Watto & Ziggy return but Blues bow out

Denied my Bluenose fix for three whole games I and a healthy number of Blues fans ventured to The City of Manchester Stadium with little hope but a feeling that we ought to be there.

With no Carr or Ridgewell on show it was left to Keith Fahey and Beausejour to represent the cup winning side so brutally dismantled to finance the alleged miss doings of Carson Yeung.

For forty minutes Blues hardly got a touch so it was ironic that two weak tackles by Ibanez and Davies laid the ball in the path of the returning Hargreaves who fired a beauty of a drive to Doyle’s right hand post. The Blues keeper had no chance and after thirty minutes Ballotelli swept a left foot drive from the penalty area’s edge past Doyle’s left hand side.

Blues finally ventured into City territory and a free kick caused havoc in the home defence. Davies’ overhead kick was goal bound until Kolo Toure, another returning absentee, headed off the line.

Blues safely negotiated the first 15 minutes of the second half and finally sent on Zigic and Gomis and then subsequently Marlon King. This raised the level of Blues ambition and sent the city defence into paroxysms of panic. Blues suddenly started to create openings but whereas the Premiership side clinically finished their chances Blues could not. Shots were parried by the keeper, blocked by defenders and shots whistled past the post. For that you get nothing.

Blues were caught on the break when Tevez mismatched with Gomis on halfway and broke clear. Doyle pulled off a fine save and from the rebound denied Toure.

Blues will take some comfort from the fact the Zigic-King pairing could be a telling combo once the two get fit and firing.

So the Carling Cup will be going back to FL HQ for a quick polish before being distributed to new owners. Blues have done one thing by winning this 2011 competition and that’s to raise the profile competition in the eyes of all the clubs. Big sides with strong teams are still in and the possibility of someone else doing a ‘Blues’ has diminished.

By Alan Watton

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