What did you all make of it then?
First half you looked no different to last year, completely unenthusiastic about the prospect of playing in a hostile atmosphere in the cold weather. I suppose it didn't help that the state of the pitch prevented either team being able to produce an accurate pass in certain regions of the pitch, but I was expecting better. We really, really should have gone in a good 2 or 3 goals up at half time and the game should have been dead. I'm actually genuinely disappointed that we didn't make the most of our first half dominance and only came away with a draw.
Obviously the second half was a completely different affair and we really struggled to get out momentum back or get the ball off you. I thought Tevez had a good game for your lot, but your man of the match must surely be either de Jong or Kompany, although how they got away with some of their aerial challenges on Jones considering the number of stupid free-kicks the referee gave against Stoke forwards, I'll never know. Kompany always impresses against us, mind, he's a damn good player.
A draw was probably a fair result on reflection. We're disappointed not to have put the game to bed in the first half, while you'll be likely to focus on your second half performance. That said, I can recall quite a few very good chances that we had, but I'm struggling to think of more than two clear cut chances you had, not counting shots from outside the box. How ANYBODY can criticise our football after watching Man City tippy-tappy the ball around in their own half for 15 minutes at a time is beyond me. It's absolutely baffling that you waste so much time in your own half when with a bit more intent you could probably have had a good go at overwhelming us at the back.
Mancini does your club no credit either. Last season, Alan Wiley had a decent go at refereeing the game fairly in the first half, although he did give rather a few dubious decisions your way. At half time, he followed Wiley all the way back into the referee's dressing room and in the second half he gave you absolutely everything, including chalking off a perfectly good goal. Again, today, the first half sees a referee that gives some ludicrous decisions against Stoke and in your favour (including the 'look how hard I am, I'll give a foul throw against Delap but let Manchester City take their throw-ins wherever and however they feel like' bit), only for Mancini and Kidd to hound him into the tunnel. Second half, the referee's performance changes as he gives more decisions in your favour. It's not right and it reflects poorly on you as a football club. Makes you no better than that lot up the road.
P.S. Balotelli - how much did you pay for him? I know Robinho disappeared in the winter, but this guy really does rather take the biscuit, what a girl.
