Aguero 29, Yaya Toure 83 Carroll 90+4
Second spot almost secured; but the result doesn't tell the full story.
The blues continued their impressive home record against West Ham with a comfortable 2-1 victory at the Etihad on Saturday. City have now scored in 48 consecutive home games, equaling their previous longest run in 1928. However, with 8 shots on target, Mancini will have been expecting more goals.
City went about the game in a routine fashion and on 29 minutes the returning Sergio Aguero finished off a magical team move involving Samir Nasri and David Silva to put his team 1 nil up.
Just six minutes before the goal, City and West Ham fans applauded in unison to pay their respects to the late Marc Vivien-Foe who tragically passed away ten years ago.
Mancini's men continued to delight the crowd with their intricate play and hammered Jussi Jaaskelainen's goal, forcing him to pull off a number of great saves. With ten minutes remaining, the blues found themselves in an all too familiar position that has plagued our 2012/2013 season; they only had one goal.
Step up Yaya Toure. With seven minutes remaining, the Ivorian bulldozer fired a left footed scorcher into the top corner of Jaaskelainen's net, securing the points for City.
The Hammers weren't finished however, and with the last kick of the game Andy Carroll saw a tame effort slip through the legs of Joe Hart. Roberto Mancini revealed the England stopper had been suffering from a back problem during the second half, but his goalkeeping in the last seconds of the game was quite inexcusable.
One more win, and you'd have to say second place is ours.
Player Ratings
Joe Hart 6Poor goalkeeping in the last seconds of the game. Pantillimon will have no worries about the FA Cup final.
Pablo Zabaleta 7Intimidated the likes of Jarvis with some crunching challenges. Another peformance that warrants his place in the PFA Team Of The Year which was announced on Sunday night.
Vincent Kompany 8Didn't put a foot wrong all game.
Joleon Lescott 8Did all he could to convince Mancini and Roy Hodgson that he is the right man for the job. Kept the powerful Andy Carroll out for the whole game, almost.
Gael Clichy 6Once again, unable to attack and so we saw little of the Frenchman. Solid defending, however.
Yaya Toure 8Capped off a fine performance with a stunning goal.
Gareth Barry 7He's finishing the season in fine form, sweeping up trouble in front of the defence. A much better option than Javi Garcia.
Samir Nasri 8Continues to prove his critics wrong and is fastly becoming the player City paid all that money for. Provided Aguero for his goal and remained instrumental throughout the game. Could be like a new signing next season.
David Silva 7The City fans were delighted to see 'Merlin' back. Played a key part in City's first and linked up with Nasri brilliantly.
Carlos Tevez 7An important figure in City's attacking football but should have scored against his old club.
Sergio Aguero 7Led the line well and scored City's first.
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