Disappointed, obviously.
We were at them from the off, can't believe that we had another two injuries, never mind in the first 15 minutes. Hopefully they won't be out too long, but two replacements so early on was clearly going to affect things. That being said, I thought Kyrgiakos had a good game, I found him solid at the back, obviously dominant in the air, and whilst I wouldn't want him starting matches, he reassured me somewhat of his ability to be our fourth choice.
Stevie started very well, I found him a lot freer in his movements, as though he was far less worried about having to play within himself because of the risk of another injury. He obviously tired as the game went on, but it stands us in good stead that he completed the match. Benayoun was another who clearly wasn't 100%, and it's a shame he had to play so long when he wasn't ready.
Rafa was forced into substitutions that the squad just wasn't ready to cope with, and I feel it cost us over the 90 minutes. Mid way through the second half, you could almost see the players starting to wilt, City felt it, and profited from it. What was good to see was that our close to strongest line-up was still much better than theirs, I have confidence that in the long run they won't be a threat.
Struggling to find some positives here, though surely at some point these injuries are going to stop and we'll get into some kind of form? It all just feels so forced at the moment.
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