Manchester City 5 Scunthorpe 1        Scunny Swamped
Wednesday 28th October 2009 : GYKO at the COMSTAD

Manchester City's wealth has bought great quality and it was more than enough to outclass Scunthorpe at Eastlands to secure a Carling Cup quarter-final slot. The visitors from the Coca-Cola Championship did their best, but City were just so much better it was almost embarrassing to watch at the end.

Stephen Ireland staked his claim for a regular place in Mark Hughes' side with a glittering performance and City's early goal. Scunthorpe hit back with a Jonathan Forte equaliser and never gave up. But once Roque Santa Cruz headed his first goal for City to restore their lead before the break, there was only going to be one winner.

The second period saw Carlos Tevez outstanding. He scored one and tormented Scunthorpe relentlessly. Michael Johnson and Joleon Lescott added further goals, and it could easily have been more with substitute Vladimir Weiss missing a late hat-trick as City threatened to run riot.

City made six changes from the side that drew with Fulham on Saturday. Kolo Toure and Martin Petrov were both injured, with Micah Richards, Wayne Bridge and Craig Bellamy on the bench and Emmanuel Adebayor rested. Scunthorpe had David Mirfin back after a bout of sickness. Martin Woolford also came into the starting line-up, Jordan Spence and Sam Togwell reverting to the bench.

Scunthorpe had 4,000 noisy fans with them, and they were boosted by a second minute drive from Paul Hayes that Shay Given saved, with some difficulty, to his left. But a minute later Scunthorpe were guilty of standing and watching as City swept into their half, Shaun Wright-Phillips finding Ireland to his left. The midfielder cruised on, unchallenged by any defender to calmly guide the ball past Joe Murphy from the edge of the box.
Wright-Phillips twice soon after could have extended the lead with efforts from the edge of the box.

Scunthorpe were barely able to get out of their half at this stage, such was the pace and pressure of City's attacks. But they were competitive and organised and they weathered the initial storm. When Scunthorpe did get into a danger area, they scored an outstanding equaliser after 26 minutes.

Nigel de Jong gave the ball away in midfield, and it was swept out to Marcus Williams, racing away on the left. His neat ball into the six-yard box evaded Lescott and found Forte, who finished with ease from a couple of yards. Hayes had a great chance with a header, saved by Given, before Ireland sent in Wright-Phillips for a shot that Murphy blocked with his legs. But Scunthorpe had lost their star-struck look by now and were moving forward with a growing confidence. Hayes again, arriving on the far post for a hook shot wide, had City stretched as the Iron continued to grow in confidence.

But City were back in the lead after 38 minutes. Pablo Zabaleta sped down the right, wrong-footing Hayes as he went. And when the cross arrowed into the box, Santa Cruz stepped away from Woolford before rising to plant a headed back into the far corner.

Scunthorpe replaced skipper Rob Jones with Niall Canavan at the break. And they were still prepared to run at City's back line. But the quality of City's attacking play almost produced a third when Ireland raced through from midfield before slipping the ball to Tevez, the shot deflecting inches wide. Then the impressive Ireland created another opening, setting up Santa Cruz for a drive beaten away by Murphy. And it took a header almost on the line to stop a cross reaching Ireland. But from the resulting corner from Wright-Phillips, Lescott rose unchallenged 12 yards out to guide a fine header into the top corner to give City the breathing space they wanted after 56 minutes.

Canavan then had to kick off the line from Ireland, as the midfielder rolled a shot wide of Murphy. City sent on 19-year-old Weiss for his full debut in place of Ireland. Scunthorpe wilted now under the constant pressure, and Tevez crowned a fine display of ceaseless running by prodding home another corner after 71 minutes, again criminally unmarked. It was a cruise now, and substitute Johnson - coming on for only his second game of the season in place of Gareth Barry - unleashed a rising 25-yarder that soared into the top corner for the fifth. Tevez was replaced by Benjani after 78 minutes, to a deserved standing ovation as City threatened to run riot at the end.

Teams

Man City Given, Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Sylvinho,Wright-Phillips, De Jong, Barry (Johnson 72),Ireland (Weiss 59), Tevez (Mwaruwari 79), Santa Cruz.

Subs Not Used: Taylor, Richards, Bridge, Bellamy.

Booked: De Jong, Zabaleta.

Goals: Ireland 3, Santa Cruz 38, Lescott 56, Tevez 71,

Johnson 77.

Scunthorpe Murphy, Byrne, Jones (Canavan 46), Mirfin,Williams, Josh Wright, McCann (Togwell 77),O'Connor (Hooper 68), Woolford, Forte, Hayes.

Subs Not Used: Lillis, Andrew Wright, Sparrow, Spence.

Goals: Forte 26.

Att: 36,358

Ref: Michael Oliver (Northumberland).

Wigan Athletic 1 Manchester City 1      Given to the rescue
Sunday 17th October 2009 : Tim Geary for GYKO at the  JW Stadium 

Ten-man Manchester City needed a brilliant late save from Shay Given to earn them a point at Wigan. The dismissal of Pablo Zabaleta for two bookable offences condemned the Blues to a difficult last 25 minutes. And Hugo Rodallega thought he has profited with a close-range volley a minute from time, only for Given to deny him. Wigan might grumble, although City were just about worthy of a point. Not that it will save them from a few harsh words from manager Mark Hughes, who must have been disappointed with a poor first-half display, in which Charles N'Zogbia put the hosts in front before Martin Petrov levelled at the start of the second period.

For once, City were vying for the pre-match headlines, with Alan Wiley of all people after Sir Alex Ferguson's ill-advised attack on the Staffordshire official a fortnight ago. At Old Trafford there had been no obvious sign of the referee lacking fitness, as Ferguson claimed - comments he has subsequently apologised for and will surely get punished for when the FA announce whether the Scot will face a charge tomorrow. And again, Wiley appeared to be up with play at all the crucial points, getting all the big decisions right, including Zabaleta's red card.

Hughes was probably glad attention was diverted away from his team, who struggled to express themselves and were let down too often by Petrov's poor set-piece delivery. Emmanuel Adebayor forced Chris Kirkland into one decent save and Carlos Tevez did not react fast enough when Maynor Figueroa nudged a header into his path. But there was a paucity of chances for the visitors that did not sit easily with the growing feeling they will be involved in the title shake-up.

In contrast, Wigan, limited as they were, always gave the impression of a side pushing themselves to the limit. In Rodallega they had an obvious danger man and he brought an excellent save out of Given with a dipping 25-yard strike. Still, a goalless opening period was drawing to a seemingly inevitable conclusion when Rodallega, set up by the industrious Jason Scotland, went for the far corner with an angled drive.

Given did well to keep it out. But the Republic of Ireland star, named skipper in the absence of Kolo Toure, could only push the ball into N'Zogbia's path. That the former Newcastle man beat Wayne Bridge as he slid home in will do nothing to dispel the theory that England's second-choice full-back has been one of Hughes' big disappointments this term. Chelsea have been beaten on this ground, while Manchester United recorded a five-goal win, so the result was not going to be a reliable guide to City's progress. Nevertheless, having no doubt implored his side to do better, Hughes must have been delighted the Blues took just 65 seconds to level.

Not unusually, Tevez was the creator but Roberto Martinez will wonder why Mohamed Diame over-ran the Argentine's square ball from the touchline after Shaun Wright-Phillips had missed it. Diame's error left Petrov with a clear sight of goal and he found the bottom corner with a precise shot. The Blues should have been in front moments later, with Tevez again the architect, playing a superb ball through the Wigan defence for Adebayor. Although Titus Bramble slid across to make a fine tackle, the loose ball rolled perfectly for Wright-Phillips, whose goalbound effort looped over off Adebayor, who was still on the floor.

City's increased threat and Wigan's desperation to get something from the contest brought an edge to the game, which Adebayor did not do much to quell with a cynical tackle he was fortunate to get away with after the game had already been stopped. But with challenges flying in, there was a risking of someone's afternoon ending early. Zabaleta turned out to be the man, although his fury as Wiley produced red for a tackle on Scotland was not really matched by the reality, which was the full-back missing the ball completely as he lunged in. Not that Figueroa would have had any defence either if Wiley had got a proper view of his penalty-box challenge on Wright-Phillips.

Wigan were more likely winners at the end. But Given was equal to Rodellaga's late volley, which seemed certain to end in the net, to preserve a point for the visitors.

Teams

Wigan Kirkland, Melchiot, Boyce, Bramble, Figueroa, Rodallega,Thomas, Diame, N'Zogbia, Scharner (Gomez 72), Scotland.

Subs Not Used: Pollitt, Cho, Koumas, Sinclair, Kapo, King.

Booked: Thomas, Figueroa.

Goals: N'Zogbia 45.

Man City Given, Zabaleta, Richards, Lescott, Bridge,Wright-Phillips (Ireland 82), De Jong, Barry, Petrov,Tevez (Santa Cruz 82), Adebayor (Kompany 70).

Subs Not Used: Taylor, Johnson, Sylvinho, Weiss.

Sent Off: Zabaleta (65).

Booked: Zabaleta.

Goals: Petrov 47.

Att: 20,005

Ref: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire).
 

Aston Villa 1 Manchester City          Dunne Big Style
Monday 5th October 2009 : John Curtis for GYKO at Villa Park

Richard Dunne scored a brilliant header against his former club but Craig Bellamy denied him the matchwinning glory with a second-half leveller for Manchester City at Villa Park. Dunne had given Aston Villa a half-time lead with his first goal since his £6million move from Eastlands, outjumping former Villa midfielder Gareth Barry. But Bellamy rescued a deserved point for Mark Hughes' side midway through the second period.
Barry was booed throughout the 90 minutes by the Villa fans on his first return since his £12million summer transfer to City and did not have one of his most influential games. Dunne, however, was excellent at the back for Villa and he was applauded by both sets of fans after not celebrating his goal in an elaborate manner. It was a stark contrast to the over-the-top reaction from City striker Emmanuel Adebayor after he had scored against his old team Arsenal last month.

Villa had the better of the opening 45 minutes, closing City down effectively but also looking threatening when going forward with John Carew causing problems. But City were more menacing after the break despite Dunne and James Collins making many crucial interceptions at the heart of the Villa back four.

Fabio Capello was amongst the crowd, with seven of the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers with Ukraine and Belarus involved in the game. And, one of them, Gabriel Agbonlahor, went close to giving Villa the lead after only two minutes from the first corner of the game. Ashley Young played the ball into Agbonlahor and his first time flick forced a fine save from Shay Given at the base of the post. Villa skipper Stiliyan Petrov then shot only just wide with a low drive after being teed up by Young 20 yards out.

Then after 14 minutes former City skipper Dunne headed Villa into the lead. Stephen Warnock sent over an inswinging corner and Dunne was perfectly placed to climb above Barry and head back across Given into the far corner of the net. Dunne was mobbed by his team-mates but showed little emotion and was applauded by the City fans when he made his way back to the centre circle.

Petrov became the first player to be yellow-carded by referee Mike Dean after 28 minutes for a touchline challenge on Shaun Wright-Phillips.      De Jong was then cautioned for chopping down Young level with the City box after a change of pace had seen him waltz past the challenge of Zabaleta. City started to see more of the ball and Friedel was seriously extended for the first time after 41 minutes, tipping over an Adebayor header from a Barry free-kick.

Villa were sitting back and defender Carlos Cuellar made a vital interception to deny Tevez as he tried to play in Adebayor. Barry went close to setting up a City equaliser within two minutes of the start of the second half, his probing pass into the six yard box only just failing to pick out Adebayor's run.

City boss Mark Hughes made a change after 50 minutes, replacing De Jong with Stephen Ireland who had recovered from illness. Collins made a vital challenge on Wright-Phillips after he got in behind the Villa defence to run onto Tevez's pass inside the box. Dunne had a good chance to score for the second time but this time his header from Milner's corner slid just wide.

City forced a string of corners and after 67 minutes Bellamy brought them back on level terms with his fourth goal of the season. Wright-Phillips won the ball and released Ireland who then played the ball into Adebayor down the channel. He cut the ball back to Bellamy and the Wales international hammered the ball home from 12 yards. Friedel came off his line to save bravely at the feet of Adebayor and Milner headed wide from an inviting cross from Young.

Young was then replaced by Nigel Reo-Coker, who was afforded his first action since his training-ground spat with O'Neill last month.

Teams:

Aston Villa Friedel, Cuellar, Dunne, Collins, Warnock, Milner, Petrov, Sidwell, Ashley Young (Reo-Coker 81), Agbonlahor, Carew (Heskey 69).

Subs Not Used: Guzan, Delph, Shorey, Beye, Gardner.

Booked: Petrov.

Goals: Dunne 15.

Man City Given, Zabaleta, Lescott, Toure, Bridge, De Jong (Ireland 50), Barry, Wright-Phillips, Tevez (Santa Cruz 68), Bellamy, Adebayor.

Subs Not Used: Taylor, Richards, Sylvinho, Johnson, Petrov.

Booked: De Jong, Wright-Phillips.

Goals: Bellamy 67.

Att: 37,924

Ref: Mike Dean (Wirral).