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Chelsea 2-0 Man City
Depleted City lose again
Saturday 25th March 2006 : Martin Collins for Get Your Kits Out at Stamford Bridge Two goals in three first-half minutes from Didier Drogba were enough for Chelsea to post a comfortable victory over depleted Manchester City. Drogba took his season's tally to 13 after he latched onto a throughball from Eidur Gudjohnsen. He fired home a second from six yards, despite complaints from City defenders he brought the ball down with his arm. City skipper Sylvain Distin continued his arguments at half-time and was sent off for a second 
booking. Travelling to the home of the champions without 10 regular first-team players was always going to be a tough proposition for Stuart Pearce's side. But they contributed to their own downfall when Distin, one of their most experienced hands in a youthful side, hardly showed the best example by getting himself sent off. He may have been justified in voicing his dissatisfaction after Drogba appeared to handle in controlling the ball before firing home his side. But there was little excuse for continuing his discussion with referee Rob Styles after the half-time whistle (pictured above). There was little doubt Chelsea were two goals better than City in the first half. The only surprise was that it took them half an hour to break the deadlock. Gudjohnsen and Drogba had both missed good chances before the pair combined for the opener. Gudjohnsen slipped the ball through to the Ivory Coast striker and, after twisting past David Sommeil, David James was left with no chance as he fired home from 12 yards. Before City had time to regroup and adjust the five-in-midfield system that had held the champions at bay, the home side netted a second. James had pulled off a good save from John Terry's header but City were still unable to clear. The ball eventually fell to Drogba who, after appearing to control it with his arm, fired home from six yards. The anticipated second-half capitulation did not materialise. Chelsea were somewhat guilty of trying to walk the ball into the net, although James did make a good save from Joe Cole as the Blues swarmed forward. City certainly showed plenty of plucky spirit, in keeping with their manager's famous characteristics but, with the job completed by Drogba's two goals, there was no need for Chelsea to stretch themselves. Danny Mills came closest to cutting the margin when his long-range free-kick hit the post. There was almost a fairytale finish for Shaun Wright-Phillips, after he fired across the face of goal after coming on as a substitute against his former club. But that would have been mere decoration. The collection of three points had been pretty comfortable. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chelsea: Cech, Paulo Ferreira, Ricardo Carvalho, Terry, Del Horno, Joe Cole (Wright-Phillips 72), Lampard, Makelele, Gudjohnsen (Crespo 57), Duff (Essien 53), Drogba. Subs Not Used: Cudicini, Huth. Booked: Joe Cole. Goals: Drogba 30, 33. Man City: James, Sommeil (Riera 45), Danny Mills (Matthew Mills 84), Distin, Dunne, Thatcher, Flood, Ireland (Croft 73), Richards, Musampa, Vassell. Subs Not Used: Weaver, Wright-Phillips. Sent Off: Distin (45). Booked: Danny Mills, Distin, Musampa. Att: 42,321 Ref: R Styles (Hampshire).
Man City 1-2 West Ham
Patched up City Hammered
Monday 20th March 2006 : Get Your Kits Out at the COMSTAD Dean Ashton scored twice to lead West Ham into the semi-finals of the FA Cup at the expense of 10-man Manchester City at Eastlands. Ashton opened his account in the first half when he lashed home past keeper David James from 
inside the area. City's Sun Jihai saw red after he was deemed to have swung an arm at Matthew Etherington, before Ashton added his second from close range. Kiki Musampa scored a great volley late on, but it was too little too late. A depleted City, without the likes of Georgios Samaras, Trevor Sinclair, Claudio Reyna, Andy Cole and Antoine Sibierski, created the best opportunities in the first half prior to West Ham's goal. Musampa almost got Stuart Pearce's men off to the perfect start in the first minute, but his low shot from outside the area was palmed away by Shaka Hislop low down to his left. The Dutchman had a better opportunity to open his account for the season later in the half, but elected to smash his shot over the bar after the Hammers defence parted like Moses' Red Sea. City's Bradley Wright-Phillips, chosen to play up front with Darius Vassell, also created a half chance but his good run was followed by a tame shot. Pearce's injury problems were made worse midway through the half when defender Stephen Jordan limped off with an ankle injury to be replaced by David Sommeil. While City reorganised, West Ham crept back into the game and four minutes before the break they took the lead with their first clear effort on goal. Ashton exchanged passes with the impressive Etherington before picking up a flick from Nigel Reo-Coker. Momentum took him into the area, where he twisted Sylvain Distin inside out before unleashing a vicious shot past David James. City were close to levelling seconds before the interval, but Sun Jihai's overhead was comfortably cleared off the line by Paul Konchesky. Shortly after the resumption, Sun Jihai's night out at Eastlands came to a premature end when he was adjudged to have swung an arm at Etherington. Referee Howard Webb had no hesitation in showing the China international the red card. Ashton then added his second in bizarre circumstances. Hammers defender Christian Dailly went to ground with an injury near the touchline, but both teams chose to play on instead of kicking the ball out to allow the Scottish player to receive treatment. Musampa was then dispossessed by Reo-Coker who found Yossi Benayoun. The Israel star's ball found the feet of Ashton, who converted from close range. City pressed on despite their two-goal deficit and being a man down, and got some reward when Musampa struck a stunning volley from the edge of the area to set up a nervous last five minutes. But West Ham held on for a place in the last four of the FA Cup.
Get Your Kits Out Verdict : This game was probably
out of reach on Saturday when SP chose to play Samaras who
aggravated his injury. With Bradley Wright Phillips clearly not
ready for for the rigours of top class football and Darius
Vassell playing with an injury it was too much to ask of the
lads although to be fair they gave it their best shot. Just
another year of nearly but not quite, that's what it's all about
being a City fan I suppose.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Man City: James, Richards, Dunne, Distin, Jordan (Sommeil 24), Jihai, Barton (Ireland 79), Musampa, Riera, Vassell, Wright-Phillips (Croft 73). Subs Not Used: Weaver, Miller. Sent Off: Jihai (56). Booked: Riera. Goals: Musampa 85. West Ham: Hislop, Dailly (Scaloni 70), Gabbidon, Collins, Konchesky, Benayoun, Mullins, Reo-Coker (Fletcher 82), Etherington, Ashton (Zamora 89), Harewood. Subs Not Used: Walker, Sheringham. Booked: Reo-Coker. Goals: Ashton 41, 69. Att: 39,357 Ref: H Webb (S Yorkshire).
Man City 0-1 Wigan
Saturday 18th March 2006 : Keith Darracot at the COMSTAD for get Your Kits Out Lee McCulloch's bullet header gave Wigan the points with Manchester City clearly looking towards Monday's FA Cup quarter-final against West Ham. City boss Stuart Pearce made eight changes from the team that beat Aston Villa in the fifth round on Tuesday. David James continued in goal, but made a hash of a back-pass to concede the corner that 
McCulloch headed home. City offered little going forward and have an injury concern over Georgiou Samaras, who limped off on the hour. The Greek striker had started on the bench but lasted only half an hour before being forced off with an ankle injury, and is now a doubt to face the Hammers. With that game in mind, Pearce fielded a completely new back four and front two, with only James, Sun Jihai and Trevor Sinclair remaining from the team that beat Aston Villa on Tuesday. We were unlucky but I'm optimistic about these players coming through In contrast Wigan were unchanged from last week's win over Sunderland - their first in eight games - and they made the brighter start against a City team looking for their eighth straight home win. The Latics created the first clear chance on 13 minutes when Sylvain Distin failed to deal with a spinning ball and Henri Camara ran on before blasting his shot over the bar. City almost took the lead in bizarre circumstances soon after when Wigan keeper John Filan threw the ball against Distin's head and the ball cannoned on to the bar. However referee Martin Atkinson gave the Latics a free-kick for hand-ball in any case. That was as good as it got for City in front of goal but Wigan were soon threatening again. With Camara lurking, Distin opted to poke the ball away from James on the edge of the area. It fell invitingly for Gary Teale but James got back to save his shot. The England goalkeeper has been in consistent form for City this season but it was his error that led to Wigan taking the lead after half-time. James miscued two successive backpasses with the second bouncing out for a corner, from which Jimmy Bullard crossed for McCulloch to power his header into the top corner. Another backpass by Ben Thatcher put James in trouble again soon after, but this time he cleared with Jason Roberts closing in fast. City belatedly pushed forward in search of an equaliser but they were as unconvincing going forward as they were uncoordinated at the back. They only managed one chance of note when Stephen Ireland sent Sinclair clear late on - but he did not get enough power behind his shot to trouble Filan. Roberts should have added a second for Wigan in injury time after David Sommeil's slip and, although James was at his best to push the ball wide, it did not make up for his earlier mistake. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Man City: James, Danny Mills, Sommeil, Distin, Thatcher, Sinclair, Reyna (Croft 66), Ireland, Jihai, Sibierski (Samaras 27), Wright-Phillips, Samaras (Miller 61). Subs Not Used: Weaver, Richards. Booked: Wright-Phillips, Danny Mills. Wigan: Filan, Chimbonda, De Zeeuw, Scharner, Baines, Teale, Kavanagh, Bullard, McCulloch, Camara (Johansson 85), Roberts. Subs Not Used: Walsh, Jackson, Mahon, Ziegler. Goals: McCulloch 55. Att: 42,444 Ref: M Atkinson (W Yorkshire).
Man City 2-1 Aston Villa
Goals from Georgios Samaras and Darius Vassell swept Manchester City into the FA Cup quarter-  finals
and a tie against either Bolton Wanderers or West Ham. Samaras single-handedly unravelled the Villa defence on 17 minutes, scoring at the second attempt to put City ahead. Ex-Villa forward Vassell picked up the striking baton for City on 48 minutes, turning the ball home after a scramble. With five minutes left, Steve Davis' well-worked goal set up a tense finale, but it proved too little, too late. City had forced a replay with a stoppage-time goal from Micah Richards, but their defence proved more adept at closing out a game than Villa's had back in February. And Samaras showed that if he is capable of taking goals - he has now scored four since joining City for £6m in the January transfer window - he is equally capable of making them as well. When he picked up the ball wide on the wing, there appeared little danger to the Villa defence. But he cleverly flicked the ball past Olof Mellberg and raced into the Villa penalty area before getting in a shot that Sorensen was unable to hold. The ball rebounded to the Greek, who rattled the ball into the net before wheeling away to celebrate. Soon after breaking the deadlock, Samaras was the victim of an ugly challenge from Liam Ridgewell, who raked his studs down the striker's back. Having survived that challenge, Samaras was withdrawn at the interval after coming off the worst  following a tackle from
Gareth Barry. While City's attack prospered, Villa's frontmen struggled to get out of first gear. The visitors had suffered a blow just before the kick-off when Patrik Berger, who had been planning to return for this game after a five-month absence, had to pull out after damaging his Achilles in the warm-up. Villa's other Czech, Milan Baros, might have given David O'Leary's an early lead, but the former Liverpool striker was too slow to shoot after David James' had been left stranded following a rash dash out of his area. Baros eventually went off injured five minutes before the break after he fell heavily following Richards' crunching tackle. City extended their lead three minutes into the second-half after Villa failed to clear a corner. When Albert Riera fired a shot into packed penalty area, Vassell, who scored twice against his former club in October, was on hand at the far post to turn the ball home. Villa struggled to test James throughout most of the second half, but Davis fired a shot past the goalkeeper with five minutes left setting City up for their traditional backs to the wall panic attack. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Man City: James, Jihai, Dunne, Richards, Jordan, Sinclair, Barton, Musampa, Riera, Samaras (Sibierski 45), Vassell (Wright-Phillips 89). Subs Not Used: Weaver, Sommeil, Reyna. Booked: Samaras, Riera, Musampa. Goals: Samaras 17, Vassell 49. Aston Villa: Sorensen, Hughes, Mellberg, Ridgewell, Bouma, McCann, Davis, Barry, Baros (Gardner 40), Phillips, Moore. Subs Not Used: Taylor, Samuel, Whittingham. Booked: Gardner, Mellberg, McCann. Goals: Davis 85. Att: 33,006. Ref: P Dowd (Staffordshire).
Portsmouth 2 Manchester City 1 Europe -
I don't think so!
Saturday 11th March 2006: Bill Pearce for GYKO at Fratton Park A stunning Pedro Mendes double handed struggling Portsmouth a priceless last-gasp win against 
Manchester City at Fratton Park.On two occasions in the second half City failed to clear a corner properly and both times the Portuguese midfielder lashed home a right-foot shot from outside the area. Pompey had seemingly lost two points when Richard Dunne cancelled out Mendes' first strike with eight minutes to go but Harry Redknapp's side kept the pressure on and got their reward in injury time. Pompey skipper Gary O'Neil took his place in midfield after passing a fitness test on a damaged ankle and Brian Priske was included in defence. O'Neil had a glorious opportunity to put his side ahead in the 16th minute. Benjani Mwaruwari lost possession carelessly when Kiki Musampa poked the ball away, but the Dutch midfielder only succeeded in playing it through to Lomana LuaLua. The striker raced down the right and whipped in a pinpoint cross, only for the on-rushing O'Neil to take his eye off the ball and head wide from less than six yards. Pompey playmaker Andres D'Alessandro continued to roam on the periphery of the final third without any real cutting edge. City defender Dunne was quick off the mark in the 34th minute to prevent O'Neil making amends for his earlier miss. O'Neil was played in after alert work by Priske but before he had chance to shape up for the shot, Dunne slid in to clear the danger at the expense of a corner. Mendes hit a speculative 35-yard shot sweetly in the 39th minute but David James got down well to collect. James' good work was nearly undone a minute later, though. He failed to deal with Sean Davis' deep, swirling cross and the ball bounced kindly for Benjani, who could only fire over after getting it under control. Trevor Sinclair, who had been City's main creative source in the first half, did not reappear after the break as injury forced him to make way for Lee Croft. Early in the half James was quick to react to palm away Matthew Taylor's teasing cross from the left with Davis lurking at the back post. Portsmouth went to the wings in their search for an opener as Taylor and then LuaLua centred from wide, though James and his defence stood firm. At the other end Georgios Samaras headed over in the 52nd minute after Joey Barton found space to cross on the right. Benjani carved out an opportunity at the other end and shot from outside the penalty area as the City defence backed off, but failed to test James. But Mendes' third speculative effort finally came off as Pompey got the goal they deserved in the 59th minute. The Portuguese midfielder loitered outside the box as D'Alessandro took a corner and when the defence only partially cleared the ball, Mendes struck it perfectly as it bounced up for him to leave James flat-footed. Benjani made way for Svetoslav Todorov in the 62nd minute as Redknapp looked to add more structure to the forward line. Stuart Pearce sent striker Bradley Wright-Phillips on for Claudio Reyna after 68 minutes in an attempt to create some spark up front. LuaLua forced a save out of James with a well-struck free-kick in the 78th minute which the England goalkeeper eventually held. And Dunne looked to have saved a point for City with help from Micah Richards and Samaras with eight minutes left to play. Barton's corner was headed goalwards by defender Richards and after Samaras got his head to the ball to help it on, Dunne was quickest to react in the six-yard box to head it past Dean Keily. James saved well in the 87th minute after Todorov made his way into the box and fired a shot in from the right as the home side looked for a late winner. And Portsmouth's continued pressure paid off when Mendes rifled home the winner nearly three minutes into injury time to send Fratton Park into raptures. Teams Portsmouth Kiely, Priske, Primus, O'Brien, Taylor, O'Neil,Pedro Mendes, Davis (Routledge 88), D'Alessandro, LuaLua,Mwaruwari (Todorov 63). Subs Not Used: Ashdown, Karadas, Koroman. Goals: Pedro Mendes 60, 90. Man City James, Jihai, Dunne, Richards, Jordan (Ireland 75),Sinclair (Croft 45), Reyna (Wright-Phillips 69), Barton,Musampa, Vassell, Samaras. Subs Not Used: Weaver, Thatcher. Goals: Dunne 83. Att: 19,556 Ref: M Halsey (Lancashire).
Manchester City 2 Sunderland 1
Samaras in Wunderland
Sun 5th March 2006 : Get Your Kits Out at the COMSTAD Georgios Samaras completed the best week of his life to shove sorry Sunderland even closer to 
the Premiership trap door.After scoring twice in as many days on his international bow with Greece in midweek, Samaras followed up by blasting home the first half double that condemned the unlucky Black Cats to their 22nd defeat of a disastrous campaign. Although the visitors scrapped valiantly and dragged themselves back into the contest through Kevin Kyle, they could not find an equaliser and their misery was compounded late on when skipper Gary Breen was sent off for two bookable offences. The win keeps alive City's outside hopes of a top six place and confirmed why Stuart Pearce was willing to splash out virtually his entire transfer budget on Samaras. But the £6million outlay is already looking like a wise investment, particularly as the 20-year-old has so much obvious improvement in him and he was already much too good for Sunderland. It has been obvious for quite some time now the Wearsiders are simply not good enough to operate at this level, yet sometimes they are capable of errors in judgement which come as a surprise despite their present disastrous plight. If a Sunday morning park player had suffered the kind of brainstorm experienced by Black Cats defender Danny Collins just nine minutes into the contest, he would still have been hearing about it the following week. As it was, McCarthy stood in his technical area totally speechless as Collins collected an admittedly ill-advised short pass from keeper Kelvin Davis then, instead of simply belting it upfield, took one unconvincing touch before attempting to skip past Samaras, who had quickly closed down his space. Stuart Pearce knows he still has a number of rough edges to smooth of the man he dubs his "uncut diamond" - how to use his strength is not one of them. Samaras quickly shrugged Collins off the ball, then beat Davis with a ferocious low, angled drive. McCarthy was still trying to take in the calamity when Samaras struck again. Once again, the Sunderland defence was badly exposed as old boy Claudio Reyna - returning for the first time since Boxing Day - floated an excellent pass down the right flank that sent Trevor Sinclair flying down the wing completely unattended. George McCartney eventually got back but allowed Sinclair to step inside far too easily, allowing the former England man enough room to pick out Samaras, whose low volley rocketed into the bottom corner. It should have been the start of a rout as Samaras' strength, allied to the pace of Darius Vassell and Albert Riera, threatened carnage around the Sunderland box.  To
their credit though, the visitors tenaciously kept themselves in
the game and were rewarded with Kyle's first goal of the
campaign midway through the half.Samaras was again involved but not in the way he would have wanted as he completely lost Breen when Julio Arca floated a free-kick deep into the City box. Breen had time to drift a header back across goal, which would probably have gone in anyway had Kyle not bundled home from barely half a yard. From that point on, a worrying degree of anxiety spread through City's game which was not helped by some poor passing which continually eased the pressure on Sunderland, who became increasingly confident. Had either Samaras or Vassell been able to take one of the decent chances that came City's way not long after the interval, the nervous moments which followed would have been avoided. Instead, Davis made a couple of saves and Sunderland forged ahead with their comeback bid. Had Dean Whitehead been alive to Nyron Nosworthy's excellent dart to the by-line, the Wearsiders would surely have drawn level too. But the midfielder was caught on his heels when Nosworthy cut the ball back and it just bounced off his legs and wide of David James' goal. Whitehead came far closer six minutes from time when he was picked out by Arca, only for James to collect his goalbound effort. It proved to be the pivotal moment too as in his desperation to stop James launching an immediate 
counter, Breen stuck out both arms to block the keeper's throw.Already booked, Breen knew a red card was inevitable and as he trudged unhappily to the touchline, with him went Sunderland's hopes of snatching a draw.
Get Your Kits Out Verdict - 15 minutes entertainment for
£30 + I'm sick of hearing that the three points are all that
counts. I would like to see 90 minutes of football that I can
enjoy. If I wanted to be guaranteed three points for every game
however boring it may be, I'd go and watch Chelsea. This was a
game that ensured we stayed sat down for the bulk of the game,
maybe that's what it's all about at the end of the day.
Man City: James, Richards, Dunne, Distin, Jordan, Sinclair, Reyna (Ireland 81), Musampa, Riera (Jihai 60), Vassell (Wright-Phillips 68), Samaras. Subs Not Used: Weaver, Croft. Booked: Riera. Goals: Samaras 9, 10. Sunderland: Davis, Nosworthy, Collins, Breen, McCartney, Delap (Lawrence 61), Whitehead, Leadbitter, Arca, Elliott (Le Tallec 82), Kyle (Stead 82). Subs Not Used: Caldwell, Joe Murphy. Sent Off: Breen (85). Booked: Whitehead, Breen, Delap. Goal: Kyle 25. Att: 42,200 Ref: C Foy (Merseyside). |