The Game

You can’t really say that was the performance to expect from a team who mathematically was still in the title race, can you? Let’s just say expectations were not met and it will go down as the most boring game of the season.

I don’t know why the game turned out like that, it seems there is a motivation problem going on at the moment. As for City, after seeing Spurs drop points against the other half of Manchester, they came at the Emirates to get a draw, knowing that “the game” for them is when they host Tottenham on May 5.

In terms of goal opportunities, there weren’t much as I think we only went close with Samir Nasri and Abou Diaby. Not that Robert Mancini’s side created any chances of course, with Lukasz Fabianski called in action only to deal with a couple of high balls.

To conclude, Mikael Silvestre. As we rightly criticise him when he doesn’t deliver, it is as equally right to praise him when he does well. Granted, he wasn’t under heavy pressure today but he did all he had to do to perfection, making sure to produce some nice interceptions which was nice to see.

Match Video Highlights

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Player Ratings

Fabianski: 6 – Absolutely nothing to do for Lukasz today, just a number of high balls to deal with.

Silvestre: 7 – Credit where credit is due. Produced a number of fine interceptions and fought hard in the few occasions he was called into action.

Campbell: 7,5 – Gave absolutely nothing to Carlos Tevez, especially in the first half, as he was the shadow of the Argentine. He’s finishing the season in style Sol, producing back-to-back convincing performances.

Clichy: 7,5 – Top class game from the Frenchman, who closed City down on the left and also provided excellent support when we surged forward.

Sagna: 6,5 – I think Bacary did not click that well with Theo this afternoon as the two failed to understand each other in more than one occasion. Rock solid as usual at the back though.

Song: 7 – Glad to have him back in midfield, fought very hard to make sure the City midfielders had no space to move into.

Diaby: 6,5 – Better, much better when compared to his last four games or so. You could see how facing Patrick Vieira injected something in Abou, who was full of energy from start to finish. Having said that, he still needs to improve in the final third where I incidentally believe he can really make the difference.

Nasri and Rosicky: 6 – I don’t know, maybe it’s me who expects these two to always produce some magic but I was very disappointed with Samir and Tomas today. Make no mistake, their first touch is exceptional and so is their twisting and turning technique, but this was a game where let’s face it, there was enough space to create things, yet they failed to make any sort of impact.

Walcott: 5,5 – Some nice runs down the right but rarely managed to deliver an acceptable final ball.

van Persie: 6 – Not sure why Nicklas didn’t start. Robin was indeed too lonely up front and could do nothing against the City backline which made sure to give him no space to turn and shoot. And when he created it, it was unfortunately on his right foot.

(Subs)
Bendtner and Eboue: 6 – Introduced in the 68th minute, you could see these two added something to the squad but never managed to make the impact required. Nicklas had a very good chance in stoppage time, doing mighty well with his first touch, only to blow it with the second.