...what a great result, and performance to well and truly put the MK Dons debacle to bed. THE GAME Well i dont think anyone expected us to get even a point so we did extremely well to get the draw. We started in a 4-5-1 formation with Remy up front on his own for his home debut, a long night ahead for him up there. City dominated possession throughout the match for the large part but we defended resolutely. First half we were living a dangerous game giving them a few decent chances - one brilliant save by Cesar just one of the chances. But we were not without chances ourselves. Taarabt really should have put a better shot on goal when through as he put it straight at Hart. I did fear for us at half time as it looked like City were getting closer and the chances were getting more regular. Could we hold out? At half time I was also introduced to CORKeR by Nines who sits just behind us. Good to meet you CORKeR, shame we didnt have to buy you that pint when you predicted us to win! Second half we grew and grew in confidence and as it remained 0-0 you knew they would get frustrated more and more. However, we did have a couple of opportunities to get forward for a chance on goal but chose to pass sideways which was a bit frustrating. But City are a team who can punish you in an instant so I guess I can understand it. Both teams had penalty shouts but the game ended 0-0 - a great result for us. Unbeaten in January in the league. THE RATINGS CESAR - 8.5 - MOM - what another great performance. some great saves and not afraid to come out and clear the ball on a difficult wet night for goalkeepers. punching was a bit dodgy at times though, hence the 8.5. But cant complain at all. TRAORE - 7 - solid throughout but was prone to giving the ball away with a few bad touches. but defended well generally. HILL - 8 - as usual a composed and full effort performance and he was constantly encouraging others. NELSEN - 8 - gutted it was his last game. superb again. going to be a big big loss. only complaint with him and hill was that city often pulled the ball back across thew six yard line and were allowed to do it too much. but thats a minor issue seeing as city have such good attacking flair. ONUOHA - 8 - great performance, both defensively and attacking wise. got forward well with power and pace and was composed. closed city down well and bar a couple of errors a good performance. DERRY - 7.5 - always going to be tough against their midfield but coped well. did the simple things well and always sat in front of the back four giving protection. GRANERO - 7 - a good performance but was at fault a few times in first half giving the ball away cheaply. but saw alot of the ball so percentage wise not too bad in terms of errors to good passes. but my big frustration was that he always plays it sideways when decent options are available forwards. also a poor free kick. MBIA - 8 - another energetic performance and always around to chase and tackle. won a few free kicks but also gave a few away. overall an impressive game. TAARABT - 8 - worked very hard and always a threat going forwards on the break. should have done better when through as it was a poor shot but cant complain too much. overall passed simply to others to retain possession and linked others into play well. supported remy well. FABIO - 8 - close to MOM for me. played at RM and put in a great performance. was poor v MK Dons at LB so perhaps RM is a good option for him. Used his pace on a number of occasions and gave them loads to think about. Linked well with other players and was full of energy. REMY - 7 - hard night up top on his own and as expected chances were few and far between. but linked well with taarabt and looked like it should have been a penalty. worked hard chasing their defence down. cant fault him at all due to the nature of the defensive performance. norwich game is when we expect more. SUBS: ZAMORA - n/a - whilst not on for long i thought he was very good. used his experience to draw fouls in the closing minutes and won a few headers. did exactly what was required at a crucial time. his sub was very noticeable as he really put himself about. PARK - n/a - came on too late FAURLIN - n/a - came on too late FINAL WORD I think HR got it spot on tonight tbh. Team selection was conservative and team did very well to defend like that for 90 plus minutes. I dont think anyone can not be happy with a point against them. A well deserved one as well. We havent had much luck in terms of points v City over the last two seasons and havent got what we deserved. Last night we did. A great turnaround from MK Dons, despite a raft of different players, its good to put it to bed so quickly. Now we must make sure the point last night is worth it by getting all three v Norwich. Now is the time we MUST start to win games on a regular basis. But progress in this month has been brilliant, unbeaten v the likes of Chelsea, Spurs and City is a triffic set of results.
Great write up Judo. Such a shame Adel missed that one chance but then again they are a great team and we should be very happy with that point. The main thing now is to beat Norwich. We've always raised our game against the bigger sides and we have to do that ruthlessly now against sides that we have a better chance of beating. Really looking forward to the Adel / Remy partnership against the teams less amazing than Man City.
Excellent Judo. Another good report. Always enjoy reading match reports after a good performance. Agree with your ratings as well.
Good report as ever Judo. If Norway had been bothered to drag himself over for the game we would of nicked it I'm sure. And you would of had to buy CORKeR a pint. Joking aside, if we do go down this season what I will miss is watching teams like City. Although we performed well, it was a pleasure watching the likes of Da Silva, Nasri, Aguero and Tevez plying their trade ( as well as the rest of them. ) I tried as I watched the game to drink in the oppositions skill and endeavour. This is extremely difficult to do do as you are polarised towards your own team. Obviously. But as you get older, I feel you begin to appreciate good players. Whether they bat for or against you. It also pays testament to the likes of Derry, Hill and Nelsen that at their age they managed to contain some of the best players in world football. No mean feat. I hope we don' mess it up as we did last season against supposedley lesser teams. If we don't... It is surely onwards and upwards for us long suffering Rs. Come on you Rsssss! Together we can do this.
Appreciate your efforts as always Judo. Now in the luxurious position of being able to expect reports from both Col and you reminds me of the days of my youth (think Jurassic Park and go back a couple of decades more!) when we also had two match reports to look forward to. Ask your dad if he remembers when on a Saturday evening - after the game, about 6 o'clock, the Evening Standard and Evening News used to bomb round with their classified editions featuring the football results and write-ups. Imagine that! An hour and a quarter after the final whistle and they'd got both papers all copied up, printed AND distributed all round London. Most people I knew bought both papers, especially when the Rs had got a result! Okay, so it's not quite the same thing with the Evening Col and the Evening Judo - but it could be... Just hurry up!!!
Thanks Judo. Love the reports. Actually starting to feel optimistic again. I might even start tipping us to win every now and then! Under MH we didn't sign much quality nor did he instill a good work ethic among the players. Under Harry, we've sorted out the latter and if we bring in more quality today, we'll have the two key ingredients for success. Our spine will still be there, remy has already played a few games and if we sign EPL players like samba and crouch, I can't see gelling being a real issue.
