Goals: Adebayor 18 for City.
As former City manager, Sven Goran Eriksson, was renowned for saying during his time in charge of England, “First half good, second half not so good”. Regardless, a win is a win, and Adebayor is the new hero of Eastlands, capping off another excellent display with the only goal.
City lined up in a similar 4-4-2 to last week at Blackburn; the only change being Tevez making his competitive debut in place of the unlucky Bellamy. At Blackburn, the Welshman had played in front of Adebayor using his pace to stretch Rovers defence. Today saw a more fluid formation with the interchanging of roles between Tevez, Adebayor, Robinho and Wright-Phillips. With Ireland breaking into the area, and even Barry getting forward at times, there was a myriad of attacking options. The fans were purring approval throughout the first half as chance after chance was created. Adebayor had calmed any nerves with a goal after 18 minutes. Good work from Robinho drew the defenders before he laid the ball off for Barry to cross. A half-clearance saw the ball land at the feet of Tevez who cushioned it first time into the path of Adebayor. A brilliant spin and drilled shot saw the ball fly in at the near post with Hennessey unable to react in time.
Thereafter, chances came and went. Robinho scuffed two shots then hit a cracker from a ridiculous angle which Hennessey just turned round. Tevez planted a header wide when he should have scored. Ireland laid off a Wright-Phillips cross for Adebayor to sting the palms of the Wolves keeper.
Throughout all this Wolves seemed overawed, with a lone striker in a system designed to try and contain City. Allowing this City side to attack is folly, but credit to Mick McCarthy for two half-time substitutions and a switch to 4-4-2, which gave them a lot more purpose going forward.
There was a hint of what was to come just before half-time when Given had to pull off a fingertip save to deny a Jarvis curler that was destined for the top corner.
City’s midfield wilted badly in the second half and Wolves were repeatedly driving through to our penalty area in numbers. As at Blackburn, credit goes to Toure, Dunne and Given in holding firm. Ultimately, a shot from Keogh that cracked against the crossbar was the closest the visitors came to an equaliser.
City continued to create and spurn chances. Ireland was the most culpable when clean through after a one-two with Robinho. Adebayor knocked the ball to far when rounding the keeper and was unable to squeeze in his shot. Bellamy came on for the tired Tevez with the hope of adding a more competitive edge, but it wasn’t to be for the Welshman. Nothing quite went right for him and he added to the missed chances when unable to reach a tantalising cross from Robinho.
Tactically, Hughes was outmanouvred by McCarthy in the second period, leaving it far to late to bring on De Jong to bolster the midfield. Ireland and Wright-Phillips faded badly as the midweek exertions against Barcelona seemed to catch up with the Blues. As a result, there was surely a case for using all three susbstitutes. We were crying out for the tackling of Zabaleta, possibly on the right flank in front of Richards, or Onuoha in place of Richards.
Once again to few crosses were blocked at source, though Bridge did have a good game overall. The arrival of Joleon Lescott will be welcome, but it was conceding the midfield and failing to stop crosses that was the problem here, rather than the centre of defence. Toure impressed once again, particularly when coming across to cover Richards. It brought back memories of Distin covering our left-backs of yester-year, and was a sign of the professionalism the former Arsenal man brings to defensive duties.
Ultimately we rode out stoppage time and greeted the final whistle with a lot more relief than we should have. Despite the concerns at the back, a third clean sheet in the space of a week is not to be sniffed at and Hughes was able to accentuate the positives without to much criticism.
Mark Hughes:
“On chances created, we should have put the game to bed quite early on.
“But some of our play in the first half was outstanding and Adebayor’s play with Tevez was really good. They are quality players and have a mutual respect for what each can produce.
“We stood up to what Wolves threw at us later on and it completes a great week with three games, three wins and three clean sheets.”
Mick McCarthy:
“I don’t think we deserved a point, but we nearly earned one. There’s a big difference between the two. City missed loads of chances while we had chances to get something out of it – and almost did.”
Shay Given:
“When we have teams penned in like that for the back four and the goalkeeper it is about concentration levels.
“That was the case against Wolves. I didn’t have much to do but when I did I had to be in tune. It is all about not getting carried away with the exciting football that we do play and make sure the back door is shut.
“We have momentum on our side and it was important that we followed up the win at Blackburn with another here so we have to be pleased.”
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Blue Days
22 August 2009
Wolves /
Following victories against Blackburn and Barcelona, the Blues will be kicking off their home campaign full of confidence against newly promoted Wolves. With the club encouraging supporters to bring their flags and inflatables, it promises to be a fantastic atmosphere in a sold-out fixture.
Wolves won’t stand a chance, or will they? Regular followers of the Blues will recognise this as having the potential for a classic “Typical City” scenario. Of course, Garry Cook and co. are doing their utmost to banish such phrases from our new look club, but I’m taking nothing for granted just yet.
After picking up their first points with a victory over Wigan, Mick McCarthy’s side will be full of confidence, but short on strikers with Andy Keogh the only one fully fit. New signing Kevin Doyle is likely to be on the bench. This could mean a repeat of the five man midfield deployed against Wigan, which could pose problems for City if Hughes repeats last Saturday’s formation.
Against Blackburn, Hughes surprisingly went with just Barry and Ireland in the centre of midfield, reasoning that Rovers tend to bypass the middle with long balls. McCarthy’s sides tend to try and play good football, so it will be interesting to see which formation Hughes goes with.
It’s also far from clear who will be fit to play. Robinho (ankle), Adebayor (groin), Bridge and Richards all had minor injuries which prevented them being risked against Barcelona. Tevez will be better for his run out at the Nou Camp, but still can’t be considered a certain starter. The complete absence of De Jong on Wednesday night implies the Dutchman may not be fully fit either.
If he is fit, there may be the temptation to play him alongside Barry to combat a five man midfield of Wolves. If this is the case my predicted line up would be:
Given, Richards, Toure, Dunne, Bridge, De Jong, Barry, Ireland, Robinho, Tevez, Adebayor.
(4-2-3-1 formation)
With a lone striker, Tevez rather than Wright-Phillips may play on the right to give the mouthwatering triumverate of Robinho, Adebayor and Tevez.
If Hughes goes 4-4-2, then it’s likely to be the same line-up as last week:
Given, Richards, Toure, Dunne, Bridge, Barry, Ireland, Robinho, Wright-Phillips, Adebayor, Bellamy.
If there’s any doubts about the fitness of Robinho, expect to see Petrov. The Bulgarian looks like he’s chomping at the bit for some first team action.
Mick McCarthy:
“Our system worked very well on Tuesday but this is another game.
“City will play differently, they played 4-4-2 last weekend, so we’ll have another look at the video today and see what we think.”
Mark Hughes:
“Our home form was excellent last year so we want to replicate that and if possible increase the number of wins we had,”
“If we do that, we have made a good start in terms of away form and we could have a really good season.
“Wolves have had a good preparation. They are a big club with big expectations. Early in the season, promoted sides tend to be really strong.”
Prediction: 3-0 to City.
Video:
Mark Hughes press conference
Blue Days
21 August 2009
Wolves /
Given – A brilliant display of goalkeeping with superb judgement and handling. 9
Onuoha – Drifted into the centre a little to much for comfort but redeemed himself with some excellent tackles as Barca failed to get the better of him. 7
Dunne – Another lionheart performance from the captain who thoroughly deserved to lift the Joan Gamper trophy. 8
Toure – Showed he has the quality at this level and won bragging rights with his brother. 7
Zabaleta – The Argentine continues to look a capable deputy at left-back and was once again our toughest tackler. 8
Weiss – A terriffic display from the youngster who conquered some early nerves to take the game to the opposition. 8
Wright-Phillips – Surprisingly given a central midfield role, but did his best for the team. 6
Ireland – A temperature into the 90’s didn’t stop Superman from running all night long. Also managed to pick out some fine passes, none better than the one for Petrov’s goal. 8
Barry – Not quite able to show the composure that we’ve seen thus far, but still nearly sneaked a goal on the stroke of half-time. 7
Petrov – Fabulously taken goal as he continues to stake a claim for a competitive start. 8
Tevez – Lone striker may not be his preferred role, but he had a valuable hour on the pitch and showed glimpses of his talent. 7
Subs:
Ben Haim – The Israeli’s form has been steadily improving and there were some excellent interceptions here when others were starting to tire. 7
Garrido – Fears that his tackling might not be quite up to the Messi challenge proved unfounded as the Spaniard slotted in admirably on a return to home soil.
Trippier – What an experience for the captain of last year’s youth side! 6
Etuhu – The direct running of Kelvin gave the defence a welcome respite. 6
Bellamy – Inches away from a second goal with the last kick of the game. Would we have seen a repeat of the famed golf club goal celebration? 6
Man of the match: For being the best youngster on the pitch according to Mark Hughes, I’d nominate Weiss.
Goals: Petrov 27 for City.
Richard Dunne lifted a trophy(!) as City triumphed in front of 94,000 Catalonians thanks to Martin Petrov and a sterling defensive display. Mark Hughes will have been delighted to have come through a fixture, which many deemed unnecessary, unscathed and with confidence boosted for the campaign ahead.
Fears over players getting crocked were allayed as we remembered Barcelona are the antithisis of cloggers. There wasn’t a tackle in the match to concern the City physio, even if Zabaleta did take exception to one hefty challenge.
Huhges made five changes from Saturday’s starting eleven with Robinho, Adebayor, Bridge and Richards all missing while Bellamy came on in the second half. Surprisingly, Nigel De Jong was on the bench in his civvies, which implied he may not have been fully fit.
The back four lined up with Dunne (left side) and Toure (right side) at centre back, while Onuoha and Zabaleta were both away from their preferred positions at right-back and left-back respectively.
With Weiss and Petrov on the flanks, Wright-Phillips was another out of his favoured position, playing in the middle with Barry and Ireland.
Carlos Tevez started as a lone front man and showed some good touches in a difficult role where he was often isolated and didn’t see a great deal of the ball.
City started sluggishly and barely got a touch. Yaya Toure was dominating midfield and if he ever wants to swap Barcelona for playing alongside his brother I don’t think Mark Hughes would be complaining.
Barca are able to dominate thanks to their slick passing and a focus on pressing the opposition in their own half. There’s always the chance that if you get past this, there can be space to exploit in the their half. That’s the theory; putting it into practice is somewhat harder as Manchester United found out, but after 27 minutes City did just this. A couple of passes saw the ball reach Ireland in the centre circle and he pierced the Barcelona back line with a perfectly weighted through ball. Petrov was away and slotted coolly past the Pinto in the Barca goal.
1-0 to City and Puyol departed soon afterwards, shaking his mane with disbelief. The goal knocked Barca from their rhythm while City were lifted and the remainder of the first half was a more even contest. Young Weiss in particular looked to have shaken off some early nerves and was proving a real handful.
At half-time Barca brought on Ibrahimovic and Messi, while we introduced Ben Haim for Toure. Incredibly the Barca star pair disappointed, despite both going close to scoring, while Ben Haim exceeded expectations. The Israeli made some excellent interceptions and showed good positional awareness, particularly in the latter stages when the heat was taking it’s toll on some of his colleagues.
If this was intended as an exercise in improving our defending of corners, then it was a resounding success. Shay Given and co came through with flying colours after facing what appeared to be a constant stream of balls into the box. Admittedly, this was one area where Barcelona could have learnt a thing or two from Stoke or “set piece” Sam Allardyce.
Given was fantastic throughout, giving a masterclass in judgement and decision making. The woodwork also came to City’s rescue on two occasions, with the seond resulting from a stunning strike by Messi in stoppage time. City immediately went down the other end and Bellamy nearly reprised his goalscoring exploits on this ground for Liverpool, with a shot that fizzed just wide of the post.
The referee, who had seemingly been waiting for Barcelona to equalise, then decided enough was enough and the Blues had secured a victory over the European champions. The watching Khaldoon Al Mubarak must have been delighted. City’s supporters certainly were, and the grin on Richard Dunne’s face when he went to lift the trophy showed what the players thought of it all.
Mark Hughes:
“We are a young team, we are developing as a team and the opportunity to come to the European champions, compete with them, was vitally important.
“I wanted them to enjoy the experience and that’s why I gave most players the opportunities; for the young players, the opportunity of playing at the Nou Camp was a great experience for us.
“Barcelona have great depth, great young talent, but I thought Vladimir Weiss was the best young player out there tonight.”
Pep Guardiola:
“City are a team with big stars and we knew it would be difficult.
“They scored a goal and almost scored another at the end, but we had our chances too and it was a good match.”
Two away wins on the bounce, now if we can just sort out the home form…
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