Sunderland player ratings

Hart Will be disappointed to concede his first goal of the season. It's hard to blame goalkeepers for penalties scored against him but he guessed where Darren Bent was shooting and will be frustrated that the ball went under his body. Before that point he made a few decent saves and one notable punch. 6

Richards All the good work of his season start felt undone by his needless rugby tackle on Bent, conceding the penalty that lost the game. It was a brainless decision and perhaps the most perfect example yet of how he prevents himself from being as good as he could be. Up until that point he was passable, although he failed to make the most of some good attacking positions. 4

Kolo Touré Perhaps not quite as good as in recent games. Had a very easy first half but we had to bear the storm in the second half, and Kolo won none of four attempted tackles in our half. That said, we defended well enough to hold Sunderland off until Richards' final intervention. 6

Kompany Probably played well enough to deserve a point. When we were bombarded he was always in place; making seven successful interceptions. Went long with his passes a bit more than I like him to. 6

Lescott Defensively solid but his delivery into the box was poor. I don't think he's as good a left back as Pablo Zabaleta, but I'd rather see Zabaleta replace Richards based on this match. 6

de Jong His passing was generally good (27/28) but I think he possibly could have done more in the midfield battle in the second half: Lee Cattermole was just asking to be taught a lesson in respect. 6

A. Johnson Nothing like the impact he had in this fixture last season. Keiran Richardson had a near perfect game at left back, and Johnson didn't get past him once. Replaced with nine minutes left but in retrospect this could have been done thirty minutes sooner. 5

Yaya Touré He looks to be getting closer to the dynamic box to box midfielder (note: not a defensive midfielder) that we had needed. It was his bounding run down the middle that set up Tévez's famous miss. Had a chance or two of his own, including one at the back post from a corner where he really ought to have done better. Passing not quite as good as previous games (33/42). 6

Barry A good and lively first half, building on his good work last Monday. He did not get forward as much as he did then but kept the ball moving well, misplacing just one of 46 attempted passes. Struggled a bit with the pace of the game in the second half. Moved to left back for the last 15 minutes. 5

Milner Energetic and direct. His crosses into the box might not have come off but his purposes were good. I think he might move central against Blackburn next up so as to allow David Silva in the side. 6

Tévez For the most part he did his job well enough, dropping deep, turning and running at the Sunderland defence. He caused a few problems but did not quite have the invention to wrestle those openings into full chances, as he does when on his game. But we can't assess his performance without the miss heard 'round the world: which was just shocking. 5

Subs:

Adebayor Could have scored with a flick but for a good Mignolet save. 5

Silva Too late to mark

Jô Too late to mark

Sunderland 1 - 0 City

• I suppose it's useful to get this grounding reminder in now, this side of the international break. A win today and the thirteen day rest period might have incubated optimism so much that any September set-backs would have been shattering. But today was an important intervention from the simple realities of the Premier League: if we want to reach our potential we have to take our chances, we have to keep the ball under pressure, we cannot gift stoppage time penalties.

• The plan was to replicate the Liverpool performance. It was the same line-up, with Yaya Touré supporting Carlos Tévez through the middle and Adam Johnson and James Milner out wide. Sunderland started cautiously, cannier than Liverpool in 4-5-1 and making it harder for us to keep the ball. We were not perfect but we did manage to create chances, once we had breached their midfield. Both Yaya and Tévez had success running at the back, and combined to create a perfect chance.

• This deserves a paragraph of its own. We broke after defending a corner, and Yaya barrelled past two or three challenges. Three on one in their box, he drew out the 'keeper and passed to Tévez on the penalty spot. Unchallenged, Tévez had time to take a touch and steady himself. But he just clipped it over the bar. In its complacency, its laziness and its sloppiness it summed up everything that was wrong with our performance. I can't remember the last miss that bad from a City striker. Suffice to say that Bernardo Corradi, Darius Vassell, Jô or Lee Bradbury would feel as if they had not done themselves justice had they made the same mistake. We made another half chance or two, but that miss was a blow from which we never recovered.

• The second half was another country. At White Hart Lane we went from first half buffetting to second half control; today we made the reverse change. Steve Bruce made two half-time changes and they re-set the tempo. They pressed us relentlessly, moved the ball forward quickly. We had no time on the ball, it took us almost twenty minutes to string three successive passes together. For the most part we reduced Sunderland to half chances, and only the reflexes of Simon Mignolet kept out Emmanuel Adebayor's flick from a corner. Sunderland were certainly on top, but were nevertheless gifted their winner.

• Two minutes into stoppage time a hopeful ball was slung towards Darren Bent. Micah Richards, marking him, decided to ignore the ball and rugby tackle Bent. Mike Dean awarded the penalty and Bent fired it underneath Joe Hart. Carlos Tévez might be why we did not win today but Micah Richards is why we lost. It was brainless defending, the best example yet of why Richards is not what we hoped he might be. And, like the sloppy finishing, the lack of ball retention, the stoppage time sickening, all the more upsetting for being so familiar.

Sunderland preview

The last game before the international break, and an opportunity to complete a very satisfactory first chapter in the season. So far we've had four games, three wins, one very important draw and no goals conceded. A continuation of those trends today and we can look back on a pace-setting start.

For the second time in three years our third league match of the season is at the Stadium of Light. We went there in August 2008, in that very strange late summer period just before the Abu Dhabi takeover. It was Shaun Wright-Phillips' second debut, and he scored twice in a 3-0 win. It was also Vincent Kompany's second game in blue, and the fact that most of the rest of the team has changed in the interim is testament to his character and quality.

We got a decent point there last year as well, thanks to the contribution of another English winger; Adam Johnson curled in a stoppage time equaliser that had just a hint of the Ronaldinho in Shizuoka about it. In fact, with five wins and that draw in our last six league meetings with them, we are to Sunderland what Spurs or Everton are to us.

I imagine we will see a consistency of selection from the Liverpool game. I'd dearly love to see David Silva from the start but there is no point in changing that midfield that did so well on Monday. Emmanuel Adebayor probably thinks he ought to start but I don't think he has a legitimate greivance. Mancini has little desire to break up the Nigel de Jong - Gareth Barry - Yaya Touré triangle at the heart of the team, which means we can only afford to play one up. There is a question surrounding the full-backs: we can't play all three, and I don't know who will survive.

Sunderland have not had too impressive a start and so I am confident about today's outcome. It might not be too pretty but I think we can win: 1-0.