I thought, passed it nicely and scored the peno. Nothing wrong with his work rate again, yes he's not much good at tackling but I've never thought he doesn't try.

Subs:

Moussa 5 - reasonable performance, didn't give it away much but didn't have much of an impact either. Delivery was average. he looks nothing special IMO but this is the first I've seen of him so not fair to judge.

Waghorn 6 - Looked far more interested and threatening than Howard, didn't really do much of note but he held it up when it came to him, and passed it to his teammates. Had little service.

Oakley 5.5 - Barely noticed him all of the time he was on. But didn't make any real errors either. Past it.

Bamba Man of the Match?? Hobbs failing the offside trap? Please have a look back on the match, more than most of the time it is Bamba who ruins the offside trap line made by the other 3 defenders and Hobbs was made to look poor by the lack of cover supplied by Bruno. The only defender who bothered chasing back for the penatly.

[Kitchandro]

Bamba Man of the Match?? Hobbs failing the offside trap? Please have a look back on the match, more than most of the time it is Bamba who ruins the offside trap line made by the other 3 defenders and Hobbs was made to look poor by the lack of cover supplied by Bruno. The only defender who bothered chasing back for the penatly.

I'm not blaming Hobbs for the offside trap, I was actually saying I felt sorry for him when the trap failed and he kept having to chase Tevez, in particular when he gave away the penalty.

But I stick by Bamba for MOTM. The offside trap is about the defence as a unit.

And frankly, I don't think we should be playing the offside trap at all against the likes of them.

[Haydos]

Bamba Man of the Match?? Hobbs failing the offside trap? Please have a look back on the match, more than most of the time it is Bamba who ruins the offside trap line made by the other 3 defenders and Hobbs was made to look poor by the lack of cover supplied by Bruno. The only defender who bothered chasing back for the penatly.

I agree, Hobbs stepped back out of the line for Johnson's goal. It was solid until he did. You can even see Bamba with his palms outstretched as Hobbs drops.

Bamba was class again tonight.

[reynard]

from the Tv only

Weale 7 Good tonight. 1st goal? penalty was a good reaction with his legs but even better save from Johnson just after. Kept us in it.

Naughton 6 Ok but not great for the second and 4th goal.

Bamba 6 Central pairing was a mess. Both too far apart for the second goal. Did some good stuff but at times looks like an accident waiting to happen. He'll be great for us but think he will commit some howlers as well.

Hobbs 5 Not great really. Poor effort at a tackle for the first goal, didn't keep the line for the third and should have been sent off.

Berner 4 Totally outclassed. Ok for the championship but clearly no longer has the pace for ahigher level. At fault for the second goal and left his man several times after as well.

Gallagher 7 Good penalty and thought he was doing well. we need him at the moment as no one else seems able to take set pieces.

Abe 5 Simply awful in the first half and not much better in the second though his one two with the ref and subsequent through ball to dyer was class.

King 5 A great performance for us. Any premier scout watching that will have second thoughts about buying him. Our best player for some he was almost totally anonymous.

Wellens 6 Ok but seemed to lack energy. Hope he's not injured as he is central to all our creative play at the moment.

Dyer 8 Terrific performance capped by a good quality goal.

Howard 4 Dare say he tried but he has no pace and offered nothing. Simply too slow to play at this level.

Moussa 6 Did ok but set pieces were not that great and looked a little out of his depth.

Waghorn 5.5 Looked short of confidence though he did offer more than Howard.

Oakley 6 A towards the end of career type of performance. Not too bad but had no real influence on the match..

[Lichfieldfox.]

Very impressed by our lads. I sat just above tunnel near LCFC Bench, near 2 other foxes fans.

Away support 10 - was staggering - never stopped singing

Weale 7 - no chance with any of the goals and made a series of excellent saves

Naughton 7 - very solid and worked well with Bamba to close attacks on right

Bamba 7.5 - this guy is impressive and has great ball control and good distribution

Hobbs 5 - found wanting against Tevez for first and out of position when Silva split defence for third

Berner 5 - done for pace several times especially for second goal

Wellens 6 - did a fair job first half and I was surprised he was subbed

Gally 7 - good delivery and set up several attacks first half. Injury looked innocuous. Still worry he ducks tackles and his penalty technique scares the sh*t out of me

Abe 7.5 - thrived and showed his quality. Superb pass for our second, after being played in by the ref (as good a ball as Silva'ss for their 3rd)

King 6.5 - had a great first half, unlucky twice. Second half drifted into good spaces but never picked out by Moussa or Oakley

Dyer 8 - our MOM winning penalty and great finish for second, pace did Man City defence but he needs to use his right foot to cross

Howard 5 - tried but game took quick for him to be effective, showing his age

Subs

Moussa 6 - did well, pacey, skillful but lacks vision and final delivery

Oakley 5 - too negative

Waghorn 5 - offered pace but too late to make a difference

Ref

Halsey had a good game and got the big decisions right - 8. Good to see he has recovered from cancer

Team effort 10 - we won't look out of place in prem based on this performance

[The Doctor]

from the Tv only

Weale 7 Good tonight. 1st goal? penalty was a good reaction with his legs but even better save from Johnson just after. Kept us in it.

Naughton 6 Ok but not great for the second and 4th goal.

Bamba 6 Central pairing was a mess. Both too far apart for the second goal. Did some good stuff but at times looks like an accident waiting to happen. He'll be great for us but think he will commit some howlers as well.

Hobbs 5 Not great really. Poor effort at a tackle for the first goal, didn't keep the line for the third and should have been sent off.

Berner 4 Totally outclassed. Ok for the championship but clearly no longer has the pace for ahigher level. At fault for the second goal and left his man several times after as well.

Gallagher 7 Good penalty and thought he was doing well. we need him at the moment as no one else seems able to take set pieces.

Abe 5 Simply awful in the first half and not much better in the second though his one two with the ref and subsequent through ball to dyer was class.

King 5 A great performance for us. Any premier scout watching that will have second thoughts about buying him. Our best player for some he was almost totally anonymous.

Wellens 6 Ok but seemed to lack energy. Hope he's not injured as he is central to all our creative play at the moment.

Dyer 8 Terrific performance capped by a good quality goal.

Howard 4 Dare say he tried but he has no pace and offered nothing. Simply too slow to play at this level.

Moussa 6 Did ok but set pieces were not that great and looked a little out of his depth.

Waghorn 5.5 Looked short of confidence though he did offer more than Howard.

Oakley 6 A towards the end of career type of performance. Not too bad but had no real influence on the match..

Hardly, they were at a sensible distance, berner had tucked in too far, allowing them to get the cross in. Sure in the box they had split off, but thats because bamba went and got himself on the line and saved us, for a couple of seconds - if you're going to blame anyone for the second then it's berner for drifting in and allowing space to cross, and naughton for a lack of concentration.

Weale - 8 - Don't think he could have done much with any of the goals - a few top saves as well.

Naughton - 6 - supported dyer well but could have done better for the 2nd and 4th

Bamba - 7 - Good again - didn't get much from corners, man city were piling the men on him and we should have used that to our advantage with the marking on howard, berner, hobbs and king suffering to an extent because of this.

Hobbs - 6 - lucky not to be sent off, unlucky with the deflection that set up tevez for the first but needs to put a stronger challenge in, poor for the third goal, needs to step up with the rest of the defence

Berner - 5 - At fault for the 3rd and done for pace on several occassions - still good enough for the championship imo but not going to hack it once/if we go up.

Abe - 8 - Ran the show second half but could have done better with the first.

Wellens - 7 - played alright and a disappointment to lose him, paticularly with oakley coming on instead.

King - 6 - fairly anonymous.

Gallagher - 8 - Played very well, tracking back, getting stuck in and scored the penalty. To an extent our chances went when he came off.

Howard - 5 - He's a trier but just isn't good enough anymore.

Dyer - 8 - Caused no ends of problems, won a penalty, should perhaps have had another and a cool finish to get us back into it.

Subs:

Moussa - 5 - Still have faith the lad with turn out good but the last two games have shown he's not there yet.

Oakley - 6 - Alright, needs to be cynical in the break for their fourth and just chop the lad down.

Waghorn - 6 - Like moussa, could turn out good but not there yet, he put himself about a bit but got nothing really.

[Starkwell]

Hmmm, not sure any of this 'Abe was awful in the 1st half' stuff is very fair - can anybody who watched that performance really class any performance as less than decent (maybe Howard's, but he still played to his limits, they're just rather low these days) -

I'm guessing it's a reaction to Abe being a bit loose in the tackle for the first goal, but remember it was Tevez running at him, not Steve Howard, and Hobbs should still have cleaned that up.

Apart from the two mistakes that led to goals in the first half, our players were superb in the first half, King and Abe grafting and really limiting the movement of their midfield, with Wellens, Gally and Dyer moving the ball forward.

Seriously, several people have said Abe was 'Awful', yet he played a key part in restricting the most expensive team in the FA Cup, ever, to a very few chances, it was only defensive looseness from Hobbs & Naughton that broke our ranks.

[Guest Basildon Fox]

Hmmm, not sure any of this 'Abe was awful in the 1st half' stuff is very fair - can anybody who watched that performance really class any performance as less than decent (maybe Howard's, but he still played to his limits, they're just rather low these days) -

I'm guessing it's a reaction to Abe being a bit loose in the tackle for the first goal, but remember it was Tevez running at him, not Steve Howard, and Hobbs should still have cleaned that up.

Apart from the two mistakes that led to goals in the first half, our players were superb in the first half, King and Abe grafting and really limiting the movement of their midfield, with Wellens, Gally and Dyer moving the ball forward.

Seriously, several people have said Abe was 'Awful', yet he played a key part in restricting the most expensive team in the FA Cup, ever, to a very few chances, it was only defensive looseness from Hobbs & Naughton that broke our ranks.

I swear that most people were watching a different game last night. How can you possibly say Abe was anything other than gash in the first half. Did he even pick a Leicester player out when making a forward pass? All this Abe love in from many yet I think he struggles massively with the pace and physical aspect of the game in this country. Yes he performed better 2nd half but they were at half pace.

Make no mistake it could have been a cricket score last night and anybody who thinks otherwise is only deluding themselves. Woefully short of quality in defence and midfield. If we play that open at the back on Saturday we will lose again.

[FoxyPV]

Concerning all the criticism of Berner - he was up against Adam Johnson who regurlarly tears good PL standards defenders apart nevermind a solid championship player.

He was shown up last night but will still be more than good for our charge to promotion.

[breadandcheese]

Concerning all the criticism of Berner - he was up against Adam Johnson who regurlarly tears good PL standards defenders apart nevermind a solid championship player.

He was shown up last night but will still be more than good for our charge to promotion.

Absolutely.

The same applies to Hobbs. Tevez tore him a new *rsehole last night, but then Tevez was clearly a cut above every single player on that pitch. Unfortunately for us, Tevez is one of 5 or 6 players who can truly be classed as stand-out world players (along with the likes of Messi and Ronaldo). If you look at his all round play, never losing the ball, picking out passes, his general movement and his ability on the ball, not many defenders can cope with that.

So Hobbs will have hopefully learnt a lot and be focused on upping his game to compete at the highest level.

[Topman]

Thought Abe was awsome in the 2nd half, maybe try him on a more advance role, looks like he can find that little pass to split the defence

[lcfc_jme]

Weale - 8. Yes he was at fault for their 4th (as he so often is if shots come at him from outside the box) but realistically he was hung out to dry with the other 3 and had no chance with them. That said, he saved a penalty and made a couple of worldies.

Naughton - 6. A young Glen Johnson, in that going forward he's such an outlet bombing on from full-back, going on the overlap, beating people and delivering crosses. However, he IS a defender first and foremost, and his positioning is so, so suspect at times.

Hobbs - 5. Poor game really which is a shame as I like him and want him to be brilliant for us. Seemed to struggle to read the game and were it not for exceptionally lenient refereeing he'd be serving what I'd imagine is a 3-game ban for a straight red.

Bamba - 7. Aerial colossus, so composed on the ball and rarely lost a tackle. LOVED him dominating Scarlos in the first half. Went AWOL for their 3rd, but then again, nobody in our team realised what was happening when they bagged their 3rd. Just hope he doesn't drop his performance level for Saturday against Morison.

Berner - 5. Old and looked like his legs had gone, but to be fair youngsters in the Prem look like that against one-footed Johnson at times. No shame, and certainly still good enough to do a job in the Championship.

Wellens - 6. Typical bullish performance, sprayed some great passes around whilst on and looked to be stuck in. Wanted him to stick the nut on Tevez, but kept his cool. Just not really a lot he can do when he's the only kind of "muscle" in a midfield against Yaya Toure and Patrick Vieira, to be fair.

King - 5. Largely anonymous again I thought. Made a couple of key tackles and interceptions when we were being too respectful of them, and also drove on late in the game when we were going for an equaliser, but not much else of note.

Abe - 7. Ridiculous engine. So full of running, and looked at times to get stuck in against people who look like they eat him for breakfast in Toure and Vieira. Pretty sure he dumped one of them on their arse at one stage, as well. Lovely stuff. Got himself an assist and looked more than capable when allowed to roam forward a bit more. Could do a job in the Prem for someone like Wigan.

Gallagher - Certainly a 7 whilst on, which is weird 'cos I usually don't see much in the way of effort with him. Can be a good player but can also be exceptionally frustrating and anonymous; yesterday he was the former.

Dyer - 6. Frustrating. Ran into traffic on several occasions and was very lucky to win a penalty in my eyes. That said, in a side like ours his pace is still a real asset and threat. BADLY needs to learn how to at least attempt things with his right peg. Only the most gifted players can get away with being 1-footed all the time; he certainly isn't one. Squaring up to Patrick Vieira was actually hilarious. He'd have been destroyed

Howard - 4. Literally won nothing against Kompany, and the one header I do remember him winning was an awful forward flick which went to nobody but Joe Hart. Huffed and puffed and sadly that's all of note he did.

Subs:

Moose - 6. Lively. Started pretty badly but got gradually better and grew in confidence as the game went on. Always looked to try things and be inventive, which is what you want from a winger. Him skinning 3 players on the edge of their box was a fantastic sight. Needs nurturing properly and allowing to gain confidence, but could become a very useful player indeed.

Oakley - 6. Was upset when he came on as I'm not sure what he offers anymore, but aside from being absolutely skinned once on a Man City counter attack he looked decent enough. Sprayed a couple of passes around and got stuck in a few times as well. More noticeable than King, is what I will say.

Waghorn - 7. For the time he was on, his effort and application was rewarded with him being a more effective target-man than Steve Howard and he got more joy against Kompany and Lescott than Howard could have if he'd played for 600 minutes. Kept the ball pretty well and seemed suprisingly sharp. Would like to see him involved earlier and given more playing time to regain confidence.

[North-LondonFox]

Can't believe Naughton isn't getting more credit, I thought Kyle and Lloyd looked prem class.

Howard was woeful - is it just me or does he always seem to be having a pop at the other players? Particularly annoying when he is by far and away the least effective player on the pitch.

[Kitchandro]

I swear that most people were watching a different game last night. How can you possibly say Abe was anything other than gash in the first half. Did he even pick a Leicester player out when making a forward pass? All this Abe love in from many yet I think he struggles massively with the pace and physical aspect of the game in this country. Yes he performed better 2nd half but they were at half pace.

Make no mistake it could have been a cricket score last night and anybody who thinks otherwise is only deluding themselves. Woefully short of quality in defence and midfield. If we play that open at the back on Saturday we will lose again.

Yeh I agree, he was awful. Much better second half when he decided to run and get stuck in, as well as run with the ball a bit. He seems too inconsistent with his work rate for me, some games he doesn't stop running and closes down and gets in tackles - but some games, especially first halves (such as Leeds and Swansea) he just seems lost and a passenger. He needs to be revved up from it right from the start.

I agree about the defence, you can legislate for them being outclassed by Man City but you can still be prganised as a unit. The offside trap didn't work at all and it was a knife throught butter at times. We dominated possession for a lot of the first half but we just concede goals way too easily.

[Haydos]

Can't believe Naughton isn't getting more credit, I thought Kyle and Lloyd looked prem class.

I'm very hasty to say not yet. Bombing up and down the line he is fantastic, great stamina and technique.

But he can look clueless at the back at times. I'm not saying he is a bad defender, he put in plenty of great tackles last night but his concentration is a real issue and he has cost us a few goals in the last 6 or so weeks. Vieira's goal last night was a prime example. He is ball watching from the moment Zabaleta gets the ball wide right and has no idea what Vieira is doing at any point.