Scunthorpe reax

Oliver Kay, The Times

If there is a temptation to regard Robinho’s goal, his first in 12 appearances this season, as an irrelevance, it should be avoided. Scunthorpe United’s performance was so full of character that, at 3-2 down, an equaliser would have surprised nobody. They were often the better team and, while the class of the goals scored by Martin Petrov, Nedum Onuoha and, in particular, Sylvinho were a measure of City’s overall superiority, Mancini looked like a relieved man afterwards, his team taking their record to six wins in seven matches under him.

Henry Winter, Daily Telegraph

It is undeniable that Robinho remains one of football’s marquee names, and the Brazilian’s glamour may be enhanced at the World Cup. If City’s No 10 were committed, giving unstintingly home and away, then he would be worth keeping.

But whenever is he fully committed? Robinho scored here but Martin Petrov was comfortably his superior. Carlos Tévez has shamed Robinho with his work ethic this season.

Daniel Taylor, The Guardian

Sylvinho will never strike the ball more sweetly and that might have been the moment when the Championship side decided it should be an exercise in damage limitation and set about ensuring that their first-ever live appearance on terrestrial television did not end in a more crushing defeat. Instead Nigel Adkins's side came back valiantly, subjecting their opponents to near-unremitting pressure once Dedryck Boyata, the young City centre-half, had turned Cliff Byrne's shot past his own goalkeeper, Stuart Taylor, to make it 3-2. Scunthorpe will also reflect on a number of other close misses but ultimately this was a story of the Premier League side's superior finishing.

Jon Culley, The Independent

Doughty Scunthorpe, fighting for survival in the second tier, were good enough to equalise after slipping behind early in the game and came back a second time to trail 3-2 with 20 minutes left. But their manager, Nigel Adkins, was quick to acknowledge the Premiership side's sure-footed performance.

Matt Lawton, Daily Mail

For a fair chunk of this absorbing FA Cup tie, Scunthorpe United proved themselves a pretty difficult obstacle to overcome. Difficult enough to make Cook, unable to make it to Glanford Park because of illness, sweat a bit, anyway.

Scunthorpe player ratings

Taylor A rare start for our second choice 'keeper. He did well enough, tipping one expertly over the bar. Possibly asking a bit for him to get to Boyata's own goal. Would be surprised if he starts in the fifth round. 6

Onuoha Not a natural right-back and had a slightly difficult time with the lack of cover he got from Robinho. But did his job competently, making most of his tackles, and took his goal - his fourth for City - well after Ireland's glorious pass. 7

Kompany A little bit shaky early on but grew into the game and did very well under Scunthorpe's aerial bombardment. Wore the captain's armband in the second half, which fits him well. 7

Boyata Another good game from the fast-maturing Belgian. He was assured and confident throughout. His run in the side has been one of the best aspects of the Mancini era so far. 7

Sylvinho Played the first half at left-back, where he struggled with pace but was generally tidy. In the second half he moved to central midfield where he impressed - his neat passing and good football brain allow him to excel in a midfield three. Scored a stunning goal to put us 3-1 up, smashing it in from a good 30 yards or more. 7

de Jong Had a decent first half - when he was captain - putting in some big challenges and keeping the ball well. Came off at half time, which could be worrying given how important he is for Wednesday night. 6

Ireland A big chance for Ireland - playing in close to his favoured role. Struggled to find space at first but had improved in the last ten minutes of the first half, culminating in a delightful chipped pass through to Onuoha for our second goal - his best moment for City for months. Came off early in the second half. 7

Ibrahim Another City debutant. The 18 year old Norwegian played in central midfield and looked strong and confident with good feet and a sensible choice of passes. Another one I'd like to see more of this season. 7

Robinho A typically mixed performance in what could be his last game for City. He had some lovely touches - before Petrov's goal, and taking his own very well, having missed a good chance before. But he also lost those tackles which he even bothered to make and gave very little help to the rest of the team. Nice to go out on a high note though. 7

Benjani He tried hard, running into channels and holding the ball up. It didn't always come off for him but it was still a decent performance. I doubt he'll start at Old Trafford, though. 6

Petrov Our best performance on the night, always threatening and coming up with a few moments of real quality. His goal was excellent, an unstoppable finish from a tight spot, and his pass through to set up Robinho's was almost as good as Ireland's through to Onuoha. 8

Subs:

Cunningham Made his debut, coming on at left back for the second half. Picked up an early booking but had a quiet game that aside. 6

Zabaleta Half an hour in central midfield, where he did well enough, including a run down the right hand side to set up Robinho's goal. 6

Bellamy Five minutes on the left wing. n/a

Scunthorpe 2 - 4 City

• With a semi-final second leg at Old Trafford on Wednesday, today was always going to be overshadowed by events to come. Selection was a balancing act between resting those that we need for Wednesday but doing enough to progress to the fifth round. And Mancini achieved it perfectly: Gareth Barry, Shay Given, Carlos Tévez, Micah Richards and Shaun Wright-Phillips were all rested, while Craig Bellamy was only needed for the last five minutes. We didn't play brilliantly, but we did enough, which is more than we sometimes do.

• The performance was a bit mixed. We didn't control possession as well as we might, which with Stephen Ireland and Nigel de Jong starting in central midfield was slightly disappointing. We settled better in the second half, but Scunthorpe had quite a few chances. When they equalised in the first half it had been long coming, and we were fortunate to be 2-1 up at the break. In the second half we were bombarded with high balls, and for the most part we looked comfortable. And with Scunthorpe coming at us it was never going to be that easy.

• The way you get out of these situations: a well organised, competitive opposition in unfavourable conditions is with isolated moments of excellence. All four of our goals demonstrated the quality we can call upon, the one key difference between the two teams: Martin Petrov's finish for our first, Stephen Ireland's beautiful pass for our second, Sylvinho's cannon-shot from distance, and Petrov's ball for Robinho for our fourth. It would have been nice to out-pass them, maybe, but with goals of this quality it was still very good. A great reminder, too, of the players we can call on even without some of our biggest names.

• It was pleasing to see more of the Academy players in the game. Dedryck Boyata made his third start under Mancini, and looked increasingly confident. Abdisalam Ibrahim played the whole game and looked good, while Greg Cunningham came on at left back for the second half. Add Stephen Ireland and Nedum Onuoha and it was a good turn-out for the Academy boys. Mancini's willingness to blood youngsters has been a pleasant surprise thus far - I wouldn't mind seeing one or two in the next round.
  

• That's not to say that Stoke City will be an easy game. They're a competitive side and they look secure enough in the Premier League to really throw their all into the FA Cup. That said, it is still a relatively favourable draw for a fifth round game. Stoke have come to Eastlands twice and we've beaten them 3-0 and 2-0. We've got to be big favourites though.
  

Scunthorpe preview

Wednesday is our biggest game for years, without doubt. And Mancini should do as much as he can to maximise our chances of getting to Wembley. But - and I appreciate the contradiction here - we shouldn't be ignoring this game either. Because it's a big one. With Manchester United and Liverpool already out, we're third favourites. By the time we kick off Arsenal could be out, given the team they are going to field at the Britannia.

But it's only natural that we will rest key players. Nigel de Jong and Gareth Barry look exhausted, we can't risk Tévez - who might have a hamstring strain - and Craig Bellamy is unable to play too regularly. With Stephen Ireland and Shaun Wright-Phillips coming back to fitness I imagine that they will play, leaving us with a team looking something like this:


These games rest often rest on a balancing act - picking a side just good enough to win without compromising future fixtures. Obviously playing Barry, de Jong, Bellamy and Tévez would increase our chances of winning but I hope that this will be enough. It should be difficult in an 'old fashioned English cup-tie' sense: small stadium, bad pitch, bad weather and all that. It's possible that this will unsettle Mancini, in that he's new to the English game and so forth. But I think that analysis is more to do with lazy stereotyping than anything else.

It will be tight, certainly, and we might have to bring on some of our bigger names to secure the win. But I think we'll come through it.

FA Cup 4th Round: Scunthorpe away

It's their chance for revenge after we turned them over at Eastlands in the League Cup last sixteen.

A good draw.