Normally I would have posted straight after the game yesterday however I wanted to wait and give some thought to the game. I'm still not sure what to make of yesterday's semi final. A victory is good and it came against a strong United side but I found myself uneasy.

City started out with a new formation. It was almost a 4-2-2-2 rather than a 4-4-2. Richards started at Right Back, Garrido on the left and Kompany formed a Belgian central defense duo with Boyata. Stationed in front of the back four were Barry and de Jong while up further on the flanks were Zabaleta and SWP with Bellamy and Tevez going through the middle in attack. As I say it played more like a 4-2-2-2 and it didn't work. Zabaleta looked very uncomfortable out on the left and didn't track back instinctively to work with Garrido. It was therefore no surprise that United's goal came down that flank.

Garrido has his place. He's a useful player, especially going forward, but currently against the top teams he struggles. Bluntly, City should have been in the market for a Left Back the moment the transfer window opened.

United were clearly the better team up until they scored their goal at which point Mancini made the change to a 4-5-1 with Bellamy moved back out to the left and Zabaleta moved into the middle of midfield. This was much better as Bellamy's tenacity in tracking back helped out on the defensive end of the field.

More importantly it also helped in attack as Bellamy was free to run at the United Right Back Rafael. Which of course led to the penalty.

A couple of points regarding said penalty. First it was soft there's no hiding that. Second former referee Graham Poll writing in the Daily Mail brilliantly sums up the options that are open to Tuesday's official Mike Dean when making the decision. Essentially it's either one continuous foul that starts outside the area and continues into the area then it is a penalty; or a foul outside the area and the player falls in the box then it is a free kick or there are two fouls one outside the area and the referee plays advantage and then a second foul in the penalty area the correct call is a penalty.

The latter of those was called correctly against Mich Richards against Everton at the weekend and clearly Mike Dean thought this was also the case against Rafael as he gestured that there were two fouls. And when you look at the reply, Mike Dean was wrong.

Now to be charitable there was a clear pull of Bellamy's shirt outside the box and at full speed there looked like there was a second offense inside the box, especially from the referees position standing towards the middle of the field above the 18 yard area. But the second "offense" was more the flapping of arms at each other.

In fact Mike Dean had a fairly poor performance. At one point Micah Richards made a dive that if Tom Daley uses it in London in 2012 will guarantee Great Britain a gold medal. And the foul was called against United.

To read the boards later at such sites as the BBC was comedy gold. I despise the current United regime because of the cheating environment that permeates their club from the antics of Ruud Van Falldowninthebox through Ronaldo and Rooney today. To see their fans going absolutely insanely nuts as call after call went against United (some were correct, but others were not) was more fun than City actually winning.

Tevez got his second for City to take the lead and until the little Argentinean left with 10 minutes to go City were pretty much in command. With no outlet on the field, Benjani is just not the same kind of player, United pressed and but for Shay Given the final result could have been a draw at best and a loss at worst.

The game showed me a number of important things. City need to get into the transfer market now. A new Left Back, Central Defender and Attacking Midfielder are needed immediately. Mancini is working a certain level of magic but when the squad has to play Zabaleta out of position in a game not once but twice then it doesn't matter if players are injured and are coming back, the squad isn't deep enough.

Also Tevez is really torqued at the reception he got from the United fans. The West Ham fans have always treated Tevez in a positive manner and this is reflected in his non celebrations when he scores.

Mancini can pull the strings within a game to make a difference. Would be nice to see a game where the team doesn't need to make tactical switches because it is good to go straight away.

Overall the start of the Mancini era has been very positive but in many ways the club has been fortunate. This isn't, in my opinion, a top four club and it still requires reinforcements in this transfer window for the club to have a shot at that lofty goal this season.

However a win is a win and what will Mancini do tactically in the second leg? I can't see the club defending the 2-1 lead for the 90 minutes. Will City go for the win or look to score one goal which would force United to score two to force a tie and three for the win? Even with the return of Adebayor and the potential for Vieira to play City are still short players. Eleven days left in the transfer window, can City make the moves their season still needs?