MANCHESTER CITY 1 CSKA MOSCOW 2: MATCH REPORT

Ratings:
Hart: No chance with the goals, good tip over to keep us in it. Distribution fair. 6
Zabaleta: Allowed Doumbia to get free of him too easily for their second goal. Not one of his better days, but as ever he didn’t flinch: 5
Kompany: Pick of the defence again: 6
Demichelis: Struggled with Doumbia’s and Musa’s pace. His reading of the game was suspect and some of his decision making was surprisingly naïve: 5
Clichy: Had a nightmare first half in which his distribution was poor, twice giving the ball away in dangerous positions. The second of these resulted in Doumbia’s second goal. He kept striving to improve to turn the game around but this was his worst game in a City shirt: 4
Navas: Nowhere near enough of an impact here. Anonymous: 5
Yaya: Woeful defending when he lost Doumbia for CSKA’s opener, granting him a free header. Great free kick to equalise and tried to lead the fight back until an irresponsible push in the face of an opponent that earned a deserved red card. He clearly cared but lost his head so overall, he let us down: 5
Fernando: Slowed play down and passed the ball side ways far too often. Didn’t read the game well. Fernandinho is a better option for playing at a faster tempo. He may well settle into English football and our team in time, but so far he does not represent an upgrade on Javi Garcia who had finally got to grips with matters: 5
Milner: Never stopped trying to turn this game round for City, and went closest to a second equaliser: 6
Jovetic: Barely in the game. An opportunity missed: 5
Aguero: Tested the keeper once in an uncharacteristically quiet first half. Denied service for most of the evening but never stopped working and should have been awarded two penalties: 6
Subs:
Fernandinho (for Jovetic HT): Whilst his first foul that was yellow carded had a practical justification in thwarting a breakaway, his silly second booking drove the nails in our coffin: 5
Nasri (for Navas HT): Showed for the ball well enough as his fitness increased. A bit wild in a tackle late on but at least he showed some energy and desire: 6
Dzeko (for Fernando 64): Strove hard in midfield to get us back on level terms: n/a
Best Oppo: Doumbia: Quick, strong, powerful and clinical: 9
Or was Best Oppo referee Sideropoulous? Was he very biased or was he just very bad? We’ll probably never know. Derby County fans of a certain age still talk about a very dodgy referee in their European Champions Cup Semi Final against Juventus in 1973, and there was also proven corruption for their neighbours Forest who were cheated out of a European tie in 1984 with Anderlecht who later admitted that they had bribed the referee. Nothing would surprise in the world of UEFA: an institutionally corrupt organisation that serves the whim and wishes of the Established cartel.

Phil Banerjee

phil.banerjee@orange.net