Why's it all doom and gloom in here?? Not just replying to you Diego...
Yes for the first 30 minutes it was mostly City... but were we all really expecting to dominate play against the best side we'll likely face all year? City's first was well deserved. Credit to them. They were creating quality chances. Lloris made a heck of a save to keep it to 1-0, but he's France's number 1, isn't that what he's in the team for?
The fact of the matter is that it was 1-0 in the 36th minute when Dawson's goal was incorrectly disallowed. It's not like we don't have sufficient proof of the linesman's error. Should have been 1-1 plain and simple. Not even City fans can rightly argue that.
Now up to that point, at 1-1 in the 37th minute (which should have been reality apart from a linesman's error), who on this board would have called our performance dreadful? Extend that to 1-1 at the half and I'll ask the same question.
It's not like we were absolutely stagnant in attack in the first half either. We were causing some frustration for City especially after the disallowed goal. We started to get stuck in after that and City started picking up yellows in a short period of time. 3 in about 10 minutes before the half if I recall correctly. Momentum was beginning to swing our way, and we all know it doesn't take much for Ade to put one in given the current run of form he's on.
Move to the 2nd half...
50 minutes in and Danny Rose makes an excellent tackle to keep it to 1-0 (reminder.... should've been 1-1 at that point if not for the linesman's error).
Instead of a corner to City, and possibility of a counter, the linesman decides to wave his flag around like an idiot. Now we have HD, slow motion camera's showing the tackle on the ball and not the man. Again, the linesman made an error. Result: Red Card, Danny Rose. We're now down 2 goals and to 10 men against one of the best sides in Europe. Game effectively, over.
Now I say all this to point out the fact that at 50 minutes into the game, we should have been looking at 1-1 and everything to play for. Timmy's team selection (which many are ripping) had us in the game with it all to play for. Sure we gave up quite a few chances... They're averaging almost 3 goals a game AWAY from home. People are acting like we were playing an MLS side.
Say what you like about Bentaleb not being the right decision, and that maybe Capoue would have been a better choice, I might even agree somewhat. For me Bentaleb and Dembele did all they could be asked in the first half and were exactly what we needed against a City team that presses so well and doesn't allow a poor first touch in the middle of the park. Put Sandro or Capoue in there for Bentaleb and our lack of possession in the first 30 might have been even worse. Maybe a 4-3-3 with Dembele - Capoue - Bentaleb would have been better with Eriksen and Lennon playing wide of Ade. That's a totally different conversation.
The fact of the matter is that we were hard done tonight. Our player's weren't awful. Tim's team selection wasn't awful. Our reaction to their first goal wasn't awful. If anything I thought we performed well given the way we set out to take the game to them.
Terrible linesmen decisions led to a terrible scoreline. It's as simple as that.
