Man City 2 0 Aston Villa Man City 2 0 Aston Villa

Result: Man City 2 0 Aston VillaA simply stunning and sensational performance from Man City on Wednesday night allowed them to topple an Aston Villa pushingfor Champions League qualification in a highly exciting and action-packed encounter at Eastlands. The visitors were very underwhelming, creating almost nothing, but credit should be given to City, who were rampant all night, mixing their blend of free-flowing attacking football with a usually hidden mean streak. Goals from Elano and Shaun Wright-Phillips settled the contest, the result of which moves the Blues up into eighth place in the table.Team NewsMi sing key men Robinho, Craig Bellamy and Micah Richards, along with all the other long-term casualties, Blues bo s Mark Hughes recalled Brazilian playmaker Elano to the starting line-up, where he was joined by the Ecuadorian striker Felipe Caicedo, who has been recently described as a battering ram who cant batter. Shaun Wright-Phillips returned following his three match suspension, and there were places on the bench for Valeri Bojinov and the unknown quantity that is more commonly known as Berti.The Villains, hoping to extend their remarkable run of seven consecutive Premier League away victories, had a full-strength side available, with Emile Heskey pa sed fit to play despite being doubtful with an injury. They po se sed a ridiculous amount of talent on the bench, with household names such as John Carew, Nigel Reo-Coker, Nicky Shorey and Marlon Harewood, showing just how far City still have to go, as the home sides bench included Berti, Darius Dale Murphy Jersey Va sell and Gelson Just Give up Football, you Absolute ****** Fer******.Heskey was pa sed fit to play despite being doubtful with an injuryCity Line-Up GivenZabaleta Dunne Onuoha Bridge de Jong KompanySWPElano Ireland CaicedoSubs: Hart, Garrido, BERTI, Fer******, Va sell, Bojinov, EvansReportCity started the match like a house on fire,looking bright, energetic and up for the challenge. The first opportunity was created just a minute into the game when the enigmatic Elano played through Stephen Ireland with what can only be a described as a sumptuous pa s. Instead of shooting when bearing down on goal, Superman opted to cro s the ball for a teammate, when no-one was actually there to help him. Fresh from his ban, SWP was causing havoc for the Villa defence, especially Luke Young, who, playing out of position at left-back, was being constantly tormented by the tricky little winger. City should have scored their opening goal after five minutes when Ireland fed SWP to race through on goal, but after wriggling past the efforts of Young, the Blues midfielder was put under just enough pre sure and sliced wide.With City enjoying the vast majority of po se sion yet failing to take their chances, one felt that Villa would, at any moment, suddenly break free and score to give the visitors an unwarranted advantage. However, the City defence, especially Pablo Zabaleta and Richard Give Me Some Cake Dunne, were performing manfully, giving the likes of Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor le s to feed on than a tramp in the midst of a famine!!!Then, with 22 minutes on the electronic scoreboard clock, the first goal of the evening arrived. With SWP yet again bearing down on Brad Bobby Cox Jersey Friedels goal and ready to pull the trigger, Villa winger James Milner brought down the England international illegally, giving referee Chris Foy no option but to award a yellow card and to hand City a glorious chance from the penalty spot. It was Citys fourth penalty in the league this season, and with Elano already having scored in exactly the same situation during the first game of the campaign, the responsibility was handed over to the Brazilian who calmly dispatched the spot-kick to Friedels right, putting the home side 1 0 up.Elano takes and then celebrates the penaltyThe Blues continued to pre s forward at every opportunity and were looking as dangerous as they had done at any previous point in the season. There was no obvious sign that we were mi sing Robinho, with his compatriot and best friend Elano filling in with more effect than the Premier Leagues most expensive signing. With Nifty Nige de Jong pulling the strings in midfield, ably supported by Belgian international Vincent Kompany, City were in total control, seemingly able to score whenever they wanted. SWP created another chance for Ireland after his tantalising cro s, but the Irishman just failed to reach the ball. The half-time whistle went, much to the relief of Tom Glavine Jersey the visitors, who, for a side with Champions League aspirations, were about as unimpre sive as Peter Crouchs facial features.The second-half began, but almost immediately, City were dealt a major blow with Nifty Nige being forced off injured with aknee strain. Mark Hughes had numerous options off the bench, including Javier Garrido or Ched Evans, but Sparky, seemingly intent on making us lose the game, brought on Gelson It Pains Me To Write His Name Fer****** to occupy the holding midfield role. I wouldnt trust Gelson with holding a baby, let alone a midfield!!! Villa brought on the giant John Carew in place of centre-back Curtis Davies as they looked for the goal to make the game level. The visitors reshuffle meant Milner had to fill in at right-back, not the best use of his considerable talents, and theVillainsstruggled to stamp any authority on a match they started clear favourites to win.SWP gets stuck into the action against Luke YoungThe second-half was a much more languid affair, with City happy to play keep-ball, whilst keeping Villa at bay. The Blues were still capable, however, of launching a counter attack and it was from one of these where Felipe I Run Like a Donkey With a Broken Leg Caicedo nearly managed to add a second, but just failing to reach Wayne Bridges ferocious cro s. Then, to the delight of at least one of my readers, namely Matt Jones, Hughes brought on Ched Evans to replace the Ecuadorian striker, and the Welsh international immediately caused problems for the visitors. With his first touch, a majestic chest-down, Evans set up Elano for a left-footed volley on goal, which Friedel somehow tipped wide.Villa were barely creating anything, but only a last-ditch Richard Dunne header prevented Gabriel Agbonlahor from equalising. Bulgarian striker Valeri Bojinov, who looks as if he could do with spending some time at the gym to shift those pounds, came on Fred McGriff Jersey to a rapturous reception, replacing Elano, who had had one of his best games in a City shirt.And then, with just two minutes remaining, the Blues sealed off the game, courtesy of a delightful one-two inside the box between SWP and Ireland, which allowed the English winger to slot home beneath the body of Friedel. Ireland nearly added a third in injury time, but it didnt matter as the final whistle went, signalling a great victory for City.Wayne Rooney in fifteen yearsKey BattlesNedum Onuoha v Gabriel AgbonlahorOnuoha was brilliant at shutting out Agbonlahor all night, restricting the Villa striker to just the occasional effort on goal. Since winning back his place in the side, Onuoha has performed superbly and deserves his place in the team. Winner = OnuohaPablo Zabaleta v Ashley YoungArgentinean Zabaleta returned to his favoured right-back role and was sensational when faced with the prospect of Young. Denied space and time on the ball, Young was virtually bypa sed and full credit must go to Zabaleta. Winner = ZabaletaWayne Bridge v James MilnerWill Young look-a-like Bridge, had arguably his best game for City, coping admirably with Milner, who failed to reproduce the spark he has been showing recently. He was the culprit for the Blues penalty and was pushed back to defence for the second-half. Winner = Bridge Will Young or Wayne Bridge???Player RatingsGiven Was only forced into making one save, a low stop from Gareth Barry, and handling was safe 8Zabaleta Brilliant performance in his favoured position. Handled Young superbly and got forward really well 9Dunne Captains showing. Led from the front with his attitude and determination 9.5Onuoha Yet another fantastic game for the younger defender. Had Heskey in his back pocket 8.5Bridge Best game for the Blues. Got forward well and looked solid at the back 8.5De Jong Lynch-pin of the midfield in the first-half. Broke up every attack and distribution was excellent. Unfortunately had to be taken off injured 9Kompany Acted like a captain at times, winning every aerial battle and supplying the forwards well 9SWP Perfect performance from the winger. Looked rejuvenated after his suspension and caused problems all evening 10Elano Superb return to the starting line-up for the Brazilian Jorge Soler Jersey . Pulled the strings early on and created numerous chances for teammates 9Ireland End-to-end match for the attacking midfielder. Popped up everywhere and set up SWPs goal with a deft pa s 9Caicedo Not the most agile of players and fails to anticipate the game. Should make way for Evans in the UEFA Cup 6Subs:Gelson Dreadful. Gave the ball away so many times. When hes on the pitch, its like playing withten men 0Evans Looked very, very bright when he came on. Full of running, involved in the build-up to the second goal and nearly set-up Elano to score 8.5Bojinov Too late to markMan of the Match = Shaun Wright-Phillips