Joe Hart β 7.5 The England shot-stopper did not look as invincible as he normally does in the air, however, saying that, he did well to thwart Liverpool from taking an early lead when Stewart Downing was sent clean through on goal. In the second half too, Hart made a couple of brilliant saves to deny Bellamy from distance as well as Maxi Rodriguezβs follow up to that strike.
Micah Richards β 8
This was an expert performance from the England hopeful. He is currently the best right-back in the country for me and he showed yet again that he is not afraid to play in the big games. Richards defended brilliantly despite pressure from Liverpool and picked his moments brilliantly as far as going forward was concerned.
Kolo Toure β 8 This was the surprise selection of the match from Roberto Mancini given the kind of form that Joleon Lescott is in. However, Toure justified his selection with a superb effort. Andy Carroll looked like a mere pawn in the presence of the Ivorian β even in the air.
Vincent Kompany β 9 The Manchester City skipper showed again that he is an indispensable part of the City machinery. Blocked Dirk Kuytβs goal bound effort from a couple of yards out just before the break. Cleared more or less each and every cross that was fired into the Manchester City box and he was not afraid to take the game to the opponents.
Gael Clichy β 7.5 This man is known as an attacking full-back. However, we were able to see a whole new side of his game as he defended brilliantly to shut out the threat of Dirk Kuyt in the first half of the thriller. Clichy did not provide much for the Citizens going forward, though.
Yaya Toure β 10 Toure at the moment is the most important player in the City side. While the likes of Aguero, Silva and Dzeko being ruthless upfront, this is the man who does the most work for the team. Made some fantastic runs with the ball through the center of midfield and caused trouble all along. Also, Toure rose to nod home a corner for Cityβs second goal of the match β quite an achievement seeing that Liverpool are the best defender of set-pieces in the league as far as stats are concerned.
Gareth Barry β 5.5 Barry was initially playing well on the evening as he broke up a number of attacks from Liverpool. I do not know what happened but the England international simply lost his head and was eventually sent off on the 71st for a second bookable offence.
James Milner β 8.5 The most underrated Citizen was once again at it β working tirelessly for the teamβs cause. This man is simply brilliant β the amount of energy and determination that he brings to the table is what all managers would want.
In the game, he was everywhere as he helped in defense as well as linking up with the attackers. Got on the score-sheet with a well taken penalty late in the game.
David Silva β 9 This man is currently the best player in the Barclays Premier League without a shadow of a doubt. Had a couple of assists to his credit in this match. Was at his creative best after the debacle at Sunderland.
Sergio Aguero β 8 The Argentina international forward started the match very well indeed as he found a lot of space to cause damage to the opponents β which he did by slotting in the opener β although it needed a lot of help from Reina.
Edin Dzeko β 4.5 Has been going through a lean patch off late and it continued as he was more interested in kicking Martin Skrtel than playing football. A poor performance from the Bosnian.
Substitutes
Adam Johnson β 7 Was on the field for 20 minutes and he did extremely well on it. Came close to scoring a great goal and was unlucky to see his shot come out of the far post.
Joleon Lescott β 7 Was thrown on by Mancini in the last 15 minutes to protect the lead, which he did just fine. Cleared a couple of potentially dangerous crosses into the box and kept the Reds at bay.