Timişoara player ratings

Hart His selection surely underlines that there will be no place for Shay Given this season. No chance for an Edwin van der Sar / Tomasz Kuszczak job share (but with the younger man the senior partner) any more. As it happened Hart had so little to do that it didn't matter who we had in goal: Kevin Stuhr Ellegaard could have kept a clean sheet. He caught two crosses and stopped two shots that were hit more tamely at him than anything in his warm up. 6

Richards Another improved performance. He barely had any defensive work to do but his constant commitment to attacking was impressive. Time and again he ran down the flank, putting in a few crosses of note (this still needs some work) and helping out Wright-Phillips whenever possible. Had a header from a corner blocked on the line too. 7

Boyata Had the most work to do of any defender, dealing with the big, bustling Mircea Axente. He risked disaster once or twice but always came out on top, displaying that brute physicality of his but also some fairly decent footwork. A smart back-post header for his first goal for City. I think these will be the sort of games he plays this year, but that's good learning. 7

Kompany It says a lot that he and Nigel de Jong were included in the team; providing leadership and consistency when even Carlos Tévez and Kolo Touré - officially captain and deputy - were rested. Vincent wore the armband today - as I think he should permanently. Had less than nothing to do defensively, but he was still faultless. 7

Zabaleta Another outing at left-back, and like Richards he was impressive in his commitment to attack. It was admirable how keen he was to run beyond Jô and cross with his left foot - something he had been shy of in the past. In fact, his crossing with his left foot was better than Richards with his right, which says a lot. He even got into two shooting positions. Moved into central midfield - his third position of the season - late on. 8

de Jong Did not allow complacency in his game despite the easy task he had. Prevented the few attacks launched into our half, and when in possession moved the ball quickly to the more creative players. Even brought out one lovely backheel flick. 6

Vieira He struggles when put under too much pressure, but with Timişoara in no mood to press he had the time to pick his passes and was excellent. He found Wright-Phillips for our opening goal and continued to be the source for most of our better attacks. I think most of his games this year will come in Europe when he gets that much time on the ball. 8

SWP Eager to run at the full back but his crossing was fairly poor. Moved to the left and it was from one of his runs inside that our first goal came; and from a sharp first-time finish. His all round contribution was never that impressive, though, and I'd be surprised if he played on Sunday. 7

Silva Struggled to find space at first, with Timişoara playing so compact and so physically. But he was moved out wide later in the first half where he impressed, starting to trouble the defence and even creating a chance for himself after a Kinkladze run. Had a good second half, including swinging in the free-kick for Boyata's goal and nearing creating some goals when Timişoara finally came out to attack. 7

Jô Unfortunately my money looks safe for a while. He looked far off the pace of the game, showing a very rare nice touch but usually slowing the game down, short of ideas and confidence. Missed a very easy headed chance in the first half. On the other hand, there was one 'no-look pass' Ronaldinho would have treasured. 5

Adebayor Must have been frustrating playing in front of a such an incoherent trident but he ran hard and nearly got into some goalscoring positions. Went very close when intercepting a weak back pass but shot narrowly wide. 6

Subs: Cunningham I think he could do with a loan spell in the Football League; he looks weak and timid. 5