Fulham 1 City 2: Player ratings

March 21, 2010

6 GIVEN: Had nothing to do until the penalty, and was well protected in a nervy finish

6 ZABALETA: Eager to get forward, even though he had his hands full against Duff and Davies

7 TOURE: Early clearance saved a goal and will have boosted his confidence. A solid return

7 KOMPANY: Brave in the air, and is proving himself to be City’s in-form centre-back

6 GARRIDO: Didn’t always look secure, but slotted in well enough after his late call-up

8 JOHNSON: Very unlucky not to score during a terrific 15-minute period after the break

8 VIEIRA: Showed he’s still got what it takes to police midfield with a crunching early challenge on Murphy

7 BARRY: Did a great job alongside Vieira until he unluckily conceded the penalty that gave Fulham a way back in

8 BELLAMY: A pacy threat in the first half, and didn’t neglect his defensive duties either

8 TEVEZ: Inspired in the first half, Fulham remembered to close him down after the break

7 SANTA CRUZ: Worked hard up front and might have had more than one goal

SUBSTITUTES

DE JONG (for Santa Cruz, 79): Should have had a goal in a frantic finish. 6

WRIGHT-PHILLIPS (for Johnson, 85): Too late to mark

ONUOHA (for Bellamy, 90): Too late to mark

UNUSED: Taylor, Onuoha, Richards, Sylvinho, Ireland.

REFEREE: Lee Probert: Gave Fulham’s penalty on the advice of his linesman – and it looked harsh. 5

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Linda Survivor, To buy us a diver (21/03/2010 at 17:11)

Good that we were forced into changes but got a result. Fulham were probably hungover from Europe, we have hard games to come so keep up the concentration and do your jobs well blues!

Ashley Hallows, Manchester (21/03/2010 at 17:15)

Man of the match Carlos Alberto Tevez

BlueIsTheColour, West Didsbury (21/03/2010 at 17:16)

Great result.

No negative comments please! (You know who you are!!)

Lets all turn up Wednesday, seems ages since we played at home. Beat Everton & away we go!!!

CTID

Real Mancs Are Blue, Manchester (21/03/2010 at 17:31)

Great result, great play by all the ONLY real negative was SWP, useless again, come on Shuany babes pull your finger out !

Ambient (21/03/2010 at 17:34)

Totally agree with Blueisthe colour. Great result but lets not start picking away at it and finding faults. Now to deal with Everton and that incredibly irritating ginger whinger.

MAN-KEY-UNION, MANCHESTER (21/03/2010 at 17:38)

Linda Survivor, To buy us a diver
21/03/2010 at 17:11
Pre match Hodgson commented that he had a full contingent of players fully fit and they were "up for it"

paul (21/03/2010 at 17:41)

A great result!Forget all that Fulham tired nonsense they were all fired up for this one after Juventus and were making plenty of noise in the papers about turning us over.

We are still a work in progress but when we are on top we really have to turn the screw and get the game finished off like the top teams do,as the other teams always have a spell when we will be put under the cosh.

That aside there really are no easy games in the premier league and it is a huge win......BUT.....we have to build on that now by beating the screaming skull's side on Wednesday and Wigan Monday.[Anyone else hate Monday night games??]

Portsmouth Blue (21/03/2010 at 17:44)

Well done one and all ok not totally convincing but 3 points is as they say 3 points now do the secondary scousers please.

MAN-KEY-UNION, MANCHESTER (21/03/2010 at 17:45)

Real Mancs Are Blue, Manchester
21/03/2010 at 17:31
Maybe he needs an arm around him, to get him back on track for the run in, look at the crap AFs got playing for him, but he just talks them up and 'voila' even they believe in themselves.

Stonefish, loving the Blue Revolution!!! (21/03/2010 at 17:49)

Sounds like we were unluck not to bag 5... Adam Johnson is making himself the first choice... Sit down SWP! Still feel we hit the panic button take that out of our game and 4th place here we come! Off to Afgan now so you'll have to enjoy the rollercoaster without me... Blue Moon!

joe corrigans gloves, Thailand (21/03/2010 at 17:53)

waisted afternoon then dedski? ded? Great result! Great tactics from bob right from the off.
bring on everton!
ctid

Raziola, Sport City (21/03/2010 at 17:58)

Great Win - 3 points in all of our matches is all that matters!!!

MBLUED, UK (21/03/2010 at 18:06)

thought mancini tactically should have brought de jong on at 2-0 to see the game rather than wait till 2-1
also think tevez missed some sitters before he scored the 2nd which might have proved costly, body laguage doesnt look good between santa cruz and tevez
vierra still looked off the pace and lucky not to get booked
thought johnson was quiet today but kompany toure and zabeltta played well in defence
definately a hang over from thu night for fulham and city players sharper in 1st half
i was there and crowd didnt even barely watch the match just sung about beating juve, going to germany and going to wembley

simon23 (21/03/2010 at 18:09)

Superb from the lads although the usual dodgy refereeing decision tried to mess things up.

Where is Brennan today ?...no doubt sat in some pub wearing a Norwich scarf.

wizzballs, oxford (21/03/2010 at 18:22)

tevez was sublime in the first half. that goal will live in the memory, everything I love about football, guile and awareness to nutmeg the midfielder, creativity and desire to play the one two and get in the box, sublime technique to control the pass, more guile and speed of thought to make an ass of the defender, and a decisive, clinical finish.

kompany and toure were top-drawer, as was the boy johnson... who leaves me giddy with his courage in tight situations, his vision and ability in the final third. what a signing.

viera also deserves a mention, he has had a really positive impact on our midfield. and barry impresses me with his application and intelligence.

the big difference today was the absentees. our right side was flawless, and the whole team stuck together, 10 outfield players all comfortable on the ball trying to play a team game. shame it got a bit messy at the end, we need to maintain our composure a little better,ndj and swp's misses were the only glaring errors, hate to be negative but they really have to show a bit more intelligence on the ball if they want to stick around. BUT all in all a sterling job, the team held out, the defenders really dug in and pulled off some great clearances. hearty congratulations all round.

Joe pesh, Roe green (21/03/2010 at 18:54)

thought zableta deserved more than a 6

MART (BEBB) Broughton Blues, SALFORD (21/03/2010 at 19:08)

VIEIRA was my M.O.M. - having watched game live in pub I was sat next to some numpty who was slating him (Vieira) every time he touched the ball and wanted to kill him every slight error he made today against Fulham. VIEIRA`S MATCH FIT NOW - DEAL WITH IT KNOCKERS! But for me the intelligent fan looks at Vieira in a different light - especially in second half, I thought the amount of cut-out headers (to feet of team mates) & tackles he made were crucial to running down clock & disrupting Fulham`s flow (for want of a better word - `cos as Player rating correctly state "Given had nothing to do until the award of dodgy Pen & was well protected in a nervy finish").

tommy hutchinson's dribble, Mexico (21/03/2010 at 19:25)

Best away performance of the year. Fulham are a difficult prospect at home as Juventus found out.
Great shape. Thought RSC gave a bit of balance up front. Tevez and Bellamy were terrific, and Adam Johnson is ENgland's top prospect, better than willshere and walcott. He proved that his amazing goal wasn't a fluke last week, by almost doing it again.

Viera gave a bit more balance in the midfield than De JOng , and Barry had an excellent game.

Should have own a bit more comfortably. Now let's give Everton a good hiding.

Tiger Blue, Hampshire (21/03/2010 at 20:01)

Stonefish have a safe tour make sure you do your 5 and 20's and in 6 months we should be in the CL.
Great result today well done Boby Manc tactics spot on.

dan the man, bury (21/03/2010 at 20:02)

Thats 7 points from a possible 9 in the last 3 games, ALL AWAY. I think all of us blues would have taken that. Lets have a strong, menacing finish to the season instead of it petering away like past seasons. Everton on Wednesday will be extremely tough but we can do it if we start with a high tempo and maintain it. I'll be there with six other members of my blue family.

Linda Survivor, To buy us a diver (21/03/2010 at 20:11)

Pre match Hodgson commented that he had a full contingent of players fully fit and they were "up for it"
MAN-KEY-UNION, MANCHESTER
21/03/2010 at 17:38

WTF? Do you think football managers always tell it how it really is?
Do politicians tell the truth?
What else is Hodgsen supposed to say?
If it was not a problem then why don't teams play 24/7, 8 days a week?
You think a tough mid week Europe match has no effect on the same players 3 days later?
Then maybe you also think Robinho, Santa Cruz, Jo and Richards are top 4 quality players?

manchester,were the majority of utd fans watch them on tv, salford (21/03/2010 at 20:12)

the referee gave fulham a penalty just to make a game of it , we need to be more clincal , we missed a hatful of chances at stoke,sunderland and now fulham , The six home games means we will have 18pts in the bag , (although spurs could be a test at home) we will murder the scum again , and the other 4 are all winnable. When we get in the Champions League , the players we are going to sign will make baconfaces eyes water , time for him to retire disgracefully.

asa hartfords heart, eccles (21/03/2010 at 20:31)

thought mancini tactically should have brought de jong on at 2-0 to see the game rather than wait till 2-1 also think tevez missed some sitters before he scored the 2nd which might have proved costly, body laguage doesnt look good between santa cruz and tevez vierra still looked off the pace and lucky not to get booked thought johnson was quiet today but kompany toure and zabeltta played well in defence definately a hang over from thu night for fulham and city players sharper in 1st half i was there and crowd didnt even barely watch the match just sung about beating juve, going to germany and going to wembley
MBLUED, UK
21/03/2010 at 18:06

hope you were more positive and supportive at the match.

Norvaner, Vancouver (21/03/2010 at 20:50)

The game passed Vieira by...too slow, 5. Johnson was not an 8 and Cruz was a 5 maybe a 6 because of the goal. Kompany & Tevez were our best players both deserving an 8. City sat back for too long and better teams than Fulham would have destroyed us.

coleraine true blue, coleraine n, ireland (21/03/2010 at 21:08)

JOHNSON AN 8 WHAT MATCH WERE YOU WATCHING I WAS SITTING IN A PUB IN COLERAINE AND I WAS MORE INVOLVED IN THE MATCH THAT HE WAS, AT TIMES HE HE WAS SO OUT OF IT THAT HE CONSPICUOUS BY HIS ABSENCE. THE LAD IS NOT A RIGHT SIDED PLAYER I DON'T CARE WHAT MANCINI SAYS IT COULD RUIN HIM TO KEEP PLAYING HIM IN THIS POSITION.

AS FOR VIEIRA HE MAY HAVE THE KNOWLEDGE BUT HIS ABILITY IS NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE, A 5/6 WOULD BE SUFFICE, AND WE AS A CLUB ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION TO MAKE SURE HE IS FIT FOR THE WORLD CUP AT THE EXPENSE OF OUR TEAM GAINING A CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLACE.

WE LACK IT TOWARDS THE END TO SUCH AN EXTENT YOU WOULD HAVE THOUGHT WE WHERE THE TEAM THAT HAD PLAY A TOUGH MATCH ON THURSDAY, THIS IS WHY I FEEL THAT VIEIRA HASN'T GOT THE STAMINA TO PLAY A FULL 90 MINS AT TIMES HE HAD THE LOOK OF AN LUMBERING OX AND BOY IT IS NOT A SIGHT I WANT TO SEE TOO OFTEN!

I SERIOUSLY HOPE HE IS NOT IN THE HEART OF OUR MID FIELD AGAINST EVERTON ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT OR WE'RE IN BOTHER

AS FOR THE REST OF THE TEAM VERY WELL DONE A GOOD DISPLAY

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