August 2005

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Manchester City 2 Portsmouth 1   
Saturday 27th August 2005 :


Manchester City's magnificent run goes on. For the second time in a week, Stuart Pearce's men came from behind to clinch a vital three points with veteran striker Andy Cole once again proving the match winner. Disappointingly the attendance dropped again to the lowest for a Premiership game at the COMSTAD, but  result extended the Blues' unbeaten run under Stuart Pearce to 12 matches and lifted them up to second in the Premiership.

It means on September 10, when Pearce takes his team to Old Trafford for the first Manchester derby of the season, only Chelsea will be above them in the table and United will be trailing in their wake albeit with a game in hand. These are heady days indeed at the home of Manchester's top club.

A measure of the giant strides City have made since Pearce succeeded Kevin Keegan just five months ago is that their new manager can still find fault despite successive away wins at Birmingham and Sunderland.

Pearce has been unconvinced by his team's defending, so promising teenager Nedum Onuoha was drafted in to replace Stephen Jordan at centre-half alongside skipper Richard Dunne.

Onuoha's presence was hardly required in the first 20 minutes as Portsmouth adopted an ultra-cautious approach after picking up just one point from their opening three games.

The most demonstrative member of the entire visiting party was manager Alain Perrin, whose honeymoon period in England is now well and truly over.

If he was not berating referee Alan Wiley for a string of borderline decisions that all went against his team, Perrin was having a go at his own team, star men Lomana LuaLua and Laurent Robert among those singled out for a piece of the Frenchman's mind.

In his more rational moments, Perrin would have known only Sander Westerveld's outstanding first-minute save ensured there was nothing more major for him to complain about.

The Portsmouth defence was static when Kiki Musampa curled over a free-kick, allowing Cole to make clean contact with a hooked shot which would have gone in had Westerveld not instinctively stuck out an arm and pushed it skywards.

The incident proved to be the start of a Pompey rearguard action that lasted fully half an hour. Yet, other than regular long-range efforts from Joey Barton and Claudio Reyna, the pressure brought City nothing in the way of clear cut chances.

In fact, Pompey defender Brian Priske came closest to putting the hosts ahead when he met Danny Mills' long throw-in with a diving header that flashed just wide of his own goal.

City's only other decent chance before the interval fell to Darius Vassell, who slammed a shot into the side-netting after he had skipped past Priske inside the area.

By that time, Portsmouth were at least showing the same degree of desire as their manager.

They might have had a goal too when Robert darted down the left and drilled in a low cross which evaded LuaLua's lunge by inches.

Still, City hardly deserved to fall behind, which they did when John Viafara shrugged off Barton and glanced Robert's free-kick beyond David James. It was exactly the kind of sucker punch Pearce thought he had taught his troops to avoid, so clearly the former England skipper is not infallible. But the response was typical of the man who never for a minute thought a cause was lost during his own playing career.

After his earlier heroics, Westerveld was unfortunate to be cast in the role of villain. But, awkward as it was to collect Barton's low cross after it had whizzed past Cole's head, the Dutchman should have done so.

Instead, he merely lobbed it out to Reyna, who gleefully hooked it into the net.

Portsmouth had not cleared their heads by the time Cole struck.

When his career is finally over, the veteran striker may still mostly be remembered for his deeds down the road at Old Tra££ord and at Newcastle.

But the City fans hopefully will have reason to fondly recall his efforts as well.

Unlike other notable veterans who have wound their days down at the COMSTAD without making so much as a mark on the club's fortunes, Cole's impact has been instant.

The first touch which saw him bring down Trevor Sinclair's cross was pure quality. Cole then used his experience to delay the shot for a brief moment before unleashing the shot which flicked off Andy O'Brien and nestled in the bottom corner of Westerveld's net.

City would have had another had Vassell chose conclusively whether to shoot or cross when Sinclair found him eight yards out.

Instead, the former Villa man picked neither, his floated ball evading the far post and Cole's outstretched leg. A minor blemish on an otherwise familiarly fine afternoon for Pearce and his men.


Teams

Man City James, Mills (Jihai 45), Dunne, Onuoha, Thatcher, Sinclair, Barton, Reyna, Musampa, Cole, Vassell.

Subs Not Used: Sibierski, De Vlieger, Jordan, Wright-Phillips.

Booked: Sinclair.

Goals: Reyna 66, Cole 69.

Portsmouth Westerveld, O'Brien, Stefanovic, Priske, Griffin (Skopelitis 85), Viafara (Taylor 76), Hughes, Vignal, O'Neil (Karadas 76), LuaLua, Robert.

Subs Not Used: Todorov, Ashdown.

Booked: Viafara, Hughes.

Goals: Viafara 52.

Att: 41,022

Ref: A Wiley (Staffordshire).
 

Sunderland 1 Manchester City 2      Blues are top of the table    
24th August 2005 : Bill Lancaster for Get Your Kits Out at the other Stadium of Light


Barclays Premiership new boys Sunderland were taught another sobering lesson about the quality of finishing in the top flight as Manchester City extended their unbeaten run under Stuart Pearce to 11 games.

Superb first-half strikes from England internationals Darius Vassell (pictured left with Musampa) and Trevor Sinclair piled on the agony for Mick McCarthy's men, who have now suffered 18 successive Premiership defeats and are yet to register their first point of the season.

Had on-loan Liverpool striker Anthony Le Tallec made the most of two first-half opportunities, the result might have been very different.

The Frenchman did reduce the deficit with a 41st-minute header to spark a concerted fight back but the Black Cats were denied what would have been a well-earned draw.

The result may have been tough on McCarthy's men, who recovered from a sloppy start to make a real game of it in front of 33,357 fans, but that will be of little concern to Pearce, who has now presided over his club's longest unbeaten run in the top flight since 1977.

McCarthy had sent out his side under orders not to concede free-kicks in dangerous positions after being stung by Charlton's Danny Murphy and Liverpool's Xabi Alonso in their opening two games.

However, it was expert finishing of a different kind which proved their downfall before the break.

Former Newcastle striker Andy Cole (pictured right) had already squandered a golden opportunity to open the scoring when he burst between Alan Stubbs and Gary Breen and stabbed a third-minute shot straight at keeper Kelvin Davis, when sidekick Vassell missed a similar chance.

Claudio Reyna, one of the high-profile names sold by McCarthy after his arrival on Wearside in March 2003, fed Joey Barton and when he once again split the home defence, Vassell expertly guided the ball past Davis.

To their credit, Sunderland rallied and should have been back in the game on 22 minutes when Le Tallec burst clear to collect Andy Welsh's ball over the top - the winger had been cleared to play just hours before kick-off after having his red card at Liverpool on Saturday rescinded - but could not beat David James.

The Frenchman wasted another opportunity two minutes later when he timed his run to perfection to meet Dean Whitehead's cross but instead of side-footing it home, he dived to scuff a header wide.

Le Tallec's misses were to prove costly 10 minutes before the break when, after exchanging passes with Cole and with the help of at least one kind deflection, Sinclair curled a superb shot past Davis' outstretched right hand.

However, Le Tallec made amends on 41 minutes when he rose along with Richard Dunne to challenge for a Whitehead corner and the ball flew into the net.

Jon Stead, a £1.8million signing from Blackburn, arrived as a half-time replacement for Andy Gray, but it was Le Tallec to whom the chances continued to fall, the Frenchman heading over from Elliott's 48th-minute cross after the Republic of Ireland international had escaped from Ben Thatcher down the Sunderland right.

But as the home side pushed forward in the search for an equaliser, City exploited the space they left behind and created three chances in quick succession.

Sinclair blazed over wastefully from distance and Cole was unable to make the most of a neat turn inside the box, but it took a fine save from Davis to deny the former Manchester United man on 51 minutes.

Winger Sinclair again found space down the right and used it well to pick out the striker at the near post, but his side-footed shot was well-anticipated by the keeper, who dived to his left to turn it away.

Elliott failed to make a meaningful connection with a volleyed attempt on 61 minutes after City had made a mess of clearing a Whitehead corner, and although Dunne did much better at the other end when presented with a similar chance three minutes later, his effort flew over.

Welsh saw a 65th-minute free-kick tipped away by James and the keeper just got to Julio Arca's low cross ahead of Stead as the home side enjoyed their best spell of the game.

They went agonisingly close on 71 minutes when Stead found Le Tallec wide on the left and his cross was headed just wide by Whitehead with James completely wrong-footed.

McCarthy replaced Le Tallec with midfielder Liam Lawrence with seven minutes remaining, but although Sunderland threw everything they had at the visitors, it was simply not enough to earn them any reward.

Get Your Kits Out Verdict : Well pleased with the result but have to agree with Psycho in that we could easily have been on the receiving end of another embarrassing defeat, but we wern't....  well done lads


Teams:

Sunderland Davis, Nosworthy, Stubbs, Breen, Arca, Whitehead, Miller, Welsh, Elliott, Gray (Stead 45), Le Tallec (Lawrence 82).

Subs Not Used: Robinson, Caldwell, Joe Murphy.

Booked: Stead.

Goals: Le Tallec 41.

Man City James, Mills, Dunne, Jordan (Onuoha 75), Thatcher, Sinclair, Barton, Reyna, Musampa (Jihai 80), Cole, Vassell.

Subs Not Used: De Vlieger, Sibierski, Wright-Phillips.

Booked: Cole, Mills.

Goals: Vassell 10, Sinclair 35.

Att: 33,357

Ref: P Walton (Northamptonshire).
 

Manchester City 0 West Brom 0               Baggies Stalemate Saturday 13th August 2005 : Get Your Kits Out at the COMSTAD Manchester City were left cursing a bizarre decision by referee Chris Foy as tempers boiled over at the end of a drab opening-day Premiership stalemate with West Brom in front of the second lowest attendance for a Premiership game at the COMSTAD. With on-loan Chris Kirkland equal to all City's half chances in a game lacking true quality and West Brom midfielder Zoltan Gera nodding the best opportunity of the entire contest wide just before the interval, the game seemed to be meandering towards a goalless draw until Ronnie Wallwork collapsed in agony five minutes from time. Junichi Inamoto ignored his team-mate's plight and played on. But when he was robbed, Foy blew his whistle to stop the game, just as City were about to break clean through. The decision incensed the Blues camp, in particular Danny Mills, who raced to Foy to express his displeasure. Wallwork immediately jumped to his feet and argued back, launching a 10-man push and shove match which saw both players booked in what proved to be one of the most entertaining moments of an otherwise very disappointing contest. The absence of Richard Dunne, whose foot injury has not yet healed, had left a gaping hole in City's central defence as skipper Sylvain Distin had already been ruled out with a groin problem. In the absence of his first-choice pairing, Blues boss Stuart Pearce turned to Stephen Jordan and David Sommeil (pictured right tussling with Kanu), whose last Premiership start came at Portsmouth in January 2004. Nevertheless, Sommeil made light of his lengthy absence. The Frenchman stood up to the early physical threat of Kevin Campbell and Kanu and also got himself in the way of a couple of Jonathan Greening crosses that threatened danger. Trevor Sinclair, another man not seen in a City shirt for a considerable period of time, also impressed, gliding in off his right-flank at times to provide admirable support to new striker partners Andy Cole and Darius Vassell, who found trying to break through the Baggies defence heavy going. Cole did have one decent chance before the interval but failed to direct a header past Kirkland when Kiki Musampa floated over a left wing cross. Kirkland, the only new face in Bryan Robson's starting line-up, was tested far more seriously by the long-range efforts of Joey Barton and Claudio Reyna, who both went for goal from 20 yards. On each occasion, the Liverpool keeper, who many still believe to be a future England regular, needed to scramble, first to his right, then to the left, but managed to claw the shots round. None of City's opportunities came close to being as clear as the one Gera was presented with 11 minutes from the break. Greening had already threatened danger from his left-wing berth when he floated a cross onto the Hungarian's head barely eight yards from the home goal. Totally unmarked, it should have been a routine finish. Instead, Gera inexplicably nodded wide, holding his head in frustration as he recognised how good the chance was he had just spurned. Campbell's ability to read Kanu's flick-on in the opening minutes of the second period provided the Baggies skipper with an equally clear chance. Yet again though it went begging as Campbell, having run beyond City's defence, could only drill his shot against David James' legs. In a contest fought out with the tenacity both managers exuded in their playing days, there was a light-hearted moment when Stuart Pearce, manically patrolling the touchline in his usual manner, charged into West Brom's technical area attempting to retrieve the ball for a quick City throw. With Robson staring out onto the pitch organising his team, Pearce lost his footing and skidded into his old England team-mate, who thankfully retained the strength to prevent both men hitting the ground in undignified fashion. It was a pity neither side could summon up the guile to go with their undeniable effort. The half a yard of pace age has taken from Cole's legs meant he couldn't run away from the Baggies defence when Thomas Gaardsoe's wayward header landed at his feet. And, after checking inside, the veteran striker's low shot was easily saved by Kirkland. James was almost embarrassed at the other end when Gera's cross drifted towards the top corner, forcing the England keeper to scramble back and claw away. Other than that, the match degenerated into a midfield skirmish in which neither side was prepared to back down. City launched a late rally which might have brought them a goal but Kiki Musampa nodded Reyna's cross wide before Kirkland proved equal to the shot which accompanied Barton's midfield burst. My own personal feeling was one of disappointment after the anticipation of another new season and to be honest the prospect of a win against a team which is expected to struggle. City desperately need a supplier for the ageing "Cole man" but by and by a decent start against a team that beat us at home last season without having a direct shot at goal. Man City: James, Sommeil, Thatcher, Mills, Jordan, Sinclair (Croft 85), Barton, Reyna, Musampa (Sibierski 90), Cole, Vassell (Wright-Phillips 70). Subs Not Used: Onuoha, Jihai. Booked: Vassell, Mills. West Brom: Kirkland, Albrechtsen, Gaardsoe, Clement, Robinson, Greening (Watson 80), Wallwork (Chaplow 90), Inamoto, Gera, Campbell, Kanu (Kamara 60). Subs Not Used: Earnshaw, Kuszczak. Booked: Gaardsoe, Wallwork, Kamara. Att: 42,983 Ref: C Foy (Merseyside).

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