Man city really don’t look too special

MAN CITY 3 - QPR 1:
MAN CITY REALLY DON’T LOOK TOO SPECIAL



Carlos Tevez wheels away in celebration after netting against QPR
Monday September 3,2012
By Richard Tanner Have your say(0)
JOSE MOURINHO kept his own counsel, but the general view at the Etihad Stadium was that the Special One would not have been too impressed as City laboured to victory against a team of virtual strangers.

City know they will have to improve at both ends of the pitch if they are to have any chance against Mourinho’s Real Madrid when they kick off a daunting Champions League group at the Bernabeu on September 18.

Whereas City rolled over all before them in the early weeks of last season, they are failing to kill off teams while creaking at the back.

If two late chances had fallen to a striker rather than centre-half Ryan Nelsen, City might have been embarrassed by QPR’s second-half rally.

For a manager who covets clean sheets with almost religious zeal, Roberto Mancini is growing increasingly frustrated at this team’s habit of conceding – City have now gone five games since their last shut-out.

Maybe that is why he left his right-hand man David Platt to field the post-match questions.


We have not been at our best, but you counter-balance that by the amount of points we have
David Platt


“We’re not overly happy at the moment,” said Platt.


“We have not been at our best, but you counter-balance that by the amount of points we have.

“There were times against QPR when we got through almost too easily and we weren’t ruthless enough.

“We’re not playing as well as we did this time last season when we were blowing teams away in the first half and winning matches easier as a result.

“There is a certain amount of expectancy from ourselves and from our supporters because of the standards we’ve set and we know we can improve.”

The international break comes as a blessing for City. It will give David Silva some more match fitness, provide key players like Sergio Aguero and Gareth Barry more time to recover from injuries and Mario Balotelli the chance to have laser surgery on his eyes to enable him to ditch the contact lenses that are causing him infections.


City had only a Yaya Toure strike to show for their first-half dominance when Bobby Zamora stunned them with an equaliser.

They responded within two minutes, however, with Edin Dzeko heading them back in front.

Carlos Tevez, having set up the first two goals, added the third in injury time, sticking his leg out instinctively to divert Dzeko’s wayward shot into the net.

QPR may have only one point, but manager Mark Hughes was encouraged by his team’s effort, especially from debutant Este ban Granero.

“It’s progress from what we’ve produced so far,” he said. “We were in the backyard of the champions and we imposed ourselves on a very, very good team. It’s something that we can build on.

“Granero was excellent. He showed what a great player he’s going to be for us.”

City will have noted the fact that Mourinho allowed Granero to leave Real Madrid – underlining the depth of quality at his disposal.

Man City (4-4-2): Hart 6; Zabaleta 6 (K Toure 74, 5), Kompany 6, Lescott 6, Kolarov 6; Silva 6 (Milner 81), Y Toure 7, Rodwell 6, Nasri 6 (Razak 89); Tevez 8, Dzeko 6. Booked: Kolarov, Rodwell. Goals: Y Toure 16, Dzeko 61, Tevez 90.

QPR (4-4-2): Green 7; Bosingwa 6, Ferdinand 5 (On uoha 67, 5), Nelsen 7, Fabio 6; Wright-Phillips 6, Granero 7 (Cisse 85), Park 6, Faurlin 5 (Dyer 72, 5); Zamora 6, Johnson 6. Booked: Zamora. Goal: Zamora 59.

Referee: C Foy (Merseyside).