Archive for January 2013

Arsenal v City (League) – Sun 13th Jan [2v0 win]

It’s 37 years since our last win at Arsenal so most fans were most likely pessimistic of the prospect of Arsenal away with YaYa, Aguero and Nasri missing. The funny thing being was that I felt positive, I had been saying all week that I thought that we would win and Dzeko would get the winner!

I arrived in London at 7 in the morning and decided to walk up to the Emirates, I know the area fairly well and remembered that the Drayton Arms opened at 12 and it would show the Rags v Liverpool game.

The talk all week had been about £62 tickets and the fact that City had returned 900 tickets of our allocation, from talking to fans most thought the news would be received negatively but the media seemed to support the stance the club and fans took on the price of tickets. I met friends in the pub and unfortunately United won, that never dampened spirit of the fans as they City fans blasted song after song. My favourite in the pub being “Na Na Nastisic, better than cnut Vidic, plays for City and Serbia” – it’s only fair he has a song as he has been class this season (our best signing by far in the window) – There was debate to start with that he has taken Lescott’s slot after he had such a great season last year but the fans are warming to a classy player at such a young age (certainly looks a better prospect than Savic).

After last year I was concerned about the atmosphere but it’s been the best one this season – atmosphere enhanced by the early sending off and the high spirits of the fans. We belted out “We are the Champions, Champions of England” for the majority of the game and song after song in between including showing our support for Mancini, Milner, Dzeko, Kompany, Nastasic, Zabaleta amongst the many.

As I said it’s the loudest atmosphere this season, only to be marginally better by the Champ16ns match last year at Sold Trafford. The fans continued to sing “£62 pounds and we are still here, 2 sets of fans had banners and the stewards and then police removed these from fans – harsh when we consider we are all meant to have freedom of speech.

Dzeko was rugby tackled for the pen “our first in 3 years away from home btw” but failed to finish after save from his legs and then off the post. City continued to press and Tevez setup Milner with one of those passed sent with the eyes that Ronaldinho was all to famous for, Milner received the ball and whipped it across the keeper and into the back of the net. It made a cracking ping when it hit the post and went in and the City fans went mental. Dzeko then got a tap in from a great assist from Tevez reaching for the ball. Well deserved goal as Dzeko had a cracking performance, holding the ball up well and leading the line with power. Dzeko setup Tevez late on and he should have scored, he opted to go round the keeper but the keeper saved well, I may be wrong but feel if the roles were reversed Dzeko would have hit it sooner and we would have ended up with a 3 goal lead.

Kompany was sent off late on for a tackle where he clearly won the ball. This was later rescinded much to the surprise of City fans on Bluemoon and other City forums. After the match Brian and I were Interviewed by Sky Sports News about the ticket prices. Milner was fantastic and Garcia had is best performance for Man City

The final whistle blew and the linesman whispered to Lescott –“ go see the fans, they paid £62 for this!” – oddly he was banned by the FA for the next set of features. As the remaining Arsenal fans began to exit the City fans echoed loudly – “Sh!t club and you charge too much!” – summed it up perfectly

Well that 24 hours on the bus was certainly worth it as I have now seen City win away at Arsenal, Man United and Chelsea.

1970 European Cup Winners’ Cup Final – Manchester City v Górnik

Manchester City were without winger Mike Summerbee with a leg injury that had troubled him since the League Cup Final the previous month.George Heslop came into the team as a result, though Summerbee was fit enough to be named as a substitute Heslop was given the task of man-marking Włodzimierz Lubański, who The Guardian identified as “an outstanding individual… …whom Malcolm Allison considers to be in the same class as Eusebio.”

Manchester City started strongly, particularly Francis LeeThe Guardian correspondent wrote “Lee, indefatigable and nigh irresistible continually embarrassed the Górnik defence in the early stages”. Lee had the first chance of the match, a close range shot which was saved by Kostka. Manchester City took the lead in the 12th minute. Lee cut in from the left wing, escaping a tackle from Alfred Olek, and struck a fierce shot. Goalkeeper Hubert Kostka parried the ball, only for it to land at the feet of Neil Young for a simple finish. Shortly after City defender Mike Doyle sustained an ankle injury after colliding with Stefan Florenski.] Manchester City played on with ten men for a period as Doyle received treatment from trainer Dave Ewing, but the defender was unable to continue. Substitute Ian Bowyer replaced him. The change prompted an alteration in formation, in which Colin Bell switched to a deeper position. Shortly before half-time, Young won the ball after loose play from Florenski, which put him clear on goal. As Young moved into the penalty area Kostka rushed out of his goal and upended him, leaving the referee no option but to give a penalty. Lee struck the spot-kick with power into the centre of the goal. Kostka’s legs made contact with the ball, but the force of the shot carried it into the net to make it 2-0. Górnik got a goal back midway through the second half, but there were no more goals and the match finished 2-1.

Winning manager Joe Mercer said “the heavy rain in the second half ruined the game” and that he was “quite happy with the performance of our team, although the technical level was rather low in the second half”. Górnik manager Michał Matyas blamed his side’s poor start, saying the “first goal came too early for us and we never recovered from this shock.