Five Thoughts: Hull City 0-2 Manchester City

THOUGHT THE FIRST: Credit Kompany: Leaving aside the fact (and fact it is) Jelavic would've been called for a foul in a La Liga or a CL match involving Barcelona, and leaving aside the fact Jelavic made the most of the contact, it should also be noted:

1. Kompany absolutely deserved the red and
2. Kompany absolutely made the right play.

You can't go down 1-0 on the road after ten minutes against the sisters of the poor, much less against a team currently residing in the semi-finals of the FA Cup. The sisters would've packed eleven in the box and Hull likely would've done the same. There's not a CB in the world that doesn't try to make some kind of play, the primary job of the position being to guard against the scoring of a goal. Kompany did what he could to stop the goal and, again, I credit him for doing so. Better to be a man down rather than a goal down, especially when you have the more talented side.

THOUGHT THE SECOND: And Speaking of Talent: what a match for the magic man, David Silva. The removal of Kompany opened up just a shade more space-21 bodies on the pitch instead of 22-and history shows if you give Silva an inch, he'll take the veritable mile. I'm not sure if this was Silva's best game in a Man City uniform but his best match of this season came at a crucial time to say the least. After Kompany's sending off, City boasted Demichelis and Garcia in the back which, past history being the judge, is just as bad as playing a man down. To be fair, Demichelis played well, Garcia played fantastically well, and the unquestioned MOM produced a strike any player in any league would proudly call their own, not to mention his latest "oh-my-lord-did-he-just-do-that" pass which put the game out of reach. Dear Merlyn-more like this, please.

THOUGHT THE THIRD: It's a Family Blog so I can't say how I honestly and truly feel about Boyd's belligerent behavior. Bad enough trying to pull off an Arjen Robben but worse still was this little touch of class currently weaving its way through the internet. It does not escape the eyes of the folks at Five Thoughts that south of the sceptered isle, Boyd's dive gets called a penalty 100% of the time (particularly in CL matches). It does not escape our observations that even on British soil, there's a better than 80% chance Boyd's mischief gets a PK. A glass should rightly be lifted in Lee Mason's direction for his non-call but as for Boyd himself, someone needs to suspend his sorry backside and that right soon.

THOUGHT THE FOURTH: Back Line Brilliance and what were the odds of those words being said after Kompany's send off? A notch below Silva's majestic performance was the extraordinary teamwork shown by the back line. Hull had the man advantage, City's one truly solid defender sent off and the home crowd behind it but couldn't find the net. Hull, it would appear, is relatively new to the term ‘offsides trap' and that's fine with yours truly. It seems like an age since we praised the back line as a unit but as a unit, the ‘company' (see what I did there?) of Glichy, Garcia, Demichelis and Zabaleta played a high line that drew 6 offsides flags, closed off the wings and frankly put in an effort that was badly needed.

BONUS THOUGHT: Javi Garcia is moving from ‘rapidly improving' to ‘increasingly invaluable.'

THOUGHT THE FIFTH: Poll! You know what to do.