A night of FA Cup replays saw the Premier League second-string get another run-out. When Man City are involved however, there’s no such thing as fringe players, as Mancini rotated riches to re-establish David Silva’s marriage with Carlos Tevez to devastating effect; a plucky Leicester City the latest to come out worst in another goal-strewn Eastlands encounter…
Roberto Mancini suggested that he’d make changes to his City lineup for the replay with Leicester and so it proved. Kolo Toure, Nigel De Jong, Edin Dzeko, and Gareth Barry all dropped out for this one with Joleon Lescott, James Milner, David Silva, and Patrick Vieira all handed starts. Interestingly, Mancini left his full-backs untouched as both Pablo Zabaleta and Aleksandar Kolarov held their starting roles – that might suggest that the Italian has now decided on this pairing as his first choice – the lineup for the Villa game should reveal more on that.
David Silva made a return to the starting lineup then after earning a recall to the bench in Saturday’s win over Wolves. Silva showed his class in the first-half with a pinpoint pass to feed Adam Johnson; the England man duly dispatched City’s second from 18-yards to send a further message to his manager but, in truth, Johnson should have notched further goals and made a bigger statement. Silva meanwhile ended the game with two assists and looks assured for a starting role at Villa.
Carlos Tevez started then when perhaps this seemed a timely occasion to hand him a rest. The City skipper didn’t take long to show his qualities however, blasting home a rasping volley to give the home side the lead on 15 minutes. The night then took a twist for Tevez as he conspired to miss his second consecutive penalty after the break. Tevez also fluffed from 12-yards in the recent win over Blackpool and there’s now every possibility that he could surrender spot-kick duties in the league. A slight concern for buoyant Tevez owners.
Kolarov delivered the goal he has been threatening in the league by sealing City’s win with a 20-yard effort late on. His owners will hope that that strike will be enough to cement his start for the trip to Villa Park, although it must be considered that, with Villa’s wide men such a threat, Mancini may opt for Micah Richards or Jerome Boateng at right-back, with the reliable Zabaleta switching to the left.
Indeed, Mancini spent much of his post-match analysis picking apart his team’s defending, suggesting that he will surely shake-up his back four again at Villa.
“It’s great – but only for the supporters! I’d enjoy it if we scored four goals and did not concede any, but every time it’s two goals, three goals. We must improve…If you keep conceding in each game, you will get to the moment when you don’t score enough to win. Because of this, we have to improve.”
Wolves’ 5-0 demolition in front of a paltry 10,000 at Molineux provided some respite from their Premeir League struggles. Mick McCarthy was able to welcome back Jody Craddock and Karl Henry following lengthy injury lay-offs, they came into the starting lineup at the expense of Christophe Berra and Nenad Milijas. The changes didn’t end there as Marcus Hahnemann replaced Wayne Hennessey in goal, while Steven Mouyokolo and Geoffrey Mujangi Bia came in for Stephen Ward and Matt Jarvis; Mouyokolo took up a role at left-back. McCarthy will likely shuffle again for the home clash with Liverpool this weekend – Henry and Craddock will be expected to keep their starting roles which may well see Berra or Richard Stearman at the back, and Milijas in midfield, miss out.
Wolves will face Stoke City in the fourth round – they came through their replay with Cardiff with the aid of extra-time. Jonathan Walters grabbed both the goals for Tony Pulis’ men.
The Stoke boss made no less than 10 changes to the side that inflicted defeat on Bolton at the Britannia. The inclusion of Mamady Sidibe on the bench was perhaps the most notable – Pulis is a big fan of the lofty striker and we can expect him to figure in league matches over the next month. Ironically, the only player who retained his starting role – Danny Higginbotham, picked up an injury and was forced off on 10 minutes – he will be a doubt for the trip to Fulham with Danny Collins likely to return to the league lineup if he fails to make it.
