City were workmanlike on the whole. There was little between two teams at opposite ends of the financial spectrum and until Tevez stamped his class on proceedings, the biggest influence was a bog of a pitch that made a mockery even of the warm-up. Players were slipping and sliding with or without the ball, you could hear squelching from up in the stands and a groundsman had to re-mark the centre circle at half-time.
Rory Smith, Daily Telegraph
For all the money lavished across Europe by Mark Hughes and Roberto Mancini, none looks better spent than the £25 million which smoothed Tévez’s short journey from Old Trafford to Eastlands. The Argentine, who scored the first and made the second to see off Wigan Athletic, stands alone as City’s difference maker.
Here, he was the difference between a comfortable, though perhaps not inspiring, victory, and the disappointment of another two points dropped. He is the difference between fourth and 13th in the nascent Premier League table.
Ian Herbert, The Independent
It has been hard to deduce at times in the past 12 months, just how much the Argentine has wanted to be at Manchester City, and that odd, unheralded decision to make him captain seemed like an exercise in keeping a prime asset happy. It was good work, given how integral to City's progress he still is, for all the £130m which has been spent this summer.
Danny Pugsley, Bitter and Blue
The partnership of Kolo Toure and Vincent Kompany has been excellent. I was watching Kompany's positional play and movement today and it was very impressive. Time and again he made the right choice as in when to tackle, when to cover and when to stand his ground. He has been as consistently good as anyone this season.
1 comment:
Another fair assessment J. I'd have given Gnégnéri a 7 for converting a fairly tricky chance and for more tidy linking. Holes appeared and we looked a little vulnerable when he went off.
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