City 4 - 0 Newcastle

Much like the CPR class I took this week, City needed some emergency CPR/AED-ing at the beginning of the first half. Although we showed signs of life, it wasn’t until the 30-minute mark that City really started to come alive. Even though it was a slow start, its not because we looked sluggish or rusty coming from the break, but we looked for the right chances. Like it has been said “quality over quantity,” and City lived by that this afternoon.

We Plenty of chances fell to the wayside, but when they needed to, Clichy sent a low cross through the box to a sliding Tevez. As it was said on the broadcast, when City has a build like the one that led to the first goal, we are unstoppable. And, I mean just give the ball to Silva and your chances to score increase exponentially. When the works together as well as they did today, City are unbeatable. But, that has been our Achilles heel this season, plain and simple. There has been a lot of inconsistency not only with form but selection as well. There are a lot of factors that led to this, but it would have been interesting to see the race for the EPL if City had a healthy attack all season. But, hindsight is 20/20, right?

Other than the first 5 to 10 minutes of the second half, Newcastle didn’t really show any signs of life. They were very lazy at the back, leaving plenty of space for City’s attack to do what they wanted too with the ball.

It was a display of true professionalism by our Blues today; regardless of the opponent it can be easy to make a lesser opponent look better than they are. It was a sheer display of dominance; from the attack all the way back to the defending. Forgetting the struggle at the beginning of the season by the boys at the back, our defense has been a consistent element of our team this season and they should be praised for what they have done. They have dealt with a lot of scrutiny from the media at times, but we know that can happen when you are in the spotlight of Europe. Having to deal with constant injuries, mixing and matching, change in formation, it would be understandable that they’d give up on the team. But, when you have players like Zabaleta their, it would be surprising if he’d let them falter at the back.

It is going to be a fun end to the season as we fight to maintain our place in the league tables, and with a Chelsea loss today, that helps our chances. But, we still need to worry about Tottenham, that’s for sure.

Tevez (7) – Good ol’ reliable, it is great to see him play with confidence, although he rarely lacks it. The way he turns off defenders causes problems for any defender. He pest-like mentality adds a much-needed element to the City attack.

Dzeko (5) – Showed he didn’t have two left feet today and did a good job of creating plays with them (his feet). His constant begging for calls in the box and on attack is getting a bit annoying. Play the game, and you will get the calls when justified.

Silva (6) (Sinclair) – I single handily take credit for his goal as my Silva jersey finally came in the mail this week J. Other than the goal, he was typical Silva, and that is certainly spoiling us.

Nasri (6) (Aguero) He surprised me today, showing that he has a pulse. My only wonder is if whether it is too little too late for the Frenchmen with City?

Barry (5) – Thankfully he made for his absolute disgrace of a shot earlier in the game, when Kompany and a Newcastle defender deflected his shot in.

Yaya (7) (MotM) – Yaya gets my man of the match, granted it could have been given to a number of worthy candidates. His display of power, defensively and offensively, was on display in spades today. It culminated in his goal that would have tore the net if Elliot hadn’t deflected it.

Zaba (5) – Quiet game for Zaba, which is not a bad thing. He didn’t much to do defensively as Newcastle pushed the middle, when attacking. He had a few chances to put a mark on the game, but nothing you’d expect him to score from.

Vinny (6) (Garcia) – Vinny with a great return to the lineup/captaincy. After a headline filled week, it was good to see him put that behind him, lead the defense and even score a goal. But who would be surprised he was able to put the talk behind him? Not me.

Lescott (5) – Good to see him and Kompany partnered together, reminds me of last season…. He showed to be a tough beat for the Magpies attack.

Clichy (6) – He was surely missed a month ago (well it feels like that) when City took on Everton before the international break. He had a great early cross that led to a sliding Tevez goal.

Hart (4) – Nothing to do, so low rating. Did make a save in the last 12 minutes, but the shot was right at him.

Aguero (5) – Showed a lot of effort when he came on, but to no avail. It was still a good sign to see he didn’t lose a step coming back from injury.

Garcia (N/A)

Sinclair (N/A) – His shot needed one hell of a save from Elliot, good to see him get A CHANCE!!!