City v Portsmouth player ratings

Given Generally looked in command, had one or two good saves to make. Could have done nothing about either goal. Could he have held onto Glen Johnson's first shot though? 6

Logan An injury to Richards gave him his first league start, and he did well. I fear he'd be dominated by Kranjčar but he held his own defensively. Never out of place, made almost all of the right decisions. Drifted off his post for the Hreidarsson goal, taking the shine off his day. 6

Kompany Like Logan, impressive up until the second goal, where Hreidarsson escaped his clutches. Otherwise dealt with Peter Crouch very ably, starting to look like a very authoritative centre back. His attempt to replace Richard Dunne seem to have led to his imitating Dunne's rather unsubtle distribution technique of aiming for an imaginary Niall Quinn in a City shirt on the edge of the opposition box. Still probably our best player. 7

Onuoha Never looked fully in command of the waspish David Nugent buzzing around him (a sort of Dickov/Macken crossover but quite effective nonetheless). Distribution was poor - often putting Nigel de Jong or Bridge in trouble. Richard Dunne should return to the side on Thursday. 5

Bridge Has now cost three goals in five games. Was shrugged off the ball by Johnson as he surged towards goal. Had a shaky first half, but more assured as the game progressed, showing more and more attacking quality. 5

de Jong We needed him to dominate midfield and he failed to do so. Looked visibly restricted after picking up an early booking. Failed to ever really penetrate with his passing. Gets a rest on Thursday, but if Davis and Basinas had this easy a time with him today then how much fun are Alonso and Mascherano going to have on Sunday? 6

Elano We saw on Wednesday what he can do in favourable conditions - today we saw what happens when things aren't to his liking. Started in midfield but was barely getting a touch - moved out onto the right after about thirty minutes, where he stayed. From there he got more of the ball, but his final pass was generally poor (Guardian Chalkboard on this coming!), and he struggled to really dictate the pace of the game. If anything he slowed the game down when we needed to move the ball to Bellamy, Ireland and Robinho quickly. 5

Zabaleta Another midfield terrier who was rather tame today. Put in a few decent tackles but otherwise the game rather passed him by. Put through once but failed to make a decent contact with his shot. 5

Ireland As is often the case with these away games, his passing game wasn't quite there today but he willingly embraced the destructive arts instead. Covered lots of ground, and put in some good tackles but could not turn the tide. Due a goal though. 6

Robinho Absolutely anonymous. Could not get into the game from the left, ended up drifting out of position and playing basically nowhere at all. One or two nice touches in the second half but nothing even approaching the imagination and genius we know he's capable of. This (his away form, to be precise) is a problem that needs solving. 4

Bellamy Ran himself into the ground. Not helped by Onuoha and Kompany's decision to test out how good Campbell and Distin are at heading (it turns out that they're really good!), but showed his willingness to drop deep and wide for the ball instead. One half chance in the second blazed over. Must wish he was playing alongside Roque Santa Cruz. 7

Subs

Caicedo Satisfyingly un-Lilliputian up against the Portsmouth giants. Held up the ball well with not much real end product. 6