Midfielder Gareth Barry has hailed Man City's performance against Fulham, rating it as their best this year.
England midfielder heaps praise on Blues
Midfielder Gareth Barry has hailed Manchester City's display against Fulham, rating it as their best this year.
The England international helped City to a 4-1 Premier League win at Craven Cottage on Sunday evening as they secured a crucial three points.
And Barry admits he has not seen Roberto Mancini's side perform better in the last 12 months.
Impression
"That's probably the best we've played this year," Barry told
Sky Sports HD1.
"We knew it was a good chance to make an impression and move up the league a bit so it was a great performance, especially in the first half."
Fulham hosted City under the management of former Blues boss Mark Hughes, who signed Barry at Eastlands from Aston Villa last year.
Barry says the players still have respect for the ex-City boss, adding: "I think there were five or six of us that Mark brought in so there was always respect and they showed it to the manager.
"But once the game started it was all about Manchester City and getting the three points."
City recently attracted criticism for their apparent inability to find goals following their 0-0 draws against Manchester United and Birmingham, something they emphatically countered on Sunday.
But Barry insists the amount of goals scored is not important as long as City find the three points: "We try not to worry about that too much, it's more about the three points but if you can score goals along the way, even better."
Barry's team-mate Pablo Zabaleta, who notched the second goal in City's triumph, was similarly delighted with the result.
Confidence
When asked what had changed in the side, Zabaleta replied: "I think the confidence. We had a difficult week after two draws.
"If you see the squad we have fantastic players and we want to fight for something important this season and we knew today was an important game for us.
He added: "I agree with Gareth, our first 50 minutes was fantastic, so this is the side to continue."
The Argentinian was thrilled to find the back of the net, adding: "It was special. It was my second goal for City. I'm so happy for that, I always try to be ready to play."
