Record signing Robinho and new arrival Craig Bellamy both paid the first instalment of a debt to manager Mark Hughes by ensuring a Manchester City win against ailing Newcastle.
Hughes has patched up his differences with Robinho, who has been in the headlines for all the wrong reasons recently, and was rewarded by the Brazilian setting up Shaun Wright-Phillips for City's opener.
Then Bellamy, snapped up for £10million from West Ham by a boss who believes there is far more to his fellow countryman than a short fuse, sealed victory with a neat turn and finish on his debut.
It eases City into mid-table but leaves Newcastle deep in the mire, with star striker Michael Owen facing another spell on the sidelines after limping off just 18 minutes into the game.
There were so many sub-plots to talk about it hardly mattered the opening period brought almost nothing worthwhile to discuss.
Confirmation of Shay Given's knee injury was hardly a surprise as it would allow any discussions that take place between Newcastle - whose owner Mike Ashley was at the game - and City to continue without the inconvenience of the Irishman playing for his current team against the one who want him.
In turn, City know all about Joey Barton, who was making his first appearance against them since moving to the north-east, citing a lack of ambition in the Blues camp.
Barton has since served a jail term and his comments have been proved hopelessly incorrect given this might have been the night Kaka made his debut for City.
That audacious deal fell through of course, with a sizeable percentage of the City support not exactly best pleased at how their club's approach for the former world player of the year has been portrayed.
Neither have they been particularly enamoured at suggestions Mark Hughes cannot control the star names in his squad, specifically Robinho, whose decision to walk out of a warm weather training camp in Tenerife and fly back to Brazil is nothing in comparison to being questioned by West Yorkshire Police yesterday over an allegation of sexual assault he totally denies.
To Hughes, the decision to select Robinho, his best player, was straightforward. Yet it was still a brave move and asked a basic question of the former Real Madrid man's mental state.
Yet if Robinho is slight in stature, his attitude is strong.
Advertisement - article continues below »
Find Old High School Friends at Reunion.com
Having apparently made peace with Hughes, he then got any remaining waverers in the City support back onside with a deft through-ball which allowed Wright-Phillips to drive a shot through Steve Harper's legs and put the hosts in front.
In truth, it was by far the best moment of a tepid opening period in which City debutants Craig Bellamy and Nigel de Jong buzzed about effectively without being able to assist their team-mates in making the most of their dominance.
Lacklustre as City were, they were a cut above Newcastle, who were truly awful.
The loss of Michael Owen just after Wright-Phillips' goal when he jarred his leg after leaping for an aerial collision with Nedum Onuoha hardly helped.
But Joe Kinnear does not have much time to build a team capable of escaping relegation trouble and this one might not.
They did at least force Joe Hart into a save in the opening minutes of the second half, although Damien Duff's long-range shot was ambitious at best.
Newcastle were cursing when rookie referee Mike Jones failed to rule Micah Richards' challenge on Steven Taylor a foul even though the City defender had been caught badly out of position when Duff floated over the cross which was about to be powered home until Taylor hit the deck.
But Bellamy and Wright-Phillips felt they should have been similarly rewarded at the other end by Jones, a veteran of only five previous top flight games.
And there was no need for debate 13 minutes from time when Pablo Zabaleta strode onto Wright-Phillips' pass and then found Bellamy.
Bellamy seized his opportunity, twisting and turning on the edge of the box before sending a precise shot past Harper.
Three minutes later, Wayne Bridge allowed David Edgar to rob him close to the penalty area and the youngster wasted no time in providing Carroll with a tap-in - but City ended worthy winners.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment