Bardsley bursts Manchester City title hopes.
Ex-Manchester United defender Phil Bardsley condemned Manchester City to their fourth defeat of the season in a 1-0 win that inflicted significant wounds into City's title hopes.
The Stadium of Light has become a stadium of plight for the blues who have now suffered four consecutive 1-0 losses in Wearside. Gus Poyet's black cats were drowning in the depths of the relegation zone before 14.00pm on Sunday afternoon, but a thrilling three points against Pellegrini's side will help them scratch themselves back up the table.
The hosts started brightly when Sebastian Larsson tested the alertness of a make-shift City defence with a wicked ball that just escaped striker Steven Fletcher. However, the Swede was lucky to escape a straight red card just minutes later when he presented Javi Garcia with a menacing view of the bottom of his boot. Mike Dean was perfectly positioned, but not even a yellow was shown to the midfielder.
Javi Garcia clutches his leg after a horrific tackle by Sebastian Larsson.
City's luck got worse and on twenty-one minutes, Phil Bardsley bundled over James Milner and curled a delicious finish into the corner of Pantillimon's net. Again, Dean's judgement was questionable, but Brown's ball should have been dealt with.
Phil Bardsley celebrates his goal.
In the absence of David Silva and Fernandinho, City's midfield lacked magic. Yaya Toure looked uninterested; Nasri couldn't work his magic; Garcia was still limping from Larsson's challenge and Milner was industrious, but largely ineffective. Sergio Aguero and Alvaro Negredo were there to be fed, but a lack of service left them hungry.
Things weren't going to plan and after the half time break, Manuel Pellegrini introduced the speed of Jesus Navas in place of an injured Javi Garcia. The change was inspired and the speedy Spaniard immediately announced himself into proceedings. Navas was terrorising Bardsley with ease, but his crosses were being wasted by City's front two.
Sunderland wouldn't budge. The team coach was driven onto the field of play just seconds after their first goal and Wes Brown was in the driving seat. The ex-Manchester United centre back will struggle to top Sunday's performance in a game where Sergio Aguero, Alvaro Negredo and substitute Edin Dzeko hardly had a sniff.
City's away form needs to be addressed and the Chilean chancellor knows that more than anyone. Many will feel his side's priorities lie in the Champions League, but his strongest team was fielded and the players have to take some blame.
Our home form may be celebrated, but on the road, we continue to surrender our title hopes.
Player Ratings
Costel Pantillimon 6A number of fans blamed the Romanian for the opener, but I saw nothing wrong. The angle was tight but the finish was sublime and the big stopper had little to do otherwise.
Micah Richards 5I'm a big fan of Micah but I do feel he let us down a little today. He looks brilliant when he bombs forward but unfortunately, he didn't do that today.
Martin Demichelis 5.5Reads the game well and will always bring some valued experience to the back line, but doesn't have the presence or pace of Kompany.
Joleon Lescott 5Failed to assert his strength on proceedings and looked uncomfortable throughout.
Aleksandar Kolarov 5.5Bombed forward with intent but had little to celebrate on his birthday.
Samir Nasri 6There's no doubt he links brilliantly with Silva, but in the Spaniard's absence he struggled to light up the show.
Javi Garcia 4Never going to be an attacking threat and so he sat in front of the back four. Unfortunately, he can't defend either. Substituted at half time.
Yaya Toure 4Extremely poor. Did nothing to help City go forward and was a passenger for the majority of the game.
James Milner 6Industrious performance from the Englishman but he was never going to be a matchwinner.
Sergio Aguero 5
Squandered a number of chances and allowed Wes Brown to dominate him.
Alvaro Negredo 5Like Aguero, he wasn't a threat to Sunderland's defence at all in a quiet performance.
Substitutes
Navas 7 - Instantaneously impacted on proceedings with his speed, but his crosses weren't met.
Dzeko 6 - Tested the keeper with a fierce shot but did little else.
Zabaleta 6 - Solid on the right flank
