Poznań player ratings

Hart Had a few saves to make but nothing too difficult. Blameless for the goal. 7

Richards This felt like an opportunity missed. Jérome Boateng is clearly first choice right-back now so Richards should really be making an impact in games like this. But he was surprisingly quiet going forward, even if he defended well enough. 6

Boyata Generally good, including one crucial interception in a one-on-one when the visitors were looking to get back into the game. He will be limited to these sorts of games for the rest of the season but he's looking increasingly competent. 7

Lescott As the senior man in the back four he ought to have taken responsibility, but he was error-prone and lacked focus. He made the initial mistake for the goal we conceded and was fairly suspect throughout. At the mercy of Kolo Touré's return from injury. 5

Zabaleta Missed a clearance when we conceded but otherwise competent enough. Took a few kicks - and surprisingly did not retaliate - and even broke into the box a few times. 6

Vieira This is his sort of game: time on the ball and fairly pliant opposition. He was comfortable throughout, without ever quite being commanding, but it was a nice pass through to Adebayor for our first goal and there was some astute switching of play too. 6

de Jong Demonstrated what a clean and precise tackler he can be when he chooses to be. He made a number of crucial interventions all across the pitch, and was always in the right place when he was needed to shut down opposition attacks. 7

A. Johnson Nearly scored one of the best goals we've seen in years, cutting in from the right and hitting the angle of post and bar. For the most part he was lively, beating defenders and putting crosses in, without making it obviously clear that the stage was beneath him, in the way that Silva did. Shouldn't expect to start on Sunday. 7

Silva Just delightful. This was his best all-round performance for City, and further development from his match-winning cameo at Blackpool. Over the course of the evening his movement off the ball, his touch and his dribbling was unlike anyone else on the pitch. His two assists for Adebayor: a cross swung in from the by-line, and one from deeper that curled past two defenders to Manu were both perfect. He didn't score himself - one Kinkladze type run threatened to match his goal last week - but he was a joy to watch. This is going to be special. 9

SWP Good to see him getting a run out, and he looked surprisingly high on confidence despite barely playing recently. The ball stuck to his feet as he charged down either flank, and while his final ball and shooting wasn't quite there he still caused problems and had a bit of fun. 7

Adebayor Hard to quibble with a hat-trick. He took all three goals well, and his turn into the first one was as sharp a spin as we'll see this season. The second was one of those far-post arched-back headers, and the third a good finish from Silva's precise cross. Let's hope this means he will be a useful option in future, with confidence restored. 9

Subs:

Yaya Touré Little impact n/a

Jo Little impact n/a

Bridge Little impact n/a

City 3 - 1 Lech Poznań

• After the minor disruption against Juventus, our Europa League campaign is back on track. What's more, with Juve only managing a draw in Salzburg, we now have a serious chance of winning the group. A win in Poland two weeks from now should be enough. I must say I was disappointed with the level of the opposition. I wasn't expecting Barcelona but they are Polish champions and so at the very least you anticipate a base level of organisation and energy. But it was a professional and, at times, exciting performance from City.

• The big question before the game was whether we could win without Carlos Tévez. He was rested, and replaced by Emmanuel Adebayor. Gareth Barry, James Milner and Yaya Touré were also rested so behind Manu was a three man band of Adam Johnson, David Silva and Shaun Wright-Phillips, with Nigel de Jong and Patrick Vieira anchoring behind them. I had been keen to see Silva and Johnson starting together - Mancini does not seem too keen on having both of them on the pitch at the same time - and while Johnson provided a few quick thrills, Silva produced his best performance yet in blue: a masterclass of movement, touch, vision and passing.

• His two crosses for our second and third goals, the first from the byline, the second from deeper, were so good that they almost detract attention from Adebayor. Because this really ought to have been his night. All three goals: one off a spin, a perfect header and a half-volley were excellently taken, and a reminder that his skill set is unmatched by many other strikers in English football. I know I'm a critic of his, and this has not changed my mind to the extent of wanting him to start on Sunday, but it was, well, heartening to see him scoring goals again.

• It wasn't perfect. Without Vincent Kompany or Kolo Touré we were fairly messy in defence, conceding sloppily early in the second half. We ought to have conceded a second when it was still 2-1, and it took our third goal for us to settle again. That said, Mancini chose to rest Kompany and I don't think he'd do that for games against stronger opposition.

• Now it's only two days of rest before Arsenal come to Eastlands on Sunday. We'll have Tévez back, and Kompany and Milner and probably Barry too. Mancini has spoken of maybe including Adebayor alongside Tévez. In my mind, there are teams that you can afford to play 4-4-2 against at home and teams that you can't. And Arsenal are certainly of the latter category. But that can wait. For now we're four points away from the last 32.