Manchester City: Player ratings matchday 24
It was always going to be interesting to see how Manchester City would respond to the defeat last week. At home to a struggling Newcastle, on paper, it was a no brainer. City had dominated the return fixture only a few weeks ago, but only scraped a 1-0 victory in the end.
In the end, it was a comfortable 3-1 victory. But that wasn’t the whole story with Newcastle having their share of chances and putting us under immense pressure. Early on Newcastle had Ederson flapping and again later in the game also. History will record the game as nothing more than a 3-1 win though, so what about the player ratings:
Ederson – 6.
Caught flapping on a couple of occasions and didn’t look as solid as we are used to seeing him. Despite this, his ball control and distribution was fantastic. I think this game, on the whole, would certainly have given him some of that confidence back.
Walker – 6.
Fantastic running down the right for the first half. His rating went down a little due to him holding back in the second half. As a result he was a little less effective as part of the attacking aspect.
Otamendi – 7.
Had another good game, and got rid of those Liverpool demons. Looking a solid defender, and it’s good we now have him tied down to an extended contract.
Stones – 7.
A little shaky and you could say he was caught out a little for their goal. However, that would be harsh. There will still a couple of nervy moments out there, but nothing like the mistakes of the previous two games.
Zinchenko – 7.
Looked comfortable on the pitch at left back. I have said before that I didn’t think the youngster was great in that position and is better further forward. And I think that was proven a little yesterday with his attacking movements and run being somewhat productive. At the back, he made a few good interceptions but was caught out with their goal.
Fernandinho – 8.
Back to his usual self in the midfield. Covered the defensive unit at the back and looked good with his attacking interplay.
Silva – 8.
Did well today and looked like the piece of the puzzle we’d been missing over the last couple of games.
DeBruyne – 8.
Alongside SIlva, he was also back to his best. Crosses galore and full of running with an assist for the opening strike.
Sane – 8.
How crazy was that run for the third and final City goal!? Leroy was too back to his best, and you have to think it’s partly down to David Silva being on the pitch.
Sterling – 7.
Unlucky not to have netted twice. The first shot went into the goal but was ruled out for close offside call. The second strike required a strong hand from the Newcastle keeper to turn it onto the post. A much better performance than a week ago.
Aguero – 9.
Didn’t do anything until the half an hour mark when he opened the scoring with a headed goal. From there he scored a second half penalty with his right foot before converting that Sane run with his left. A perfect hat-trick and his 16th League goal of the season.