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Portsmouth 0 Manchester City 1
Victory at Portsmouth
Sunday 30th August 2009 : Ben Weeks for GYKO
at Fratton Park
Sulaiman al-Fahim celebrated
his take-over of Portsmouth by sporting a replica shirt and baseball
cap and watching the second half of this match from the Fratton Park
stands alongside the club's supporters. It set the seal on a charm
offensive from the Dubai-based property developer but Portsmouth
need so much more than PR fluff.
They finished with a flourish and the substitute David Nugent will
have nightmares at how he failed to beat the Manchester City
goalkeeper, Shay Given, from close range, after he had taken a fine
first touch with his chest. The less said about his second the
better. City, who maintained their perfect start to the new season
without hitting their stride, would have been chastened if Nugent
had not shot straight at Given. Once again, they stood accused of
lacking the ruthless edge to make a game safe.
For Portsmouth, however, the cold, hard fact is that after four
defeats in four games they have made their worst start to a league
season for 56 years. With further boardroom upheaval in prospect,
the future looks bleak.
The day had started with the chief executive, Peter Storrie,
accusing the out-going owner Sacha Gaydamak of "the ultimate
betrayal" for his decision to sell to Fahim rather than the rival
consortium that he had fronted. What future now at the club for
Storrie? And it ended with soul-searching, as Portsmouth came up
just short.
It ought not to have come to that for City's millionaires but they
can, at least, reflect upon another clean sheet – they have yet to
concede this season – and the comfort that when the disparate parts
of their new team come together, they will give somebody a hiding.
City felt their way slowly into the game but their threat from
set-pieces had been advertised before the goal that proved to be the
winner. From Gareth Barry's free-kick, Portsmouth's stand-in
goalkeeper, Asmir Begovic, failed to collect under pressure from
Joleon Lescott and, when the ball dropped to Micah Richards, he
seemed set to score. Begovic, though, reached out instinctively to
make a fine recovery save.
Begovic had played because Portsmouth said that David James needed
further treatment on his knee injury, although the England
international's absence did little to erase the suspicion that he
will leave the club before the transfer deadline.
There was nothing that Begovic could have done to prevent Adebayor's
goal. The Togolese lost his marker Aaron Mokoena and rose to power
home a downward header from close range. Mokoena, the defensive
midfielder, had been forced to play at centre-half because of
injuries and player sales, although he does play in that position
for South Africa.
Adebayor looks a different player to the one who sloped about the
Emirates pitch for Arsenal last season. Sharp and committed, he
dropped to link up the play and pressed and harried Portsmouth's
back-line. In this mood, it is also fiendishly difficult to lever
him off the ball. His goal made it three in three Premier League
games for his new employers.
City ought to have had a second before half-time but when Craig
Bellamy crossed low and hard from the left and Richards stretched to
tap home, a linesman's flag went up for offside against Barry at the
far post. Barry was in front of play but it was highly debatable
whether he was interfering with it.
Portsmouth gave debuts to the new signings Michael Brown and Tommy
Smith – the former, an ex-City player, mixed it up throughout in
midfield – while the hosts benefited from the non-stop efforts of
the lone striker Frédéric Piquionne.
Adebayor almost scored a second in the second-half but Portsmouth
rallied and after John Utaka and Richard Hughes had gone close,
Nugent suffered his horror moment. There was still time for Utaka to
misdirect a header from eight yards. The Premier League, however,
has no time for hard-luck stories.
Portsmouth: Asmir Begovic, Nadir
Belhadj, Vandenborre, Younes Kaboul, Michael Brown, Richard Hughes
(David Nugent 87), Hayden Mullins, Niko Kranjcar, Aaron Mokoena,
Frederic Piquionne (Nwankwo Kanu 73), Tommy Smith (John Utaka 68),
Subs not used: Joel Ward, Hermann Hreidarsson, Jamie Ashdown,
Angelos Basinas
Booked: Richard Hughes 12, Aaron Mokoena 79
Manchester City: Shay Given, Micah Richards (Pablo Zabaleta 60),
Joleon Lescott, Kolo Toure, Wayne Bridge, Stephen Ireland (Nigel de
Jong 76), Shaun Wright-Phillips, Gareth Barry, Emmanuel Adebayor,
Carlos Tevez, Craig Bellamy,
Subs not used: Nedum Onuoha, Robson de Souza Robinho, Martin Petrov,
Vladimir Weiss, Stuart Taylor
Booked: Pablo Zabaleta 81
Attendance: 17,826
Crystal Palace 0 Manchester City 2
City SWeeP up at Palace
Thursday 27th August 2009 : Stuart Codling for
GYKO at Selhust Park
Manchester City's reinvention
gathers pace. The likes of Brighton & Hove Albion, Doncaster Rovers
and Chesterfield have jettisoned City from the Carling Cup in recent
seasons yet, having been reborn as the richest club in the world,
the current crop are less prone to be upset. There were awkward
moments against a spirited Crystal Palace last night, particularly
in a first half when Premier League players strolled at times as if
weighed down by Premier League egos, but progress was eventually
proved smooth. The hosts were never likely to maintain their upbeat
approach until the end and, on the occasions City clicked, they
oozed high quality.
Carlos Tevez's first goal for the club caught the eye, but this win
was driven by the effervescence of Shaun Wright-Phillips and Stephen
Ireland, two homegrown talents. The pair's energy levels rarely
dipped while others drifted. Five minutes into the second period
they combined for the England winger to belt a shot inside the
otherwise excellent Julian Speroni's near-post. It was
Wright-Phillips' corner that was nodded in easily by Tevez, ignored
for a split second by Shaun Derry, to ensure victory.
Only Ireland of this team experienced the embarrassment at the
Withdean at the same stage last season. Mark Hughes has started
changing the mindset of this club. "Once bitten, twice shy," said
the manager. "Last year we went out to Brighton and I'd made changes
that night. That maybe shaped my thinking this time. We've got a bit
of momentum at the beginning of the season, and that is important to
us." Three wins, and as many clean sheets, represents a fine
opening.
Palace deserved credit for not disintegrating, particularly after
the first goal was shipped and City suddenly found some rhythm.
Speroni added fine saves from Adebayor and Tevez, while
Wright-Phillips clipped the underside of the bar, but they remained
intact against a line-up that had cost around £160m to assemble,
including the £24m debutant Joleon Lescott. It says much for City's
ambition this term that this was a full-strength team confronting a
side that has not spent a transfer fee in a year.
The home side revelled in the pace and invention of Victor Moses,
and energy and ability of Alassane N'Diaye and Nathaniel Clyne.
Micah Richards and Kolo Touré panicked whenever Moses tore at them.
They could be thankful Shay Given was more on his game. Neil Warnock
drew encouragement from his team's wide-eyed enthusiasm, his
traditional snarl reserved only for an acknowledgement that he had
lost his primary transfer target, West Bromwich Albion's Craig
Beattie, to Swansea City and for an ugly lunge by Wayne Bridge on
Moses that led to the winger's exit with a twisted knee.
"Manslaughter by Bridge and he didn't even get a booking," said the
Palace manager. "If you see the follow-through it's horrendous. You
could see he'd lost his rag because Victor was crucifying him at
times." That may be just as damaging for Wigan, Moses' most recent
suitors, with the transfer deadline looming.
Teams
Crystal Palace Speroni, Clyne, Fonte, McCarthy, Hill,Ambrose (Ryan
Smith 72), Derry, Danns, N'Diaye,Moses (Carle 80), Sears (Scannell
72).
Subs Not Used: Flahavan, Lawrence, Lee, Butterfield.
Man City Given, Richards, Lescott, Toure, Bridge,Wright-Phillips,
Ireland, Barry, Robinho (Bellamy 72),Adebayor, Tevez (De Jong 86).
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Onuoha, Zabaleta, Petrov, Weiss.
Booked: Richards.
Goals: Wright-Phillips 50, Tevez 71.
Att: 14,725
Ref: Darren Deadman (Cambridgeshire).
Manchester City 1 Wolverhampton 0
Just Enough
Saturday 22nd August 2009 : GYKO at the
COMSTAD
Emmanuel Adebayor's blistering
first-half effort proved enough to earn victory for Manchester City
on his home debut. Although newly-promoted Wolves came close to an
equaliser when Andy Keogh's effort crashed back off the crossbar,
anything other than a home win would have been cruel for Mark
Hughes' men, who totally dominated the first hour and created enough
clear chances to win several games.
There is certainly plenty of
room for optimism around the Blues camp just now, and room for
improvement given Mark Hughes' on-going pursuit of Joleon Lescott.
Developments in the long-running transfer saga are on-going and it
is expected Lescott will leave Everton for City at some point over
the next week. And, with a trip to crisis club Portsmouth next
Sunday, City could well find themselves heading into the
international
break among the Premier League's pace-setters. The reason that has
been stated most often for City not being tipped among the title
contenders is that it will be difficult to get so many new players
to gel. Yet it is also true that the process should be at its most
difficult right now, before getting progressively easier as the
season wears on.
If that is true, the Blues
should be regarded as contenders because their play in fluid as it
is. The goal was a prime example. When Jody Craddock nodded a Wayne
Bridge cross into the path of Tevez, the Argentinian should have
been struggling to locate Adebayor given both are new boys. A
collective transfer fee of £50million clearly brings some telepathy
though, for Tevez merely cushioned the ball into Adebayor's path,
inviting the fierce finish that followed. It was part of an awesome
period of attacking play from the hosts, who must have been
scratching their heads at how they failed to score more than one.
Robinho had a couple of decent
chances, the second significantly easier than the first, only to
land the ball straight into Wayne Hennessey's midriff. The Brazilian
attempted to make amends with a firm drive to the near post that
nearly caught the Wolves keeper off-guard. Adebayor had another
opportunity, as did Tevez, while Gareth Barry was not too far away
with a curling free-kick.
It was all very impressive. Yet
what must have given Mark Hughes even more satisfaction was the save
Shay Given made just before half-time. In times gone by, City's
tendency to self-destruct would have seen them
 give
away a stupid goal in games like this one. Hughes was trying to stop
exactly that when he brought Given south from Newcastle last
January. And when Matthew Jarvis gave central defensive duo Kolo
Toure and Richard Dunne the slip, Given leapt superbly to claw away
a shot that would otherwise have ended up in the top right corner.
As befits brothers who
apparently do not talk to each other, Noel and Liam Gallagher
watched on in different parts of the stadium, although they were no
doubt sharing a common contentment at their team's fortunes. City's
celebrity supporters really would have had something to celebrate if
their team had taken just one of the three gilt-edged chances that
came their way at the start of the second half.
But Stephen Ireland
inexplicably pushed his shot wide after taking Robinho's return
pass, Adebayor's first touch was too heavy, forcing him to go wide
and fire into the side-netting shortly afterwards, then Robinho
drifted offside before tapping home Wright-Phillips' low cross to
the far post. So, instead of a comfortable cruise to the final
whistle, City were forced to endure a lengthy period of Wolves
pressure, in which Keogh was the central figure.
He was mighty unlucky not to
score too when Kolo Toure touched Hennessey's long punt downfield
into his path. Instead, his shot came crashing back off the
crossbar, Given knowing on this occasion, he would have been able to
do nothing to keep it out had it been just a couple of inches lower.
Wolves maintained their offensive, without getting any nearer to
breaching Given's goal; Tevez among the men replaced as the hosts
wound down the clock.
Teams: Man City Given, Richards, Dunne, Toure,
Bridge,Wright-Phillips, Ireland, Barry, Tevez (Bellamy 73),
Adebayor,Robinho (De Jong 83).
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Onuoha, Zabaleta, Petrov,
Weiss.
Goals: Adebayor 17.
Wolverhampton Hennessey, Stearman, Craddock,
Mancienne,Stephen Ward (Vokes 74), Henry, Halford (Elokobi 46),
Edwards,Jarvis, Milijas (Doyle 46), Keogh.
Subs Not Used: Hahnemann, Surman, David Jones,
Berra.
Booked: Stearman.
Att: 47,287
Ref: Lee Mason (Lancashire).
Blackburn Rovers 0 Manchester City
2 We Have Lift Off
Saturday 15th August 2009 : Calum Carter for
GYKO at Ewood Park
Manchester City launched
themselves into what they hope will be a golden era with a victory
at Blackburn that answered many of the questions that have been
asked of them over the summer. Emmanuel Adebayor set them on their
way, lashing home Shaun Wright-Phillips' cut-back after just three
minutes. Then, with stoppage time approaching and City looking
likely to hold onto the lead provided by their £25million new-boy,
Stephen Ireland popped up to fire home after a mazy solo burst.
In between, City were forced to survive periods of intense Rovers
pressure. But with Kolo Toure in fine form and Shay Given making
excellent saves to deny Chris Samba and Jason Roberts, City were
able to celebrate their success with gusto.
Hughes only named three of his six summer signings in his starting
line-up, although two more were on the bench - including Carlos
Tevez - for the start of a campaign that has been eagerly awaited
for so long by so many. And the likes of Sir Alex Ferguson and David
Moyes, two of the men irritated by City's rise, plus a 6,000-strong
travelling Blues army did not have to wait long for the first
glimpse of what their side are now capable of.
As Adebayor wheeled away to celebrate his first City goal, a few of
those fans must have been pinching themselves at the wonder of it
all.Not that they had long to celebrate. City's goal had come on the
counter-attack following a Blackburn corner and it soon became
evident the home side were going to enjoy a long period of
dominance. Striking duo Roberts and Benni McCarthy proved difficult
to subdue, as did El Hadji-Diouf and Morten Gamst Pedersen in wider
positions.
However, for all the attackers Hughes has brought in this summer and
the continuing fall-out from his pursuit of Joleon Lescott, the
Welshman has reinforced his defence as well. Gareth Barry is a very
useful screening player in midfield while Toure is a central
defensive rock, who always keeps his head without ever looking like
enduring one of those momentary lapses his partner Richard Dunne
suffers so frequently. And behind Toure was Given, a relative
veteran having arrived from Newcastle last January at the cost of
£6million to force Joe Hart to pursue his England ambitions with
Birmingham.
Amid a plethora of Blackburn chances, a couple stood out. McCarthy
cushioned a fine header into the path
of Roberts and a Diouf corner that dropped onto Chris Samba's head.
Unfortunately for the hosts, on the first occasion Roberts lashed
his shot over. On the second Given flew across his goal to make an
excellent save. Roberts was denied another sight of goal by Dunne's
last-ditch tackle and when Keith Andrews had a penalty appeal turned
down in stoppage time, Sam Allardyce must have wondered how he came
to be giving an interval team-talk to a team staring defeat in the
face.
Of course, winning when you are not playing well is a mantra of all
top clubs, so Hughes had no apologies to make on his return to Ewood
Park. In fact, City were marginally the better side when the teams
returned, with Adebayor looking far more lively than he had done in
his last few performances with Arsenal.
Not that Rovers were throwing in the towel. Roberts brought another
excellent save from Given with a stooping header. That attack
triggered a response of sorts from City, who went agonisingly close
through Robinho. It was the Brazilian's only meaningful contribution
and not long after he had been denied by Paul Robinson's full-length
save, his number 10 was flashed up on the board as Tevez waited to
be introduced.
As usual, Tevez's industry caught the eye. Robinson denied him a
debut goal before Ireland, collecting Wright-Phillips' crossfield
pass, calmly took his time before beating Robinson at his near post.
So the roller coaster moves slowly up the first leg of it's long
journey, where will it eventually end up no one knows because that
is the one certainty with God's team, you can never be certain!!
Teams:
Blackburn Robinson, Jacobsen, Samba, Givet, Warnock,Diouf (Hoilett
86), Andrews (Gallagher 75), Nzonzi, Pedersen,Roberts (Di Santo 65),
McCarthy.
Subs Not Used: Brown, Grella, Khizanishvili, Olsson.
Booked: Warnock, Gallagher.
Man City Given, Richards, Dunne, Toure, Bridge,Wright-Phillips,
Ireland, Barry, Robinho (Tevez 69), Adebayor,Bellamy.
Subs Not Used: Taylor, Onuoha, Zabaleta, Petrov, De Jong, Weiss.
Booked: Richards.
Goals: Adebayor 3, Ireland 90.
Att: 29,584
Ref: Mike Dean (Wirral). |