City made a meal of it but three points away at Gladbach after an opening game defeat is fantastic. There were question marks over certain players’ finishing and defending but overall content with the final outcome. We needed to stop the rot and did so with the win.
Player Ratings:
Hart: Absolutely fantastic first half which included a plethora of heroic saves and a penalty save. Started the second half with another great save and overall probably our MOTM: 8.
Bacary Sagna: Had an indifferent first half with a few poor crosses, other than that he was steady: 6.5
Martin Demichelis: Given the run around by Raffael in the first half but should’ve been awarded a goal that crossed the line: 6.5
Nicolàs Otamendi: Stupidly left his leg in for their penalty but tackled well in the first half. Followed up well to score his first goal for City: 7.
Aleksandar Kolarov: Again, a worrying lack of link up between him and Sterling in the first half. Caught out for their first goal as he was stupidly out of position: 6
Fernandinho: Rashly dived in on Stindl in our box which, God knows why, wasn’t given as a penalty. Uncharacteristic first half from our Brazilian. Nearly bent one in but had a quiet second half: 6.
Yaya Toure: Lazy, didn’t track his runners, left the back four horribly exposed and was hauled off at half time. Rushed back: 5.
Raheem Sterling: Set up Aguero excellently in the opening few minutes but became complacent and his final ball became lazy. Needs to start scoring or assisting : 6.
David Silva: A few nice touches in the first half but nothing decisive. Taken off for Navas before he could do anything else : 5.5
Kevin de Bruyne: Tried to be too cute and aimed for the perfect pass at times, which didn’t work for him. Put some nice crosses in during the second half: 6.
Sergio Aguero: Awful first half in which he missed three chances (two clear-cut) that he should’ve scored. Lashed at various chances in the second half but when we needed that moment of individual brilliance – he won a penalty superbly and dispatched it coolly: First half 5. Second half: 8.
SUBS:
Fernando: Added stability and steadied the ship. Was better than Toure: 7.
Jesus Navas: Poor. Couldn’t cross, as per: 5.
Pablo Zabaleta: Nice to see him back
