Match Report - Bolton (Away)

I sent a text to my flatmate at about 5:05pm on Sunday that read "We've scored 3 goals away from home, whats going on?", clearly this feeling is not new, we had some fine away days last year, but hopefully it will quieten down some of the more misguided critics of the club who claim we are a negative and boring team to watch.


In truth it wasn't all so straight forward, granted we dominated possession but it was still just a one goal margin that proved the difference at the final whistle, a couple of defensives lapses luckily didn't cost us but on another day in a different time the result could have been a crushing draw.


Whilst it wasn't entirely smooth sailing at the back, the point still remains that City really should have scored a couple of goals more than they did, Sergio Aguero missed a couple of sitters in an all action display and perhaps we were a little wasteful late on.  

It was however a slick performance, with attacking threat throughout the game.  Bolton away perhaps seems a strange game for Mancini to unleash some of our attacking talent but it was definitely a much more attacking display than some away days last season.  With Toure occupying a much deeper role than normal playing alongside the superb Barry, Aguero and Dzeko were left to terrorise the Bolton defense.


There was perhaps some fortune about the first goal, Silva hit a nice strike from outside the area that perhaps should have been saved by Jaaskelainen, but there was no argument about the second and third. Barry struck a stunner from a well worked corner, something that perhaps we haven't seen enough of.  At 2-0 City were in total command and it took a very sharp finish from Ivan Klasnic converting a Martin Petrov cross to fire the Trotters back into the game.  There is perhaps more Lescott could have done to stop Klasnic from reaching the ball, but it wouldn't be right to take anything away from Bolton who scored a superb goal.

The second half began as the first half had done with City on top, not more than 2 minutes had past before Edin Dzeko fought for a Milner flick, marauded past Zat Knight before firing a superb finish into the Bolton net, it was a great goal from a player who is now firing on all cylinders, cynics of the Bosnian should really take note, Edin was first class again and lead the line superbly.  Much to Mancini's disgust however City endeavoured to give Bolton a way back into the game again with Kevin Davies heading home a good fee kick which maybe again Lescott could have done better with.  There were late cameos from Johnson and Tevez and in truth even though Bolton were just one goal behind the game ended with City being on top again.

2 wins from 2, and more important a couple of very impressive performances, next Sunday will be a real test at White Hart Lane, but until then lets enjoy being top of the league, and more importantly being the team who has played the best football in the first two weekends of the season.


Enough of my diatribe, lets get onto the numbers:


Joe Hart: 7 - Nothing he could do with either goal to be honest, made a couple of smart saves early on, other than that he really didn't have a great deal to do.


Micah Richards: 6 - Got a great assist for a goal that was wrongly ruled out for a foul, good attacking performance, he was at times troubled by Petrov though and perhaps could have done a bit better on the first goal.


Vincent Kompany: 6 - Never looked totally comfortable with Davies, did a good job for the most part but didn't always have his supreme confidence.  Having said that the Bolton captain is one of the hardest players in the game to deal with.


Joleon Lescott : 6 - Strange one really, generally defended really well, perhaps better than his partner, but was at fault for both goals to a degree.  He was the right sort of player for the occasion, should perhaps have marked Davies and left Klasnic for Kompany though.


Aleks Kolarov: 7 - He replaced Clichy and was superb to be fair, lethal coming forward, provided some great ammunition and created width exceptionally well.  Defensively he dealt with Eagles well and didn't give him a sniff.


Gareth Barry: 8 - Superb performance, dominated the Bolton midfield with Yaya Toure, shielded the defense expertly and I think it was probably his best performance in a City shirt, even if it wasn't for his stunning goal it was a quality run out.


Yaya Toure: 7 - Played a much deeper role than normal and he excelled, didn't offer as much offensively as can be expected, but he shut things down well and his power and presence infront of the defense steadied the ship.


James Milner: 9 - This was why Milner was signed, his energy and enthusiasm was great, he created chances, was unfortunate to not score, and he got back and defended too.  It was an all action display from the Englishman, more of the same please, absolutely superb.


David Silva: 8 - Another quality display from the Spaniard, scored a good goal and was once again the heartbeat.  Mr Reliable is always there when we need him and his ability to just pop up between the lines is exceptional, if it weren't for Milner he would be my man of the match.


Sergio Aguero: 6 - A good performance from the Argentine but he should really have had 2 goals.  Nice runs, good link up, and very hard working display, but not great in front of goal, plenty will follow though, there is no doubt about that.


Edin Dzeko: 8 - I could fast run out of positive things to say about the massive striker, another top performance.  He held the ball up, brought in his team mates, he bullied defenders, fought for the ball and scored a superb goal, fantastic game for Edin and his tally is now 3 in 3.


Substitutes


Carlos Tevez: 6 - Where to begin? He looked interested, hungry, and passionate, whether he will remain though no-one knows.  He doesn't look fit yet, but a good 30 minute run out.


Adam Johnson: 6 - Good cameo, but not really enough time to do anything, some tricky runs, but he was barely on the field for 10mins.


Pablo Zabaleta: N/A - No time to judge.

I have to give man of the match to James Milner personally, but to be honest it could have also gone to Silva, Dzeko or even Barry.  The midfield and attacking unit was for the most part superb, but Milner stood out for me because I think he proved to some people just how useful he can be, and showed what he is capable of.  The hard part for the England man now is to continue in that vain because he has proved what a massive part he can play in our push for success.

Match Preview - Bolton (Away)

It feels like no time has past at all since the last trip to the Reebok, many things have changed but the good feelings experienced by all City fans at the end of that game remain, things were looking good then, and they are looking even better now.

Circumstances are different in some ways however, what was a last day of the season battle, is now a start of the season race, after a good performance on Monday night where we really laid a marker down against Swansea, the game on Sunday will be a great opportunity to show that we can perform against better teams as well and prove that the performance on Monday night was not just a flash in the pan.

The game is in fact between the top 2 teams in the league after both opened their campaigns with 4-0 demolitions of newly promoted teams, it is therefore likely that confidence will be high in both camps.  This is really the sort of game that we should be winning if we have realistic expectations of winning the league or pushing Manchester United close.  In previous years we may have thought about taking a point, but this time around it is a game we should be winning, but it definitely wont be easy.

Kevin Davies will as always be a threat, but that is the sort of challenge that Joleon Lescott enjoys, he has no problem with a physical battle and hopefully he can match the hard working Bolton striker.  Our creativity and skills in midfield will be matched with the hard working efficiency of Nigel Reo-Coker and Fabrice Muamba, and I can't help but feel that is where the game will be won and lost.

Recent Form


Clearly it is difficult to judge both clubs form, we are only one game into the season.  Both sides won convincingly in their first games, but as previously noted for both teams this was against slightly less impressive opposition.  Looking to the end of last year, City were winning in style notching up 4 straight wins, including that victory at Wembley, things were gelling and hopefully we will start this season as we ended last.

Bolton on the other hand will be hoping for a change of fortunes, after a strong season they faltered towards the end.  They lost 5 games consecutively at the end of the campaign including 2 at home to both Sunderland and that defeat to City.  Clearly a lot of this can probably be attributed to the fact they had nothing to play for, but it could still be argued that if City score early it could weigh heavy on the Bolton players.

City - Bolton: Head To Head


Currently we are undefeated in 5 games with the Trotters, taking in 4 wins and 1 draw.  At the Reebok however things are less spectacular, victory in May was the first in 6 attempts, drawing 2, and losing 3 of the previous meetings.  City and Bolton provided the majority of goals on the opening weekend, weighing in with 8 of the 18.

Team News


Bolton have had a torrid time in preseaon with injuries losing key midfielder Chung Yong Lee and former City fullback Tyrone Mears both to broken legs as well as Stuart Holden who also suffered a leg break towards the end of last season.  They will put Ricardo Gardner through a fitness test to see whether he has recovered from a groin problem prior to the game as well.

City will possibly give a debut to Aguero after his heroics on Monday night and there is a possibility that Carlos Tevez could make the bench.  There are doubts over Nigel De Jong who was substituted against Swansea with a minor foot injury and whether he is fit enough to play will be decided nearer the time.

Who Could Hurt Us?

Kevin Davies: At 34, the former Southampton striker is still causing problems for defences.  His work rate is second to none, and his aerial ability is pretty impressive.  He has become the heartbeat of the Bolton side and even though he is never a prolific goalscorer for them, he is still at the heart of many of the good things they do.  He didn't net last time out for example, but he was still central to their good pieces of play.  He will no doubt give the defense a real battle and if we are to win on Sunday they need to deal with the threat presented by the Trotters captain.  It is players like Davies that make me thankful that we are without Toure and can use Lescott to combat the power of certain forwards.

Who Could Hurt Them?

Edin Dzeko: The Bosnian striker was a bit of a revelation against Swansea on Monday night and if he can produce more of the same it will be a massive boost for the side.  Not only did he score, but his hold up play was much improved, and his first touch also looked a lot better.  I expect City will play him upfront alone as is the formation preferred by Roberto Mancini and his ability to hold up the ball and bring Silva, Toure, Johnson and or Aguero into play is vital.  He scored at the Reebok in the victory last season and that coupled with his goal on Monday will no doubt have boosted his confidence.  I fancy Dzeko to score again, and if he is on form I think he'll cause huge problems for the Wanderers defence.

Prediction


I have a feeling City will triumph on Sunday, and I think the most likely scoreline will be a 1-0 victory with Dzeko scoring the all important goal.  I think Lescott and Kompany will be able to deal with Davies, but we certainly won't have it all our own way, as with any game against Bolton, it will be a tough battle but I think we will come through and take the 3 points.

The Invisible Man's Match Preview - Bolton (Away)

Well it's that time of the year again, the final weekend of another season.  Normally the last day for City is a pretty meaningless affair, this year however there is a lot on the minds of players and fans alike, a month ago if offered a 4th place finish and the first trophy for 35 years many of us would have been ecstatic, going into this final Sunday however, that result would be slightly underwhelming.

Roberto Mancini and his team just have to match whatever Arsenal do at Craven Cottage, the target however will be to win, rendering whatever Wenger and his side manage meaningless.  It is a shame therefore that this massive game comes at a ground where City haven't managed a win since 2004.

Trotters - City: Head To Head

Whilst wins at the Reebok have been thin on the ground, our overall form against Bolton isn't too awful, of the last 4 meetings home and away, we have won 3 and drawn 1.  The last 5 away games however have brought a meagre 2 points from a couple of draws and three defeats, lets hope for that first victory tomorrow.

What's Riding on it?

Clearly City have more to play for going into the final day.  The Trotters currently sit 10th and know that a win could move them as high as 8th if results go their way and that would be a good achievement for Owen Coyle and his squad.

The real awards though are with Mancini, securing 3rd place will avoid the very tricky Champions League qualification round and it would wrap up an extremely successful season.

Recent Form

City are currently enjoying a fine spell of results, they have won 6 of their last 7 matches in all competitions one of which secured the FA Cup.  The one defeat coming at Goodison Park in a game that I think most fans have written off from now until eternity.

The lifting of the FA Cup will have done an awful lot for the morale and belief in the City camp and at the time I thought it not unlikely that the side would win their final 2 games thus securing 3rd.  Even taking the cup success out of the equation our league form is pretty impressive, ignoring the blip at Everton things seem to be improving winning 5 of our last 7 outings.

Goals have been coming from different people as well, something which is particularly pleasing, I wonder what odds you could have got on the only City goals against West Ham being provided by Nigel De Jong and Pablo Zabaleta.

Bolton on the other hand are struggling, their season so far has been good but lately they have began to falter.  They have lost 4 successive games in the league, and lost 6 of their last 8 in total, at home however things are slightly better as they have managed to win 5 of their 6 at the Reebok, probably the most notable of which being against Arsenal.

With there being little to play for however their patchy form might hurt them against City who know that they need to win really.

Who Could Hurt Us?

 Daniel Sturridge - Since he moved on loan from Stamford Bridge the greedy toe-rag has managed 8 goals for Bolton, leaving him only 2 behind Johan Elmander who has played the whole season.  City fans know all about the threat that the striker carries, he possesses electric pace, great trickery and an excellent left foot.  He may also feel he has a point to prove, although that would be strange since the club did everything in their power to keep him.  His desire to spoil the City party will be strong and I expect him to be giving it his all, hopefully the traveling support can help him further question his decision to quit Eastlands for the Stamford Bridge dugout.

Who Can Hurt Them?

Carlos Tevez - The Argentine is in pretty good form after his superb double against Stoke on Tuesday night, he also looked to be approaching full fitness again after a somewhat rusty performance in the cup final.  He has a great scoring record against Bolton, he sunk them at Eastlands earlier this campaign and he tortured them at the Reebok last season scoring twice in a 3-3 thriller.  If certain rumours are to be believed about this being his final game for the club, I think he will do all he can to ensure victory for the club that have paid his huge wages for the past couple of years.  His understanding and interplay with Silva could be too much for Bolton to cope with and I firmly expect Tevez to get on the score sheet.

Prediction

What of the all important score line then, well to get straight to the point I am going to go for a 2-1 win for City, I think it will be incredibly tight and a pretty nervy affair but I expect Mancini and his team to come through with the required 3 points for a 3rd place finish.  Having said all that, I don't think Arsenal will get more than a point at Craven Cottage anyway so I think we will do it with points to spare.