Thought Elano was a 7 and Zaba was an 8. Zabas performance was probably the most crucial for city tonight considering who was out (VK and DJ). Ireland was outstanding.

Robinho 9? What for? Giving the ball away all night?

7 for Zab is very harsh - he had to boss the midfield on his own tonight and did a great job. Ireland showing the form he showed at the start of the season - great performance

Robinho 9? What for? Giving the ball away all night?
Peter Doherty. As good as it gets. Debt Free!, Levenshulme
12/03/2009 at 22:30

jog on little man. suppose ud love vassel in stead.robbie was brilliant tonght, step overs, passing, running, and tracked back a couple of times. We dont need losers like you at our club. Arh i see why though, you probly wasnt at the game was you. Not put your slippers back on and jog on back to your arm chair.

Fully agree with Seven Stars, Zabaleta had to fill a large hole left by VC and NDJ, and had an enormously positive game. Elano was good but sometimes lacks concentration when defending. Ireland is wonderful to watch. He is one of the most naturally talented players city have ever had, no doubt about it. He is a joy to watch, because with every game you are seeing a talent discovering bit by bit just how good he can be.

Thought Zab deserved at least an 8. oh and pete docherty's comment...... Have a word son, we need fans like you.

Well, City r number 1 Littleboro, I was at the game whether Pete Doherty Levenshulme was or not. And he's right. Robinho gave the ball away or was robbed of possession cheaply all night.And usually in the most comical idiotic manner. Ireland and SWP created situations. He largely squandered them. Now disagree if you most but please don't bother with personal insults like you did in your last post.

cityrno1, Littleborough
12/03/2009 at 22:40

Sorry mate, got to agree with:
"Robinho 9? What for? Giving the ball away all night?
Peter Doherty. As good as it gets. Debt Free!, Levenshulme
12/03/2009 at 22:30 "

I'd have given him 6 at best. A couple of good through balls and the odd trick but gave the ball away too much, ran in to trouble too often and can't mark or tackle to save his life. Not his best game, but not his worst either. Didn't look happy at the end when he limped off.

Good team performance tonight even though it should have been more convincing and the other comments re Zab's performance were spot on. An 8 at least, he played really well.

Why are so many people against Robbie? 2 - 3 defenders on him all night played hard, tackled well , was chopped down but there was no whingeing he played like a man. Disgraceful referee's decision not to give him a penalty. Do you know anyone more calmer in the opponents penalty box? Also WHO put the ball through to Caciedo to score the opener? Did anyone notice him tracking back to help out Bridge well I did? The closer we get to that final the more we are going to need Robbie mark my words! Every player on that pitch tonight was awesome its not just about one player stop singling him out. Remember Samaras and Sibierski anyone? They desereved the critism they got not this guy.

Pete Doherty...you are obviously a know nowt

What do you actually have to do to get a 10??? Surely Ireland was worth maximum points. As for the Brazilians, I think the marking is a bit generous this time.

To add some balance here, Robinho is a great player and a special talent and any sort of campaign against him would be as ill-judged as the one against Ireland last season. He just did not have a 9 out of ten game tonight whereas others did.

Pathetic to read some of you misery guts posts. Are you so seriously out of meaningful things to do so that you in your misery have to nitpick the years best performance in order to make your tiny voice heard? Jezzes! I'll happily give a straight 9 to the team as a whole, including my favorite pet hate MH. WELL DONE LADS!!!!

Some very good performances tonight from talented and skillfull individuals but would have thought Zab our find of the season earnt a 9. The team is now gelling very well and gaining in communication and showing more passion and commitment with consistency becoming part of their play. Elano is getting near to his best, Ireland is fast becoming the nearest to Colin Bell with a strong and healthy appetite for the game and a Rolls Royce engine. The march on Europe continues at pace and we should fear no one. 3-4 more quality signings in the summer will make a significant difference and provide a squad of depth and quality. Get youself a season ticket. City are back and great days lie ahead.

The referee needs to visit his optician and be stood down for 6 games. It was a blatant penalty and he did not even book the offender. Top class referee my hat.

I have to be honest Robinho can frustrate but he does provide us with class and vision and is a special talent. Judge him after two seasons in the premier and europe.

Blue Sparks, Stroud, 23.10.

Come on mate, the whole point of looking at the player ratings is to see if the journalist gave them what you would have given them. If there is no disagreement that some players should have got higher or lower then there is no player ratings blog. The ratings had Robinho level with Ireland. Disagreeing with that is not exactly criminal.

just got home to kirkcaldy after watching the best game in our european season so far, the whole team deserved 9's across the board with dunny& micah 10's, and maybe a 7 for shane as he didn't have to do owt much. grrrreat!!!!!

We made a crap side look almost average. Should have scored at least four then the return could have provided some experience for fringe players. Robbie? Well a few step overs of real quality, but that apart he may have well have sat next to me. 5 out of 10 at the most.

very good performance tonight but fellow blues enjoy what is unfolding a team is emerging from the depths. and the player i relish is superman steve. last year i said he could be special if, if, if ! but fellow blues he truly is wonderful. lets sing louder !!!!!!, get behind what we have all wanted for so very very very long.
to end we are in the last 16 of a eauropean trophy and 24000 sometimes i don't understand WHERE WERE YOU ALL !!!!!!!!!!! DISGRACE

City are back and great days lie ahead.
Rick Jenks, Bury
12/03/2009 at 23:14

Do you really think so? Hilarious, one result against a team who would struggle in our championship. 33 years.

As good as it gets. Debt Free!, Levenshulme 12/03/2009 at 22:30 "

Spot on mate 'Debt free' and trophy free!

Impressed with Richards - that was more like the Richards of last season. I can't agree about the mark for Robinho - he was caught in possession too often although he put in number of good through passes. we didn't turn our opportunities into enough goals. Pity about the penalty appeal - I'd feel happier with a 3-0 lead. I feel our second half performance allowed them back in to the tie.

There cant be many finer sights for a City fan than Sweep running with the ball seemingly stuck to his foot at a rapidly retreating defender. I am so happy he came back home and I hope he knows how much he means to us. Pablo Zabeleta is a 5' 8" Giant. Whoever let this man leave their Club to come to us, especially for a paltry 6mill needs to be fitted with a helmet. If Kaka would have cost us 100mil, Stevie has saved us at least that much. Sign the lad up for life and give him what he wants. I dont know if its because Given is behind him or Nedums to the left of him or both, but Big Dunnie is back and looking more like the player of the year 4 years running. Talking of Ned his confidence doubles with every game. His distribution and work on the ball finally match his stalwart defending skills. I think Micah is starting to regain his form and has proven that RB is his natural place. Just think what we could have done with the speed, strength and determination of Bellamy, De Jong and the Bizniz, on the pitch. Hopefully the latter 2 will be ready for Chelsea as we have the makings of a nice little run. Also a point there would go a long way to silencing some of the childish bores that unfortunately try to pass themselves of as Blues on these boards from time to time.

C'mon this is not about a campaign against Robinho - just opinions on one game. I thought he created some good stuff but gave the ball away about 1/3 of the time with teammates bursting forward around him. Still he's incredible around the box and I think with time he'll improve outside it.

And I hope Elano showed some people tonight that he CAN work his proverbials off. That's probably the best shift I've seen him put in even though he wasn't influential from a passing point of view. Get him on the Stevie Ireland fitness program in the off-season and let's see what he can become next year. By the way, Ireland - brilliant.

Also thought the team showed good discipline tonight. The full backs very deliberately sat back after we went up having been very influential overlapping in the opening minutes.

My top players were

SWP, Ireland and Zabaletta, 9's all round. First half Robhino was excellent, second half was completely disinterested and went to ground at first opportunity.

Some of his play in the first half was outstanding but then some of the simple stuff like 5 yard passes went astray through lack of concentration 7 at best for me.