Manchester City v Tottenham Hotspur 11/11/12: Review

Edin in the right direction?

Edin Dzeko once again scored a winner for City after coming off of the bench

Manchester City extended their home league unbeaten streak to 35 games, stretching back to December 2010, after a 2-1 comeback victory over Tottenham Hotspur at the Etihad Stadium.

City largely dominated the opening 20 minutes, but fell behind to a Steven Caulker header from Tom Huddlestone's whipped free-kick. Joe Hart got both gloves to the ball, but was unable to prevent the young Englishman scoring.

Several decisions then went against the Citizens before their second half equalizer. A blatant handball by Spurs' William Gallas in the penalty area was not seen by referee Michael Oliver, before City had several positions to score wrongfully ruled offside.

William Gallas appeared to handle the ball, but no penalty kick was awarded

David Silva, returning from a month on the sidelines with a hamstring injury, returned in style with a great performance. He added the much need spark to Manchester City's fire and made their game flow, with some quality passing and dribbling. Assisted City's winner.

Spurs pushed on in search of a second after half time, but sloppy passing and poor decisions by their players did not help, nor did their minimal possession. Gareth Bale, who was quoted by ex-boss Harry Redknapp as "an amazing talent, after the Ronaldos and Messis of this world", was much kept quiet by the City fullbacks.

The Champions unexpectedly substituted Matija Nastasic for Maicon in the 56th minute. Maicon had a massive influence on the game and used his pace to cause problems for Spurs fullback Jan Vertonghen. Maicon supplied plenty of excellent balls into the box, and although none of these were converted, several caused problems for the Tottenham back four.

Man City did eventually find an equalizer in the 65th minute through Argentine Sergio Aguero. With City on the counter-attack, a misplaced touch by Yaya Toure fell to Aguero on the right hand side of the penalty area, and he cut back towards goal and passed the ball into the far bottom corner of the goal, deservedly beating Spurs 'keeper Brad Friedel with a cool, composed finish.

City controlled much of possession throughout the game, 55% overall, and had several opportunities to take the lead. Tevez, who was beginning to tire, was replaced by Edin Dzeko in the 73rd minute of the game, as Roberto Mancini knew City had to win the game to stay in touch with league leaders Manchester United.

Dzeko went on to score a superb half-volley in the 88th minute. The substitute held off two defenders, before laying the ball to David Silva, who chipped the ball with perfect weight over all seven of Spurs defending players, and it bounced into the path of Edin Dzeko, who hit the ball hard past Friedel.

The starting line-ups for both teams

All three of the goals in the thrilling 2-1 game

Manchester City Player ratings out of (10):

• Joe Hart (6)  - Didn't have much a job to do. A few decent saves. Unlucky with the Spurs goal.
• Pablo Zabaleta (7) - Dealt with Gareth Bale superbly. Great going forwards. Should have scored a low shot on goal. 
• Vincent Kompany (6) - Generally solid. Occasionally wasted time when the scores were level and didn't play the ball forward, 
• Matija Nastasic (6) - The young Serbian is slowly becoming a quality center half. Some good tackles and interceptions. Unexpectedly replaced in the second half.
• Gael Clichy (7) - Countered Aaron Lennon's pace on the right with some great defending and pace. Great tackle in the penalty area on Defoe towards the end of the game.
• Yaya Toure (6) - Occasional burst of pace and strength to help the team going forward. Solid at the back.
• Gareth Barry (4.5) - Generally poor performance. Continually gave the ball away with poor passes and lost the ball in dangerous areas at times. 
• David Silva (8) - Great performance considering he has been injured for a month or so. Nice passing, dribbling and wonderful lobbed pass for the winner.
• Aleksander Kolarov (5) - Not one of his best games. Poor corners. Sloppy passing. 
• Carlos Tevez (7) - Made good runs and passes thorughtout. 
• Sergio Aguero (6) - Scored the equalizer, but had plenty of chances to score. Should have had at least 3 goals. Showed strength on occasion but found himself on the floor more than he would have liked.

Subs:

56" Nastasic -----> Maicon (9) - Best City performance yet. Showed speed and strength. Several good crosses and passes, unlucky that they were not to converted. 

73" Tevez -----> Dzeko (8) - Scored another winner from the Bench. "Hernandez" of our team. 

90" Aguero -----> Garcia (5) - Played 6 minutes. Nothing exceptional, did his job.