MOM - Sunderland's 9 men Seriously, we play much better against top teams. Elmos not good enough at this level. You take the 3 points though. Norwich's GD just got ripped to shreds too. Might make a dif end of season
Very poor performance against 9 men. We should of taken Sunderland apart and our inability to score was glaringly obvious. We can not continue like this and stay in the PL. Time to recruit a striker coach if you ask me.
But it's the results against the likes of Sunderland, Palace, Norwich, Stoke, etc that will define how we do this season. After seeing 45 minutes of us on the attack, there is cause for some concern. But I should say if you told me before the game we would get a 1-0 victory I would have taken that and the 3 points easily considering the injuries we had and the fact that our team sheet changed just minutes before kickoff. But I'm not delusional(I'll leave that to the Sunderland fans), that second half display was a bit of a letdown.
11 points ahead of palace 10 ahead of sunlan 6 ahead of norwich. Can't be too unhappy about that after a quarter of the season gone.
I don't think it's cause for too much concern. They had everyone back in the box and defended very well, as has been said, limiting us to long range efforts. It's disappointing that we couldn't put a few past them yes but I wouldn't be too worried about it. We were without Aluko today don't forget. Though I think we could have had Aguero up front and not been able to breach their defense in that second half. Elmo's crosses were a disappointment again and he looked short of ideas for long periods.
Me too with Sagbo. Thought he had some incredible first touches in some very tight situations. In the second half he was largely anonymous and I thought he should have been in the box more, tended to drift out to the left too much. Great first half by City, frustrating second half for us all. In the first half Sunderland never troubled City once. But a valuable 3 points. Could have done with Alukos trickery in the second half. And I would have put Gedo on instead of Koren.
Indeed! Genuinely think that there only is that one relegation spot up for grabs and there's already several candidates for it...
Re the goal difference-our is getting better relative to the rest of the crowd below us. Its stating the obvious but keep keeping clean sheets and our goal difference will not be a problem.
We made it so easy for sunderland to defend by just putting crosses into the box and playing to their strenghts, also thought build up play was a bit slow and pedestrian, but it's another three points in the bag.
Putting Prossy on the bench is just a waste of space,and letting him get on the pitch is an insult to Gedo and even Matty Fryatt.
Sagbo could have spent that entire second half in the box and never touched the box, he moved out to help try making something happen. Bruce got all the subs right but Brady should have been on sooner. The whole team bar Livermore looked complacent as soon as the second half kicked off, and they all looked more interested in getting on te scoresheet from 30 yards or walking the ball through the box in an insane solo effort than getting some proper team moves going. The crosses were all wrong floated in high and slow for the tall Sunderland back 3 to keep heading away with their eyes closed. Should have been hammered in hard and low, some would have taken bounces to the feet of our players or at least caused mad panic in their defence. We needed to show more desire, tempo and urgency, and I think we were very fortunate to escape with 3 points. We could be there til this time next year and not scored, that chance Harper magnificently saved would have been in the back of the net the other 9 times out of 10.
Just got back, first half, we played very well. Kept the ball and caused them problems. Second half, Sunderland defended very well with their 9 men and looked to hit us on the counter. We were unlucky not to have another goal, but lucky to keep it 1-0. Performance aside, it was a great win and if I'm being honest, Sunderland look in trouble. Altidore still looks ****!
i remember a game from years back when a team was down to 9. brighton i think. we couldn't score then. it's not unusual. strikers need space but eight in defence means there isn't any and you're reduced to shooting from distance. ignore the 2nd half performance, it's the points that are important. aluko will be back and brady will get more time.
Agree...very difficult to find space in the box when they are packing 7 back. We looked much more dangerous against their full team out there when Sagbo had space to run into. I'd have Elmo and Brady switch wings so they can cut in and shoot with their strong foot...like Spurs do with Lennon and Townsend. Elmo is too predictable right now.
The points are the main thing, but Quinn should have been on for Huddlestone in the second half to inject some energy into the midfield. As much as Hudd offers us ball retention against the better teams he slows everything to a walking pace when we attack.
With 11v11 we totally dominated, that passing move was amazing, must have been about 30 passes in the end and it spanned across the whole pitch. Rosenior's beautiful cross made the goal and even though it was an own goal Sagbo played a part by attacking it. Sunderland were well disciplined in not leaving big gaps despite all our possession. The support was a disappointment today. I said at half time that their game plan would be to frustrate us and keep it at 1-0 while hoping for a break and hoping that our fans would become frustrated and get on the team's back. We did exactly that. Every backward pass was groaned at. The amount of football fans who just don't understand football amazes me. By groaning and getting on their backs you were playing right into Sunderlands hands. As thw half went on they got a few sloppy free kicks off us as the lads started struggling with the pressure from their own 'fans'. Sunderland's support was good, but it was laughable when they went mental about Huddlestone's perfect tackle. The reds both looked like yellows to me but looking at the reactions of the players said it all. No one complained from Sunderland, City players were outraged and the ref showed no hesitation both times. I'm pretty sure the Cattermole one will have been halfway up his leg and the Dossena one an aggressive swipe in frustration.
