Easy pickings for Tevez against Blackburn

The Blues this evening made it five wins on the bounce, taking Blackburn apart at Eastlands to move up to fourth place. December's Premier League Player of the Month Carlos Tevez bagged a terrific hat-trick to take his haul to fifteen for the season so far. Micah Richards grabbed the other goal after a lung-busting eighty yard run.

The only real surprise in the starting line-ups was Benjani keeping his place following his winner at Boro. Robinho once again had to make do with a place on the bench. Midfielder Abdi Ibrahim was a part of the match squad for the first time. The visitors made four changes from their last league game; Chimbonda, Hoilett, Roberts & McCarthy being replaced by Jacobsen, Emerton, Dunn and on-loan striker Franco di Santo.

The game got off to a lively start, and from very early on Blackburn appeared there for the taking. A beautiful move in the fifth minute led to the first real chance. Tevez held up the ball near the left corner quadrant, laid a pass back to Martin Petrov who dinked a superb first time ball into Bellamy, but sadly the Welshman was incorrectly judged offside, meaning Tevez's attempt wouldn't have counted had Robinson not done well to stop.

Two minutes later and we'd taken the lead. A Petrov corner wasn't dealt with at all well by the former England 'keeper. Neither catching nor punching he spilled the ball out to Benjani, the Zimbabwean's cross thighed home by Tevez. It could have been two moments later, Petrov away down the right flank, he should've really done better with his cross.

Moments of good link-up play between the two strikers followed, before Givet's optimistic volley from outside the area sailed hopelessly wide. Rovers did seem to grow in confidence, and for around fifteen minutes knocked the ball around well without creating any real clear chances. Nzonzi had a crack from distance, but di Santo spent most of the half out wide in what was in essence a six-man midfield.

The game was pretty much won in the 39th minute, centre-half Richards running almost the entire length of the pitch for his third goal of the season. Picking up possession just outside his own box he cut between two opponents, seeing space open up before him he kept going and going, gliding past a further three men. With one defender heartlessly remaining between him and goal he threaded a throughball to Benjani whose strike rebounded off the post and back into Micah's path. Terrific goal.

At half-time Allardyce made two changes, bringing on Nikola Kalinic and Junior Hoilett for Andrews and di Santo. The latter went on to make quite an impression, his movement really causing us bother, but barring another short spell midway through we were still well in control, and should have made it three within a couple of minutes of the restart, Garrido and Bellamy both being clear down their side but producing poor crosses.

The Argie maestro had his second in the 50th minute, tirelessly winning the ball in the centre of midfield and chipping out to Benjani on the right. The former Pompey striker used all his upper-body strength to bully Givet, crossing to the middle for Tevez to curl home a magnificent right-footed effort. The £25.5m summer purchase should have tied up his treble ten minutes on, somehow putting a diving header wide after an inviting cross from countryman Zabaleta.

Blackburn upped their efforts around the hour, Nzonzi heading a free-kick wide, Zab picking up his fifth booking of the season for the challenge which led to the chance. Emerton then found the lively Hoilett in space but his shot was blocked, and Emerton also tested Given after a punched clearance. Rovers certainly deserved a goal, and got on the scoresheet in the 71st minute. Pedersen, absent on the left, was getting more joy when switched, and a heavy first touch from Kompany let him in, the Norway international curling a splendid left-footed crack into the net.

In truth the nerves began to get to us, and Blackburn were spurred on even further by their strike. Pedersen just failed to get his head onto an Olsson cross, and then relieved Garrido of the ball on the byline but via illegal means. A fourth goal was needed to settle nerves, and it should have come from sub Robinho, finishing off a nice passing move involving Zab & Tevez but having strayed a yard or two offside.

The winger then forced a great one-handed stop from Robinson, and Santa Cruz blazed over when Tevez was free in the area. It was coming, and when it did it arrived once again via the new terrace hero, Tevez. Zab again venturing forward, intercepting a throw-in, passing inside to Robinho who moved it on to Carlito who with no backlift and only one thing on his mind dinked in an outstanding third.

You can't have any major complaints winning 4-1 at home. It was a commanding performance against opposition with very little to offer in an attacking sense. The defence was once again generally well organised, Vince Kompany in particular was superb, shame he dropped a bollock for the goal but otherwise he was faultless. Benjani, too, played a part in three of the goals, we can't expect much more than that.

One slight gripe, i thought our distribution was well off tonight, right from the back. From early on even the usually reliable Given appeared quite hesitant, clearances from him and members of the back four were often not finding their targets and we were encouraging Blackburn to come back at us, losing possession far too cheaply. We stood off them for parts of the game and against a better side could've been punished. I also don't think Zab had his most confident game defensively either, he seems to be flummoxed by bouncing balls, and though he played his part going forwards as the game wore on, there are still obvious parts of his game that need working on.

To concentrate too much on those negatives, though, would take away from the fact that we won relatively comfortably, earned another three points, scored three belting goals, and that Carlos was once again exceptional. There's not much to add that hasn't been said a hundred times, his workrate is phenomenal, he's involved in absolutely everything, and he's not just bagging tap-ins either. Not bad for a fella who supposedly can't finish. Bring on Everton.

Team:
Given, Zabaleta, Garrido, Richards, Kompany, de Jong, Petrov (Boyata '87), Barry, Tevez, Benjani (Santa Cruz '81), Bellamy (Robinho '69)