itsbeautifuloutside

Manchester City 3

• Tevez 40'
• Dzeko 72'
• Nazri 80'

Match Report

It was not without some nerves that I took my seat after a BBQ at a friends, to watch Saints on Sky TV take the field in a proper Premiership game for the first time in seven long seasons.

Just to look at the Manchester City team sheet was a sharp intake of breath moment to realise the scale of what Saints are to face this season. As for Saints teamsheet there were certainly some surprises there. The biggest one seemed to be Rickie Lambert on the bench (One of seven, rather than the five of recent seasons). As it turned out, this was a master stroke. What was the point having Rickie running around the pitch early on, when he can be brought on later in the game, completely fresh?

Nigel Adkins plan seems to be to use variations of the formations he tried out in pre-season. Rodriguez seemed to be on the left wing and to be honest, he seemed like a fish out of water there. Guly was ploughing a lone furrow up front and Puncheon was out on the right. I get the feeling that the formation used against Man City is actually designed for other personnel, but as yet at least two of them have not managed to get on board the bus.

So, to the nuts and bolts of the game :

When the match kicked off, the first thing to notice was the sheer speed of the Man City team. Who on earth said that you have more time on the ball in the Premiership had obviously not told City. Not only were they quick, but it became clear that their speed of thought was quick as well. Saints to their credit did not panic and on another day might have had a penalty awarded when Rodriguez was unceremoniously hacked down just inside the box.

Thirteen was the unlucky number in this game for Aguero. He was pounding down the left flank in the thirteenth minute, when he was tackled by the impressive Clyne. Although a fair tackle, Aguero fell awkwardly and was clearly in agony. Last seen he was being taken off the pitch on a stretcher. Hopefully it turns out to not be as bad as it looked.

Saints were on the back foot and a couple of minutes later Hooiveld was suckered into upending Tevez in the box. A painful lesson for him. Fortunately City decided to let Silva take the resultant penalty and he struck a tame shot which Davis beat away.

That man Tevez was involved again in the 40th minute when he sprung Saints offside trap (just - maybe!) and struck a powerful shot underneath Davis at the near post. 1-0.

Saints managed to make halftime without any more goals conceded, although the stats looked horrendous, with City having more than 80% possession.

From the beginning of the second half Saints were again on the back foot and you had the feeling that if City were to shake themselves from their pre-season state of mind, then the game would be over.

What changed then was Adkins decided in the 55th minute that it was 'Rickie Time' and the clearly unhappy Rodriguez was replaced with Lambert. The front three were shuffled around and immediately you could see a more effective Saints attack.