Manchester City – Roma 1-1 Matchview

Frustration was the name of the game as City were held to to a 1-1 draw by AS Roma at the Etihad. Despite taking a 3rd minute lead with a Sergio Aguero penalty, City allowed Roma back into the game. City’s 4-4-2 formation saw us outnumbered in midfield against Roma’s five and Totti benefited from Joe Hart’s slip on the wet turf to lift in the equaliser. Only when Pellegrini switched to a five man midfield before the hour mark did City dominate and control this game. Lampard had a shot well saved. Chief architect Silva also went close after Jovetic and Zabaleta played him in during stoppage time.

Roma are decent side but no better than, say, Liverpool. They should have been beaten. This was a game we needed to win to give us an advantage over Roma and this draw represents an opportunity lost, but all is not lost. We need to make sure we take maximum points against CSKA plus in our remaining games, and depending on Roma’s results with Bayern, make sure we get the right result in Rome – it might have to be a win.

We must learn that five in midfield is the way forward in midfield to enable us to enjoy more possession and pass the ball quicker: something we didn’t do with 4-4-2. Can we learn?