Good afternoon. If City win today they'll be up to third in the table, despite memorable performances such as Chelsea 2-0 Man City, Birmingham 2-2 Man City and Villa 1-0 Man City. They've got a nice run in too and with Arsenal starting to flag a second-place finish isn't a completely ridiculous goal. As for Sunderland, they start today in 11th but because of the cosy scenario in the bottom half of the table they could still go down. Could.
I've just got back from a superb holiday in a little place called my flat in London. Excursions included going to the shop, buying a pillowcase and waiting for the Sky repair man. But I'm not the only one making a spectacular return today: Michael Turner and Lee Cattermole are back after lengthy periods on the sidelines for Sunderland, while Balotelli and Tevez start together up front for City. An attacking City line-up? All very odd.
Man City: Hart, Boyata, Kompany, Lescott, Kolarov, Yaya Toure, De Jong, Silva, Adam Johnson, Tevez, Balotelli. Subs: Taylor, Milner, Wright-Phillips, Dzeko, Barry, Vieira, McGivern.
Sunderland: Mignolet, Bardsley, Turner, Mensah, Ferdinand,
Cattermole, Henderson, Muntari, Sessegnon, Gyan, Welbeck. Subs: Gordon, Zenden, Malbranque, Colback, Elmohamady, Adams, Lynch.
Referee: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire)
"Dear Tom. Your holiday sounds excellent," says Will Grenton. It wasn't but do carry on. "I grew up in Florida but got to spend three weeks of every summer holiday with my grandparents in Northampton. Needless to say, I was delighted to decamp from the beach to sunny Northamptonshire every August." Did you get to go to the National Lift Testing Centre? Please say you got to go to the National Lift Testing Centre.
1 min: The match kicks off 68 seconds late. This country is going down the tubes. "On my TV feed they were talking about Balotelli against some footage of him warming up with the rest of City and he spent the entire two-minute-or-so clip running around unsuccessfully looking for someone to play him one of approximately forty balls being passed back and forth," says Peter Wahlberg. Is it possible his team dislike him as much as the rest of the world does?" I can confirm no one passed to him for the first minute of the game.
3 min: Kompany passes to Balotelli so we can stop all this cold shoulder nonsense early. Depsite their jazzy 4-4-2 line-up, City are happy to knock it back and forth in midfield.
5 min: Sessegnon skips down the left and wins a corner. It's taken short and Henderson's cross is cut out.
6 min: Everyone's after poor old Balotelli: Howard Webb puts in a crunching tackle. Johnson then Sessegnon's down the left but without the winning a corner bit.
8 min: Michael Turner out since November with injury does well to block Balotelli's shot after nice work from Silva. "Say what you may about that Michael Jackson statue outside Craven Cottage, but surely it's less offensive than the �50m statue of Fernando Torres that Carlo Ancelotti insists on unveiling in the middle of the park most weeks during Chelsea matches," says Se�n Lynch.
GOAL!!!!! Man City 1-0 Sunderland (Johnson 9) City's exciting new era starts with a fine goal. Yaya Toure strolls down the edge of the area and pulls the ball back to Adam Johnson who bears down on goal and slots home. Neither were especially well marked.
12 min: Sunderland haven't scored in a while, so City won't be too worried about a fearsome onslaught. "Re: bad holidays," says Mark Canes. "Me, my mum and dad and my 31st birthday in a cottage in Wales. We spent most of it sheltering from the rain in a teashop. No girlfriend present or even on the horizon."
PENALTY!!!! Hmmm. This isn't going well for Sunderland. A long ball into the area and Bardsley fumbles Tevez over.
GOAL!!!! Man City 2-0 Sunderland (Tevez, pen 14) Tevez rolls the ball low to Mignolet's right. The keeper almost gets a strong hand to it but it's just too far away from him to keep out.
17 min: Adam Johnson has been very sprightly indeed on his return to the team. He beats three or four defenders before defeating himself on the edge of the area.
19 min: Man City are happy to kick 11 men when they're down. Tevez has space in the box and his shot thuds into a defender's back. Johnson then causes trouble down the right again.
21 min: Sunderland get a sixteenth chance as Hart comes out for a cross and misses. A City head rescues him though and clears.
24 min: Tevez passes to Balotelli, misses his target but picks the ball up anyway as no Sunderland defender bothers to retrieve it. Kolarov eventually gains possession and his shot is saved by Mignolet.
26 min: Tevez stands over the ball for a free-kick around 30-yards out. Kolarov takes but it sails wide. Linda Howard has more holiday woes: "The one unfortunate time I was talked into going on a cruise a man jumped off the top level and died right in the middle of Sunday brunch. Put a damper on what had already been a dour event." In the middle as in he landed on the smoked salmon and cream cheese bagels?
28 min: Balotelli wanted to take that free-kick, by the way, his team-mates ignored him. "It was once said of David Frost that he had 'risen without a trace,'" says Gary Naylor. It was me that coined that phrase, in a Bolton v Stoke minute-by-minute I believe. "The same could be said of Steve Bruce, who appears to be in permanent employment without ever doing anything of note. Friends in high places (well, the top spot) helps I suppose."
30 min: Cattermole steam forward in a straight line. This kind of go-getting back-to-basics simplicity unnerves the City defence who back off. Cattermole's final ball has all the craft of a 2am chat-up line though and is easily cleared.
31 min: Mensah is booked for what looked like a fair challenge on Tevez. City's free-kick is floated in but Sunderland clear. Balotelli looked like he was being shoved by Mensah though.
33 min: Balotelli takes a shot from just outside the area. There was no one on him and plenty of team-mates free. He had more time to think about what to do and the final result ? a shot into Mignolet's arms ? is a disappointment.
37 min: Kolarov is booked for a two-footed special on Sessegnon. It results in a free-kick for Sunderland too. Sunderland fail to get the ball past the first defender though. Gyan's looping shot then flies past the post.
39 min: A tricky backpass for Mignolet to deal with: it bounces around as Balotelli bears down on him but he turns the Italian with ease and clears. Nice skills.
41 min: Ah, the neutral ? if not the shins of Premier League footballers ? has missed Lee Cattermole. He clatters his opponent as they both go for the ball.
43 min: A good spell of possession for Sunderland almost ends in a breakthrough: the ball is cleared by City but the visitors have started to control the game in the last few minutes. Either that or City are having a wee rest with a two-goal cushion.
Half-time: One minute added to the first half. That mainly consists of a throw-in. Sunderland came back towards the end of the half but you get the impression City were easing off with the victory looking secure.
46 min: Bardsley is replaced by Elmohamady. "The yellow for John Mensah was ridiculous, especially in the light of Vidic's 'play' yesterday," says Gary Naylor, as the defender's latest opus opens to so-so reviews in the West End. 'A turgid and cliched comedy of manners,' according to the Telegraph. "There really is one rule for the top sides and another for the rest when it comes to yellow and red cards. No wonder officials get so little respect - bullying them pays off match after match."
48 min: Lescott concedes a corner after Sessegnon twists away from him in the box. Sunderland can't exploit the resulting set-piece though.
50 min: Sunderland continue to press, as they did at the end of the first-half. Unfortunately they continue to display a complete lack of guile. "Please stop being unkind about Mario Balotelli," says Philip Jones. "He's a shy lad, far from home, who needs support." Balotelli brilliantly lulls his marker into a false sense of security by not touching the ball and looking a bit sad. Clever, clever play.
52 min: City win a corner after an awful backpass from Muntari. It comes to nothing but it shows how wasteful Sunderland have been at the back and going forward today.
55 min: Good work from Boyata on the right. He lays it off to Tevez who tries to find an opening before passing to Silva. His ball is chipped into Johnson's path, but the winger is judged offside (he isn't). A minute later, Balotelli's form shot is parried by Mignolet. It's like City have roused themselves to show Sunderland they're still the daddies.
57 min: Balotelli has started to play quite well, following his earlier parried shot, he pirouettes on the sideline before cutting in and almost releasing Tevez. I quite like the new Mario.
59 min: Henderson is off and Zenden comes on to replace him.
61 min: City meander towards victory. Kolarov picks up a corner and the resulting set-piece just misses Lescott.
GOAL!!!!!!! Man City 3-0 Sunderland (Silva 62) Tevez squares the ball to Balotteli, who has improved immeasurably in the second-half, his shot is blocked but Silva pounces on the loose ball and fires past Mignolet.
65 min: If Sunderland lose this game ? and they're not looking like candidates for a miraculous comeback ? they'll be six points off relegation. Comfortable but not completely safe. Vieira is on for Johnson.
GOAL!!!!! Man City 4-0 Sunderland (Vieira 66) Vieira is on for around three seconds before Kolarov's ball skims across the six-yard box and connects with the Frenchman's torso. Mignolet's claws it away but the ball had crept over the line.
68 min: I'd never thought of Vieira as an impact sub but reputations are made to be broken.
70 min: More good stuff from Balotelli, whose shot is parried by Mignolet. Boyata is replaced by McGivern, who makes his debut.
72 min: At the start of the second-half City looked like they were happy to sit on their lead but I've been impressed by their willingness to still attack Sunderland. Muntari is substituted for Colback.
GOAL!!!!! Man City 5-0 Sunderland (Tour� 72) A woeful crossfield ball from Cattermole is intercepted by Tour� who canters into the box and beats Mignolet easily.
76 min: Sunderland have now lost their six of their last seven league games (barring a six-goal comeback). The one team who have failed to beat them are Arsenal. I'm not sure who comes worse out of that situation.
78 min: The excellent Silva is replaced by professional substitute Shaun Wright-Phillips.
81 min: Sunderland have been so pedestrian today that Gyan manages to make his overhead kick look underwhelming. It's straight at Hart but on the positive side it does count as a shot on target.
83 min: That's nearly six. Wright-Phillips delivers a terrific cross that reaches a sliding Tevez a yard or two out and just to the right of the goal. He's under some pressure though and the ball goes just wide.
85 min: "Is it too much to hope that the skids to relegation have been greased for 'Mr Loyalty', Steve Bruce," says Lou Roper. Their position in the table isn't too worrying but their form is.
88 min: City ease off at last. I think they've got the three points now.
90 min: Shaun Wright-Phillips has been very bright since his introduction. It's not going to win him a starting place but worth noting none the less. Two minutes of added time.
PEEEEEEP!!Balotelli slaloms through the Sunderland defence and wins a free-kick on the edge of area. He takes the set-piece and it takes a superb save from Mignolet to deny him. City move up to third in the league although Chelsea have a game in hand and prove they can play exciting, attacking football. If Sunderland continue to play like that they may begin a serious relationship with relegation.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2011/apr/03/manchester-city-sunderland-live
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