Manchester City’s $3k bnwt celine peachy tuxedo 2010 resort collection $1900 celine drape front cap sleeve wrap crepe tunic blouse mini dress 36 sz 38 Yaya Touré makes Aston Villa pay for key omissions
Manchester City are one game away from their first FA Cup semi-final in 30 years and the fact that that assignment comes against the 10th-placed side in the Championship will serve only to heighten the sense of anticipation within a club $3850 nwt celine phoebe philo runway white silk pants green stripe fr 36 us 2 4 that so desperately craves silverware. Reading will visit Eastlands on 13 March and it is a measure of how poor Aston Villa were here that Roberto Mancini’s team can expect Everton’s fifth-round conquerors to provide a more challenging test.
To say Villa were disappointing would be an understatement. Gérard Houllier’s decision to rest so many key players was baffling in the extreme and City punished them accordingly, Yaya Touré and Mario Balotelli scoring within the opening $675 celine black tall leather boots w 25 minutes and David Silva ending any faint hopes of $1450 new celine us 8 eur 38 a Villa comeback with a crisp drive in the 70th minute. Houllier’s side scarcely put together one noteworthy attack celine replica dion handbags, demonstrating a peculiar lack of interest in a game that could have invigorated a mediocre season.
The Frenchman had to defend himself against allegations that he had experimented far too recklessly. Mancini had also left out some of his regulars, most notably Carlos Tevez, but he could at least cite the fact he is trying to negotiate a horribly congested fixture schedule. Houllier is not burdened with the same difficulties but chose to leave three of his more accomplished attackers – Stewart Downing, Ashley Young and $1k iconic nib celine bam bam sandals nude 37 us 7 Marc Albrighton – on the bench, even though Darren Bent was cup-tied. Fabien Delph, a central midfielder by trade, was deployed at left-back. Chris Herd was thrust into an unorthodox position at right-back. Their defence, already missing Carlos Cuéllar, James Collins and Luke Young, looked vulnerable and disorganised. In attack, they were sterile and lacked fluency.
Houllier argued afterwards that his selection was justified because the priority was Saturday’s game at Bolton Wanderers, and he still considered Villa, 12th in the league, to be deep in relegation danger: “If I had to, I’d do it again.” He also pointed out that 0 celine bag 17727 3abe 070c-13 his team was filled with internationals, though he was counting Under-21s and countries such as Australia and Bulgaria.
They were certainly generous opponents for a side of City’s riches and the home side picked them off with a routine air. Touré was particularly impressive, reverting to the attacking role in which he has been most effective this season. Silva was busy and effective and Balotelli’s finish to make it 2-0 was wonderfully taken even if, as ever, it was not that simple with the Italian.
In the first half there was a moment of classic Balotelli comedy when he could be seen complaining to Touré that he was cold before borrowing his team-mate’s gloves. Of more seriousness, the 20-year-old still appears to be troubled by the knee problems that have truncated his first season and his apparently magnetic attraction to controversy shows no sign of fading either.
Balotelli was careless, to say the least, when he pushed his elbow towards Herd’s face as they competed for a high $1k iconic nib celine bam bam sandals nude 37 us 7 ball on the hour. Mark Clattenburg, the referee who let off Wayne Rooney when the Manchester United striker elbowed James McCarthy at Wigan last Saturday, ruled that a yellow card was sufficient despite angry protestations from the away dugout. Mancini’s response was to substitute Balotelli rather than risk him getting embroiled in any more trouble.
On the whole, however, there was plenty to admire about City once they had opened the scoring, Patrick Vieira flicking on Aleksandar Kolarov’s corner and the ball striking the centre-half Ciaran Clark to drop kindly for Touré. Inside the six-yard area, Touré’s finish was low and precise, sweeping his shot past the hopelessly exposed Brad Friedel.
From Villa’s perspective, it was a soft goal to concede and the same accusation could be applied to their defending when Balotelli extended the lead. The pass from Touré was carefully measured and, running clear, Balotelli’s shot was calmly side-footed into the top right-hand corner of Friedel’s net. The striker now has 10 goals and nine bookings in his 16 appearances for the club.
Villa did marginally improve in the second half but it was still perplexing that Houllier brought on Young and Downing only after Silva had made it 3-0, the Spaniard firing a 20-yard drive $2300 giorgio armani leather jacket coat celine beige size 44 into the $675 celine black tall leather boots w bottom corner after Clark had only half-cleared Pablo Zabaleta’s cross.