James Milner deservedly received the Man of the Match Champagne from his captain during the post-match interview which followed City’s 2-1 win over Manchester United.
Not only did James open the scoring in the 51st minute, but his duel with Patrice Evra, his limitless energy and willingness to put his body on the line all helped his team to successive wins away at the home of their bitterest rivals.
Let’s take a look a closer look at Milner’s performance...
City TV: Spotlight
Ok, so it wasn’t James who scored it but we make no apologies for sharing these unseen angles of Sergio Aguero’s winning goal...
Mixed Zone
How the press saw Milner’s contribution...
Martin Lipton of the Daily Mirror wrote that Milner’s domination over Evra was a crucial determiner in the destinaton of the points.
“Milner’s determination down the right had Patrice Evra on the back foot all evening, Tevez dropped into space to tease and torment, City squeezed and pushed,” Lipton scribed.
Chief Football Writer for the Guardian, Daniel Taylor, singled out Milner for praise in his match report but stated that the midfielder wasn’t the only top-class performance for the champions.
“That [Milner goal] was six minutes into a second half in which City looked the fitter, stronger team and United’s efforts started to appear increasingly desperate,” Taylor said.
“Gareth Barry had read Giggs’s intentions and Milner’s left-foot shot, from Samir Nasri’s lay-off, took a deflection off Phil Jones to find its way past De Gea’s stretching right hand.
“Milner had been excellent on the right side of City’s attack but was far from alone...”
In his own words
James spoke to CityTV straight after the derby - here’s what he said...
Stat Attack
While stats don’t tell the whole story, they can shed an interesting light on a player’s contribution - check out these chin-stroking tidbits courtesy of must-follow Twitter account, StatCity.
Range Life: Four of the last six goals James has scored have been from outside of the area.
Air Strike: He contested more aerial duels than any other player on the field and won the joint-most with Vincent Kompany (5).
Turnaround: James has now scored four in his last 17 games after having scored only three in the 59 previous games.
Good Omen Milner is unbeaten in all 30 Premier League games in which he has scored for all of his clubs with 24 wins and six draws
Moving On Up: He’s now joined Micah Richards on seven Premier League goals for City, moving up to 30th in the all-time list.
@MCFC
The fans’ verdict on James’s showing...
Join us next Monday where we’ll turn the Spotlight on City’s Man of the Match from the FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea.
There are still tickets available to see the champions in action in their next home game on Wednesday 17 April, when Wigan Athletic will provide the opposition.
Tickets are on general sale now at www.mcfc.co.uk/tickets, by telephone on 0161 444 1894 (option 1, option 1, option 2)* and to personal callers at the Ticket Office above the City Store at the Etihad Stadium.
