A difficult game, but one which we won deservedly. We were clearly affected by Sergio's injury, especially as it was so early in the game but we did react positively. As most others, I think James, Ya Ya and Sami were excellent, both full backs had very good games and nullified any threat from Everton out wide and Dimichelis was solid apart from one misplaced pass! Joe Hart had a quiet match but picked off every cross and made the two-point-saving save when called upon and you can't ask for more. I was impressed with young Pozzo. Anyone who expected him "to fill Sergio's shoes" must be barking, but he did do all the things a striker should be doing and has real promise. He was unlucky not to score and what a boost that would have given him. The jibe that City are a one man band was shown to be rubbish, not least because we were actually missing at least half a team! we have quality in depth and real grit, determination and team spirit. In the end Everton had one real chance in 95 minutes.
The refereeing was "controversial" but directives are so contradictory now that this is always the case. The best examples are the penalty we got yesterday and the one we didn't get last week. Last week's muppet of a ref almost ended the possibility of a penalty ever being awarded again, and so yesterday's was bound to seem soft! I can see why Everton fans were angered but I think it was a foul - "there was contact" in the words of United match reporters! All in all, Mariner was poor rather than biased.
