Bianchi goal streak reignites il Toro

Sorry for not blogging about City legend Rolando Bianchi for a while. Torino have been going through a tough spell. Last time I mentioned them, they were second and Bianchi had nine goals in eleven Serie B games. But results tailed off soon after and coach Stefano Colantuono was replaced by Mario Beretta. After six weeks of Beretta, and no noticeable improvement, the board dismissed him and brough back Colantuono.

Since Colantuono's return they've taken fourteen points from seven games, with Bianchi leading the charge. He scored the opening goal of Colantuono's second reign - an equaliser in the 4-1 win over Grosetto. Then there was a brave 0-0 draw at Empoli, before a 1-1 draw with Brescia in which Bianchi scored Torino's equaliser.

Rolando was absent for the 1-0 win at Albinoleffe but did star in the 2-3 home defeat to Salernitana. Torino were 1-3 down with 23 minutes left when they won a penalty - which Bianchi missed. It's testament to his bravery, though, that the penalty they won later on he stood up and scored, even though it was not enough for a point. He made good his error in the next game, scoring the only goal in the 1-0 win at Padova. But all of this was build up for the home game with Frosinone on Saturday. Bianchi took two penalties, scoring the first and then the rebound from the second, and added another with an acrobatic stoppage time volley to seal a 3-1 win.

So in the six games he's played under Colantuono this time round, he's scored seven goals and missed two penalties on top. Torino are just two points from the play-off spots, while Bianchi has the second most in the division with 19 league goals thus far.

Here is Bianchi's weekend hat-trick against Frosinone:

Fulham's fixture pile-up, ctd

Six months ago I boldly predicted that Fulham's fixture pile-up would make them easy opposition at Eastlands. When we went 1-0 down I was worried, but when we won 2-1 I felt like Nostradamus.

Going by the maxim that lightning always strikes twice I'm going to do the same, because Fulham's schedule in March is terrifying. This Thursday they go to Turin for the Europa League tie with Juventus, and this Sunday lunchtime they go to Old Trafford. They entertain the bianconeri at Craven Cottage next Thursday, before our game there next Sunday. Then it's a cup replay at White Hart Lane the following Wednesday before the KC Stadium that Saturday. It's six games in sixteen days, four of which are away from home. And ours is the fourth game of the six.

So I'm going to throw caution to the wind and say that at the very least I expect us to get our third consecutive score draw at the Cottage.

De Jong in the headlines

And not in a good way.

A late tackle in last night's 2-1 win over the USA saw Bolton Wanderer's Stuart Holden fracturing his fibula, putting him out for six weeks. Our Nigel said:

'Such offences are part of football,' he said on www.knvb.nl. 'I went for the ball and got the opponent at the end. I had no evil intent. If the ball is between me and the opponent, you have to go in full. If you do not then the opponent takes you. And if you're scared in a game you get injured yourself.'

Everyone knows I love de Jong, and of course I recognise that severity of injury and malice of tackle do not correlate 100%, but it still is a bit of a shame to see that happening in an international friendly.

On the other hand, it might help Vladimir Weiss get a game for Bolton.

Blues star in England win

Another successful night of international football for MCFC, as two of ours starred in England's not awfully convincing 3-1 defeat of Egypt.

Gareth Barry started, in his traditonal deep midfield role, and was one of our better performers throughout. His traditional combination of muscling people off the ball, never giving possession away, occassional breaks forward and 'winning' free-kicks were all on show tonight. England went 1-0 down in the first half - after a mistake from Matthew Upson, inexplicably in the side ahead of Joleon Lescott.

We drew level in the second half when Barry surged down the right and crossed low for substitute Peter Crouch to slot home. The ineffective Theo Walcott was hauled off for Shaun Wright-Phillips who put England ahead with a gentle volley straight at Essam El Hadari, which the veteran goalkeeper palmed into his own net.

The win was completed when SWP crossed from the same position as Barry had earlier, with the same result as Crouch grabbed his second and England's third. When Wayne Rooney came off with five minutes left Barry took the armband. Does anyone know when last a City player captained England? I have no idea at all.

It was a shame that neither Lescott nor Joe Hart got on the pitch but as City fans we can't complain with one goal, two assists and five minutes in the armband. Bridge might not be going to South Africa but Barry is a certainty and SWP's chances are probably just over 50%. Lescott's hang in the balance.

Robinho 2 - 0 Given

Mark Hughes' best and worst value for money signings went head to head tonight in an international friendly at the Emirates. And it was the £32.5m man who came out on top. Brazil won 2-0 and both goals came from our very own Santos FC's Robson de Souza.

It wasn't a great match and Brazil never got going. They're set up to counter-attack through Robinho and Kaká but in the first half they could only run into the Keith Andrews-Glenn Whelan wall in midfield.

But they went ahead just before half time: Kaká put in Robinho down the right hand side, and he whipped in a cross that Andrews diverted past Shay Given. I don't know whether it's an own goal but Robinho's not exactly the sort to decline to celebrate lest he later lose the goal to the dubious goals panel.

Brazil improved in the second half, playing possession football in opposition territory. Robinho had one goal disallowed after Grafite robbed Paul McShane and then missed a great chance after Kaká did the same to Andrews.

He made up for these when he finished off the game's stand-out move. It started further back but it climaxed with an interchange between Kaká and Grafite before Robinho played a one-two with the Wolfsburg striker and scored with one of those perfectly placed side-foot finishes of his, beyond the sprawling Given.

He then went off for Nilmar, and the game finished 2-0. City legends Richard Dunne and Elano were both injured for the tie, while City's Greg Cunningham was on the Irish bench.

Bellamy's Wales future in doubt

News that makes surprising column inches today given it's inevitability - Craig Bellamy is due to cut down on his international commitments:

When asked whether Bellamy was still a big part of his plans, Toshack said: "Well, I don't know yet. Not if he's injured he won't be. He's played five of the last 12 competitive games and missed the last three friendlies. That's 10 out of 15 that he's missed. We wouldn't want to be in a position where we have to rely too heavily on him. So the more games that other players get, the better we will be."

I'm sure Bellamy has said before that if we got into Europe he would scale down his commitments to Wales and it looks like we've got a good shot at making the Europa League 2010/11. His knees make it difficult for him to play twice a week and he has said he doesn't forsee himself playing more than another two or three years of professional football. So a Ryan Giggs scenario, where he stops playing for Wales in order to prolong his club career looks very likely. Which is a shame for Wales fans but only good news for MCFC.

Once a blue always a blue #3

Happy 31st birthday Nicky Weaver.

Nicky Weaver will always be remembered as the hero from the shoot-out against Gillingham, the man who completed the work of Kevin Horlock and Paul Dickov. With his saves from Paul Smith and Guy Butters he sent us back up into the second tier in what remains the greatest match in the history of the club. Naturally it was Weaver's finest moment for City but that doesn't mean it was the only part of his story here. In many ways he was the Joe Hart of his day, a promising English teenager recruited from an unfashionable lower league club, and like Hart he found himself quickly in the fray. He starred in both of the consecutive promotion seasons under Joe Royle - like Hart, making his way into the England U21s, and looked set to be a real star of the future. He held on as first choice as we were relegated under Royle and then promoted under Keegan, but the arrival of Peter Schmeichel in summer 2002 signalled that Weaver was no longer first choice. The presence of Schmeichel, David Seaman and David James as well as a series of knee injuries meant that he played just one game for City in the next four seasons before Stuart Pearce made him first choice for the dismal 2006/07 campaign. It was heartening to see him in goal again for City, but he could not maintain his place and in 2007 he left on a free transfer to Charlton Athletic. After a spell at Dundee United he is now back in the Premier League as back-up to Brian Jensen at Burnley.

Nicky Weaver MCFC 1998-2007 205 games.

Momentum

In comments below Gareth Barry said that the controversy surrounding Wayne Bridge's private life has 'helped galvanise the club', and that after winning so well at Stamford Bridge we are 'set up nicely now to finish the season strongly.'

He could well be right. With the four contenders for fourth bunched as tightly as they are, it is the team that generates the most momentum that will take the prize, as differences in starting position are essentially moot. And momentum is what we have so obviously missed, ever since that confidence-draining Carling Cup exit.

But our win on Saturday - our goal at Stamford Bridge since 2000, our first league win there since 1983, Chelsea's first home league defeat since November 2008, their third since February 2004 etc etc etc - is the sort of moment on which seasons can change. It really feels as if the points were switched on Saturday and the MCFC wagon is now heading in a different direction.

This raises the question, though, whether a two week break is good for us now. Could the momentum dissipate between now and Mother's Day? Carlos Tévez could get injured on international duty, as could Joleon Lescott, Shay Given, Nigel de Jong or Vincent Kompany. There could be more damaging speculation over the security of Mancini's hold on the job. Alternatively, two weeks of training could see the current optimism incubate and develop, ready to explode on Sunderland in two weeks.

It could go either way. I guess we'll find out thirteen days from now. But for now things are looking up - as good as they were since, well, the last time we pulled out a heroic team performance to beat Chelsea.

Barry's press conference

A few interesting points to come out of Gareth Barry's speaking to the Monday papers after the game.

First this on Bridge:

‘Being the person Wayne is, he didn’t want to rub anything in,’ said team-mate Gareth Barry. ‘He kept his emotions to himself and his performance was brilliant.

'He kept his cool and played a great game. A lot of people felt sorry for Wayne and we’ve all got behind him. It’s helped galvanise the club.’

This on Tévez:

“I think he’s in the Wayne Rooney and Didier Drogba bracket,” Barry said of his team-mate. “He’s got all the potential. His goals this season and the way he has lead the line on his own have been brilliant.”

This on Bellamy:

“Everyone knows there was a little argument between Craig and the manager,” he said.

“They are both winners and both want it their way and that is maybe good for the team. The talk of unrest has got blown out of proportion. If Craig is arguing with someone around the club it’s normal. Just because it was with the manager it probably got blown out of proportion.”

This on momentum:

“I think we got under Chelsea’s skin,” Barry said. “Once they went 2-1 down and to ten men, they were always going to be chasing the game and that’s when you can lose your head, so it was important we stayed strong. Ballack made a tackle he probably normally wouldn’t make.

“We looked at that [Chelsea’s possible susceptibility out wide] before the game, the space that is created in front of the full backs and behind sometimes, because their midfield play very narrow.

“We’ll only have ourselves to blame if we can’t come off the back of a result like this and go into the next games with confidence, but it’s set up nicely now to finish the season strongly.”

If Barry can play like he did in the second half for the rest of the season we've got a decent shot at fourth.

More Chelsea reax

James Ducker, The Times

Bridge was applauded for a solid display at left back, but City’s real stars were Tévez — who underlined why his team-mates have missed him so much by offering a masterclass in how to lead a line single-handed — and Bellamy, a pest throughout, plus Gareth Barry, who gave Fabio Capello, the England manager, something to cheer by bossing midfield.

Chelsea’s main weakness this season has been an inability to defend set-pieces, but time and again in the second half, City exposed their vulnerability on the flanks to fast counter-attacks, with both of Bellamy’s goals coming by virtue of swift breaks forward.

Mark Fleming, The Independent

At the back, Chelsea limited Inter and City to eight goal attempts each. But in both games they were susceptible to counter attack every time the opposition crossed the halfway line. With Ashley Cole and Petr Cech injured, Chelsea resemble heavyweights with a glass chin.

City, galvanised by the sense of injustice concerning Bridge's shattered love life, proved what a good side they are, when they can be bothered. Tevez returned after missing four games to be at the birth of daughter Katie in Argentina, and promptly brought Chelsea's 37-game unbeaten run at Stamford Bridge to an end with his tenacity and creativity.

David Hytner, The Guardian

City had entered the game against a backdrop of poor form and talk of a bust-up between Mancini and Bellamy. "If Craig is arguing with someone around the club, it's normal," said Barry, with a smile. But they departed having staged the most eye-catching of smash-and-grab raids. Their first, second and fourth goals came on the counter-attack.

Jeremy Wilson, Daily Telegraph

It [our equaliser] was the pivotal moment of the match and also a glimpse of genuine individual quality from a player who had only arrived back in England on Friday after being in Argentina with his partner and prematurely born daughter.

As Chelsea wilted and the collective purpose and belief of Manchester City visibly grew, Craig Bellamy scored twice on the counter-attack while Tevez converted a penalty after Juliano Belletti was sent-off for into Gareth Barry. It all ensured that Lampard’s late penalty was merely a consolation.

Matt Barlow, Daily Mail

Two more goals for Frank Lampard was the only positive for Ancelotti. For City, there was so much more. Bellamy looked dangerous and boss Mancini insisted their disagreement was now forgotten.

That was the beauty of Team Terry v Team Bridge. For once, City and Bellamy had a common enemy and they were all smiles.