So spake one of the Palace faithful on the way back to the delights of Norwood Junction. The chap obviously felt he had been short-changed for his £20 admission money and I was half-tempted to ask what level of trouncing (four,six,eight?)he would have found acceptable – but the moment had gone. Perhaps, in future years, the seasons of opposing teams will be judged on the scoreline against City. Come next May, picture the scene in the “snug” at The Cherry Trees – “Well ,we didn’t get relegated and we only lost 2-0 to City”. The green-eyed envy monster is never attractive and, if the unfurling of a very amateurish banner at the home end proclaiming “If you’re only playing for the money, it’s not worth playing” was some sort of attempt at moral high ground, it failed dismally. I presume these people apply the same precious values to their own lives “If you’re only working for the money, it’s not worth working”, maybe? Thought not.
Excitement levels were heightened at the news that City were starting with their full-strength eleven, including the newly-signed Lescott. This was tempered by the news that Villa had agreed a fee with City for the services of Dunne and that he had gone straight to the Midlands for talks over his personal terms. Sad, but the general feeling was, as grand a servant as he has been to City over the years, it was time to “move on”.
City started brightly with the first move of the match ending with Tevez shooting over the bar. Slick one-touch interplay straight from the training ground was easy on the eye but wasn’t getting City very far in terms of end result. The 1800 City supporters had to wait until after the half-hour for the next serious attempt when Adebayor shot over. Three minutes later, a sweet one-two between Shaun and Tevez ended with a save from the keeper. A Robinho deflected shot and a Micah header over ended the first half.
City started the second period with purpose and were ahead after only four minutes. A good diagonal ball from Ireland found Shaun and he finished with a powerful shot. Whilst not exactly the killer blow, City now moved forward with confidence and, just after the hour mark, a Bridge cross was laid off by Adebayor to Shaun who shot over. Two minutes later, the lead was doubled when an unmarked Tevez headed in a corner from Shaun. The goal was celebrated by the City fans with “Fergie, Fergie, sign him up”. With just over fifteen minutes to go, Bellamy replaced Robinho – some of our number felt he was ineffectual but, for me, his class takes opponents away, leaving other team members with more time and space than they would get otherwise. He was very unlucky to be flagged offside in the first half, running on to a ball from inside his own half, which took him clear from defenders and would have left him one-on-one with the keeper – 1-0 City. Seven minutes from time, Tevez switched inside smartly and shot forcing a save from the keeper. Tevez himself was replaced three minutes from the end by De Jong.
Palace battled bravely and forced a number of goalmouth scrambles which, in previous seasons, would have ended with City conceding goals. These days, the team has a more solid look to it with City players first to the “second ball” more often than not. Strength in depth has been achieved with internationals right through the bench and players like Kompany and Johnson (hopefully) still to return. Although the newspaper column inches today gave the plaudits to Shaun and Tevez, I thought Barry had an immense game. Here is a player reaching his peak and, although he has a different role, I believe he could be as influential to City as Gerrard is to Liverpool.
City: Given, Richards, Toure, Lescott, Bridge, Barry, Ireland, Wright-Phillips, Robinho (Bellamy 73), Adebayor, Tevez (De Jong 87). Unused subs: Taylor, Onuoha, Petrov, Weiss, Zabaleta.
Attendance: 14,725
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