Tag Archive for Balotelli

City v Dortmund (UEFA CL) – Wed 3 Oct [1v1 draw]

October 7, 2012 admin Matches No comments

Unbelievable how good the Dortmund fans were, must have been several thousand in our end! They never stopped the entire match, bouncing clapping, drumming and singing in a sea of yellow. Noisiest fans I have seen at Etihad.

Hat off to them! It’s going to be very difficult if we need to get something in Dortmund to go through

We were outplayed by the team and the fans but a heroic performance from Hart meant we picked up a point with a late Balotelli penalty.

Dortmund fans walking to match

Dortmund fans heading to match

Dortmund Fans rocking at the Etihad

Unbelieveable how good the Dortmund fans were, must have been several thousand in our end! They never stopped the entire match, bouncing clapping, drumming and singing in a sea of yellow. Noisiest fans I have seen at Etihad. Hat off to them! It’s going to be very difficult if we need to get something in Dortmund to go through


City v Sunderland (League) 31 March [3v3 draw]

September 16, 2012 admin Matches No comments

City v Bolton (League) 3 March [2v0 win]

September 16, 2012 admin Matches No comments

City v Blackburn (League) 25 February [3v0 win]

September 16, 2012 admin Matches No comments

City v Spurs (League) 22 January [3v2 win]

September 15, 2012 admin Matches No comments

Chelsea v City (League) Mon 12 Dec [2-1 loss]

September 14, 2012 admin Matches No comments

City v Norwich (League) Sat 3 Dec [5-1 win]

September 14, 2012 admin Matches No comments

Fifty weeks have now passed since the Blues last tasted the sharp bitterness of defeat at home – 24 wins, 2 draws and 71 goals scored – and by all sane measures, bar the law of Sod, the Canaries were never going to tarnish that proud achievement.

‘Typical City’ might have given another full house a few flutters but this is ‘Roberto Mancini’s City’ and that’s an entirely different beast to the ever so slightly schizophrenic versions of more recent times.

An instinctive strike from Sergio Aguero in the 32nd minute supplemented by a slightly comical effort from Samir Nasri set the seal on another three points and maintained City’s ferocious pace atop the Barclays Premier League.

The gloss to the result was added by Yaya Toure curling in a fine effort from just inside the box.

Even with Bayern Munich and Champions League D-day looming – Norwich famously know all about beating the Bavarian powerhouses in European competition – Mancini took no chances with his starting line-up.

Joleon Lescott, James Milner, and Mario Balotelli were, however, left on the bench, and Kolo Toure got a rare Premier League start.

On a raw Mancunian afternoon the Blues warmed the cockles of their followers’ hearts with a string of attacking moves that put observers in mind of a sleek, fit, alert cat in the prime of its life toying with a bedraggled mouse that had seen better days.

That is not to disparage in any way Norwich who have done well since arriving in the top flight this season and who play neat, attractive, well-ordered football but rather to emphasise the class of Mancini’s side which moves the ball with a calm, ruthless thoughtfulness that is the envy of many of their peers.

Central to this particular easy-on-the-eye success were Aguero and David Silva whose legs might not have been the quickest on the slick, Etihad Stadium turf but whose combined thought processes and football brains were yards quicker than their foes!

The dynamic duo skittered hither and thither with purpose and panache; a two-man assault team that was unstoppable. Aguero could have had three by half-time.

The Argentinian should have broken the deadlock before quarter time but somehow managed to side foot Nasri’s cross over the bar from seven yards, it was a glaring miss.

No matter, when Micah Richards made one of his trademark darting runs into the box just past the half hour mark, Aguero ignored shouts for handball against Leon Barnett and instead extricated himself from a maze of yellow socked legs and toe poked the matching coloured ball into the bottom corner.

Within three minutes it should have been 2-0 but Aguero this time blazed over the bar from a tight angle after again finding space where there appeared to be none.

Still none of that mattered as the game followed a familiar pattern in the second half with Nasri’s skidding, googly of a free kick fooling John Ruddy for the second and Yaya Toure, as has been his M.O. in recent weeks, side footing home a gem of a third from Silva’s pass.

Their work done Aguero and Silva retired to the side lines leaving Yaya and Gareth Barry to continue an afternoon-long master class in retaining and using possession.

Norwich’s consolation came ten minutes from time from the head of Steve Morison but even then there was time for Mario Balotelli to restore the three-goal margin and then fellow substitute Adam Johnson to roll home a fifth.

City v Newcastle (League) – Sat 19 Nov 2011 [3-1 win]

September 14, 2012 admin Matches No comments

City beat Magpies to extend winning streak

First Supporter Club bus

 

Villareal v City (UEFA CL) – Tue 02 Nov 2011 [0V3 WIN]

September 10, 2012 David.Ramsay Matches No comments

Manchester City moved into second spot in Group A of the Champions League with a comfortable victory at Villarreal.

Roberto Mancini’s side will now qualify for the knockout stages if they win in Napoli in their next game.

Yaya Toure gave City the lead when he slotted in from just inside the area, before Mario Balotelli doubled the advantage from the spot after he was fouled by Mateo Musacchio in the box.

Yaya made it 3-0 when he jinked past Carlos Marchena before firing in.

It was as easy an exercise as the scoreline suggests, with City’s night boosted by Bayern Munich’s 3-2 win against Napoli which means their Champions League fate is in their own hands.

However, it did take the Premier League leaders 30 minutes to work out how to break Villarreal’s stubborn resistance.

The Spanish side are struggling in La Liga but looked unruffled during that opening period. They worked hard as a team to suffocate City’s dangermen of David Silva, Samir Nasri and Balotelli, who tried their utmost to conjure something out of nothing.

The opening goal came from City’s first good chance of the match. Silva finally managed to free himself from the shackles and squeeze a square ball to Yaya who shifted to his right before placing his shot low into the bottom left corner of the Villarreal goal.

The lead was doubled seconds before the break when Musacchio was deemed to have brought down Balotelli in the area. On first viewing, referee Pedro Proenca’s decision seemed rash, but the replay showed that the Argentine defender had nudged the Italian

Balotelli, making his first start in the Champions League for City, slotted in his spot-kick for his seventh goal in seven games.

Villarreal barely put up a fight after the break in a half that was played at the pace of a pre-season friendly.

City themselves rarely threatened, although their best attacking move of the match resulted in the third goal.

It began on the edge of their own area before Nasri passed inside to Balotelli, who in turn found Yaya.

The Ivorian powerhouse showed nimble feet to dance past defender Carlos Marchena and stroke in his shot from eight yards.

United v City (League) – Sat 23 Oct 2011 [1-6 win]

September 10, 2012 David.Ramsay Matches No comments

Manchester United’s 6-1 defeat to Manchester City “the worst in my history” says Sir Alex Ferguson
Sir Alex Ferguson described Manchester United’s 6-1 defeat against Manchester City as an embarrassment and admitted Roberto Mancini’s team subjected him to his worst ever day in management.

Ferguson, who celebrates his 25th anniversary as United manager on Nov 6, witnessed his club’s biggest derby defeat since another 6-1 loss to City in January 1926 just one short of United’s record home defeat, a 7-1 loss to Newcastle in September 1927.

Playing with 10 men following the 47th-minute dismissal of defender Jonny Evans, United on Sunday capitulated in the dying stages as City ran in three late goals. But with City moving five points clear of United with their emphatic victory, Ferguson admitted he had never experienced such a dark day as a manager.


It was our worst ever day, Ferguson said. It’s the worst result in my history, ever. Even as a player I don’t think I ever lost 6-1. I can’t believe the scoreline. The first goal was a blow for sure, but it was retrievable at 1-0.

I’m shattered, I can’t believe it. It was an incredible disappointment, but we will react, no question about that. It’s a perfect result for us to react to because there is a lot of embarrassment in the dressing room and quite rightly so and that will make an impact. You have to recover. The history of Manchester United is ‘another day’ and we will recover.

The humiliation of United’s defeat resulted in the club’s American owners, the Glazer family, being barracked and jostled by home supporters as they travelled from the players’ tunnel to an awaiting helicopter.

Sources in the tunnel reported angry chanting outside as the Glazers left the stadium for their transport to Wembley for the NFL fixture between their Tampa Bay Buccaneers team and the Chicago Bears. Rio Ferdinand, the United defender, cancelled his plan to travel to the game for a guest appearance on the pitch.

With three City goals coming in the final minutes, however, Ferguson insisted that United contributed to their downfall.

The sending off was the killer blow, Ferguson said. After that, we kept attacking. I thought with the experience we’ve got Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra they would have [defended more] but we just kept attacking.

It’s all right playing the history books [United’s reputation for fighting back] but common sense has to come into it. When we went to 3-1, 4-1 we should have settled for that. We kept attacking when we went 4-1 down and we should have just said: ‘We’ve had our day’. They were attacking three versus two. It was crazy football and it was a bad day.

But we’ll come back. By January, we’ll be OK. We usually get the show on the road in the second half of the season and that will have to be the case. Over the years we have always enjoyed a better goal difference than our rivals but after today, we are 10 goals short.

Despite his team’s incredible victory, City manager Mancini played down the significance of the result.

I’m satisfied because we beat United away and I don’t think there are a lot of teams that could win here, he said. But I’m not satisfied for the 6-1 it’s because this is important for our supporters and maybe for the goals in the table. I am happy with the three points.

Against Tottenham we played very well and against Bolton, but this is different because we played against a strong team like United. In the end there are three points, finished, we don’t take six points for this game.

I think the season will be very long and probably four or five teams that can win the title.

This is important for our confidence, it’s important because we showed that we are a good team, but we should appreciate the mentality United had because after 1-0 and the sending off, they continued to play to score. I think that’s a very important mentality.

Mancini, who shared a post-match drink with the United manager, claimed he took no satisfaction from humiliating the Scot.

No, because I have big respect for him, Mancini said. I have big respect for United because we are talking a top manager and a top squad.

I still think United are one yard above us. I think we can only change this after we win the title in the end. After, maybe it will be different, but now United are better than us.

A great day was had at Old Trafford by all the blues and we made it onto TV