The ACN Match Review: Man City (a)

How did we play? 

The gulf between these teams on paper is absolutely absurd, and it looked even more stark on the pitch. There was no lack of effort, but our best endeavours didn’t come close to Man City in first gear. Even in the patches where we had good possessions and moved things around well, it still felt like they were just having a breather. Stark. 

What was the best bit of the game? 

Darlin Yongwa looked very, very tidy, especially early on in the game. Up against a team worth £235m, he didn’t look ordinary at all. Excited to see more of him during the rest of the season. 

What was the worst bit of the game? 

Grimshaw not covering himself in glory at multiple points stood out. Can’t pin the blame on him alone for the scoreline but at a time when Vlad is prompting questions about his status as nailed on No1, Grimshaw didn’t stake a claim to be considered for a league start.  

What was the atmosphere like? 

Decent noise from the travelling fans. We were 2,500 strong apparently, which is a good showing for a midweek game we were mathematically all-but-certain to lose. All this only marginally marred by a group of Stone Island giving up the ghost on the 4th goal going in and heading home. 

The Etihad is a strange ground. It pops out of nowhere in a pretty isolated area of Manchester, like the London stadium in many ways but with better pitch-side views. It ends up feeling pretty characterless. For all the football pedigree of this part of the world, the supporters are underserved by the grounds they have. 

Hero of the match 

The cheeriest steward I’ve ever encountered at a football match did the cursory search on the way in. In retrospect, I wish I’d just stayed and nattered with him all evening. 

Summary in five words. 

They’re in a different league.