Source: Man_City
City 5 Birmingham 1: Brennan's verdict
Nedum Onuoha, Vincent Kompany and Emmanuel AdebayorBert Trautmann set the tone. If you can't be inspired by a man like the legendary City keeper, you are quite possibly already dead. And when he walked out on to the Eastlands turf before this game, and promptly burst into tears at the rapturous reception he got from the City fans - and a load of clearly knowledgeable Brummies - it was hoped the blue-shirted players would get the hint. They did. But then again, when you have men like Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy and Gareth Barry in your team, you can expect a show of unbridled passion and pride. It was never going to be easy, to begin with. Everyone expected Birmingham to turn up and plonk two banks of four in front of their net. At times, they had two banks of five as City pressed forward unrelentingly in the opening half-hour. It needed patience and it needed a spark. City had both in abundance, with Bellamy marauding down the left, and Tevez causing a ripple of excited expectation whenever he got on the ball, it was only a matter of time. And once the breakthrough had been made, it became a matter of how many. Adam Johnson had little joy taking on the steely Liam Ridgewell on the outside, and when he switched to the inside track for the first time, it brought a goal. Slicing inside, he found Emmanuel Adebayor loping into the box, and the big man - who had looked a yard off the pace until that moment - produced a turn which belied his gangling physique. Scott Dann was wrong-footed, and his clumsy challenge was enough to send the big Togolese sprawling. The rest was predictable. Tevez relishes pressure, and stroked the spot-kick into the corner as if he was in the warm-up. That sparked six minutes of madness, with three goals following in quick succession. Nedum Onuoha flung himself headlong at Johnson's corner and Tevez got the slightest touch to make it 2-0. At first, it looked as if this one might go to the Premier League's Dubious Goals Committee, but it was agreed it was Tevez's strike. It was possibly mean-spirited to deny Onuoha, but within two minutes City's defence went to sleep and James McFadden chipped a cross to the far post for Cameron Jerome to introduce an element of doubt. That niggle of uncertainty was soon blown away. Barry form Barry, who is finishing the season with the same authority and determination with which he started it, delivered a raking pass inside full-back Stephen Carr. Bellamy was on to it in a flash and crossed for Adebayor to tap in his 12th goal of the season. Not that the win was without its worrying side. Just as it looked like City were gathering their troops for the final push, Mancini has seen them decimated, once more, by injury. At the start of the week, the talk was of Wayne Bridge, Stevie Ireland and Micah Richards all fighting for a place. One by one, they fell away, and with Sylvinho also succumbing, to a calf injury, Mancini's options were looking decidedly thin on the ground. With Nigel de Jong one booking away from a two-match ban, Mancini had planned to again leave him on the bench to keep him safe for next Saturday's derby and the trip to Arsenal the following week. But Patrick Vieira tweaked a knee in training on Saturday, and, despite appearing to come through a fitness test an hour before kick-off, was forced to pull out when he suffered a reaction. In came de Jong, and reserve midfielder Scott Kay joined a very youthful bench which included his fellow Academy graduates Dedryck Boyata, Greg Cunningham and Abdi Ibrahim. That was a sharp reminder of how close to the bone the squad has got at a crucial stage of the season. So the second half was an exercise in self-preservation as well as making sure the lead remained intact. To their credit, Birmingham went in search of another goal - and left themselves open to City's deadly counter-attack. Tevez might have had another hat-trick, curving in a free-kick which had Maik Taylor at full length to turn round the post. He also twisted and muscled his way into the box to force another save from Taylor, with Bellamy blazing the rebound high and wide. It was up to Onuoha to show his strikers how to finish, and he did so with aplomb. The Brum defence parted obligingly, and the Miles Platting powerhouse surged into the gap and planted a left-foot shot into the corner to secure the win. There was still time for a little garnish, and with two minutes left, Adebayor spun away from the tiring Dann and raced clear before planting the ball past Taylor for the fifth goal. The win takes the Blues four points clear of beaten FA Cup semi-finalists Spurs, whose game in hand is at home to Arsenal on Wednesday. The four-goal margin also overturns the advantage in goal difference which the North London side has had since they blitzed Wigan Athletic 9-1 in November. What is your verdict? Have your say.| Submit Comments| Comments (46)| PrintWhat's this? Emaildel.icio.usDiggredditFacebookStumbleUponNewsvineGoogle BookmarksNetscapeTechnoratiWindows LiveYahoo! MyWebMa.gnolia
