Sunderland 1 - 1 City

To roll out a well-worn cliche, this really was a game of two halves. City were completely lifeless in the first but played some very good attacking football in the second, with Sunderland having Craig Gordon to thank for coming away with a point.

Whether City wanted it enough in the first half or not - Sunderland were first to every ball, Mancini must now be looking at the 4-3-2-1 system and wondering if he can play it again. He will be criticised for being too cautious and the fact is that playing Zabaleta, De Jong and Barry across the middle puts too much onus on the wide men to carry the ball forward, as none of those three have particularly attacking tendencies. This left too much space between the midfield and Tevez, and Sunderland had little trouble retaining the ball and coming right back at us. With Bridge's injury, Mancini moved to a more 4-2-3-1, or even 4-4-2, and Santa Cruz at least offered a target and some link-up play despite still looking quite off the pace.

The second half was a different affair altogether. City came to life and played some of the best attacking football we have played under Mancini and if it wasn't for some wasteful finishing and some excellent goalkeeping, we may have come away with the three points that the first half didn't deserve. Johnson did more in his twenty minutes than SWP had threatened to do all game and it was a fine strike to start his City goal tally by.

Despite the frustration of the first half, I am pleased by the way City reacted, and a point at the Stadium of Light, where Sunderland actually have a very good record this season, despite their recent poor form, probably isn't too damaging a result. Liverpool have a good chance of relegating us to sixth tomorrow night against Portsmouth, but with those games in hand and Villa and Tottenham to visit Eastlands this result isn't as bad as it could have been. Although it does mean we will have to put some points on the board in a tricky tie away to Fulham next week to keep the pressure on.