Saturday 4 April 2009

City v Arsenal player ratings

Given Faultless for the goals, and three or four crucial saves to keep the scoreline modest. 7

Richards A very difficult job up against Andrei Arshavin but did quite well. Never embarrassed, as he could have been. A few good runs upfield, although his decision making and execution is not there yet, wasting two opportune positions. 6

Dunne Won almost everything in the air, but crucially at fault for both goals. Was not meant to be on Adebayor for the freekick, but as captain and senior centre half surely all set piece marking is ultimately his responsibility. Out of position for Adebayor's second. 5

Onuoha Another solid game, from one of our most reliable players. Who'd have thought he'd end the season as arguably our best defender? 6

Bridge Never looked fit and came off injured in the first half n/a

de Jong Worked hard and put in some thunderous tackles. Sprayed the ball around nicely too. But who exactly was in charge of looking after Cesc Fàbregas, if not him? 6

Zabaleta Started in central midfield before moving to left back after eighteen minutes. To his credit how well he equips himself there, handling Theo Walcott's pace just as well as Bridge did. Work rate exceptional as ever. 7

Kompany Hasn't been fully fit since Christmas. Needs a long rest. n/a

Wright-Phillips Our best attacking player - showed a willingness to run at Arsenal that Robinho lacked. What we did create, tended to come through him. 7

Robinho Did work hard - much more so than expected - maybe the threat of benching got to him. It was not his effort, though, but his quality and his fitness that let him down today. He could never really influence the game as he likes to, and faded in the second half. 5

Bellamy Had very little to work with, despite his working tirelessly. Almost got in behind Arsenal once or twice, but with no success. Good to see him fit again though. 6

Subs:

Gelson The game rather bypassed him in midfield, and he missed our best chance of the game at 1-0. 5

Elano Some lovely touches as ever. Up against a strong opponent in Alex Song. 6

Sturridge Looked sparky on his return from injury. 6

7 comments:

newsoftheblues said...

bit harsh on old robson, he did work hard and has just got back from brazil. I thought SWP was pretty ineffective, had alot of ball, but creating one decent chance doesnt deserve much merit.


Thought bellamy was anonimous. we'd be better off playing long ball for him, thats all that seems to suit him. He cant do much on the ball.


crap game...what has come to be the norm under Hughes.

john said...

Ned was at fault for the first goal, jumping to head the ball away, completely missing it and leaving Adebayor unmarked, yet Dunney gets the blame!

For once Robinho worked harder than Bellamy and had more influence.

Gary said...

There was about 5 at fault for first goal. Robinho's rating is far to low, suppose he can't win?

Anonymous said...

Um, whose bad foul led to the dangerous penalty that preceded the first goal? If you guessed Robinho you are correct.

cityfan_in_la said...

Jeff was watching another game. The freekick (not penalty) that led to the first goal should never have been given. It was a fair shoulder-to-shoulder challenge by Robinho.

Anonymous said...

Yes, free kick - oops. But Robinho looked like he was trying to barge a door open the way he ran into Sagna. It was pretty obvious.

Yas said...

I agree with city fan in la, it shouldn`t have even been a free kick and it was good to see Robbie trying so hard.