Manchester
City’s hopes of qualifying for the next round of the Champions League
suddenly look very slim indeed and a sense of injustice will have
followed them all the way home on Wednesday.
In
a game City coach Manuel Pellegrini had admitted his team really needed
to win here in freezing Moscow, his team were were 2-0 up and cruising
after a perfect first half at the Arena Khimki. Goals arriving from
Sergio Aguero and James Milner, City looked to be in total control.
However
City inexplicably fell off the pace in the second half and came away
with only a point after substitute Seydou Doumbia dragged CSKA back in
to the game in the 65th minute and then Bebras Natcho converted a late
penalty.
Sergio Aguero gives Manchester City the lead on the half-hour mark to put his side ahead against CSKA Moscow
Manchester City frontman Aguero celebrates with strike partner Edin Dzeko having given Manuel Pellegrini's side the lead
James Milner slides in at the back post to double Man City's lead against the Russian side during Tuesday's Group E encounter
Manchester City players gather to
congratulate goalscorer Milner (second left) while CSKA Moscow
goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev looks down
CKSA Moscow striker Seydou Doumbia edges ahead of Pablo Zabaleta to poke the ball home to halve Man City's advantage
Doumbia takes a tumble under the
challenge of Zabaleta in full view of cheering ball boys as CKSA Moscow
find the back of the net
Captain Vincent Kompany is helped to
his feet by City goalkeeper Hart as Doumbia moves to the kick-off spot
with the ball after scoring
Joe Hart dives to his left but is
unable to keep out Bibras Natcho's late penalty after Aleksandar Kolarov
brought down Doumbia in the area
Kolarov was adjudged to have brought down CSKA Moscow frontman Doumbia in the area with just minutes of the game remaining
City will not be happy, though, and with good reason.
Not
only were there as many as 300 CSKA fans inside the stadium for what
should have been a behind closed doors game, the decision by referee
Istvan Vad to penalise Aleksandar Kolarov for a supposed shirt pull on
Ahmed Musa appeared very harsh indeed.
City
captain Vincent Kompany led the protests as the teams left the field at
the end and they seemed justified. All that matters now, though, is
that City have only two points from three Group E games and must in all
likelihood beat CSKA, Bayern Munich and then AS Roma away if they are
not to end another European campaign rather earlier than they would have
wished.
It
was certainly a little grim at kick-off. There was no way UEFA could be
blamed for the game being played behind closed doors. Such is CSKA’s
crime sheet that the governing body had to act at some point.
Nevertheless, these were not the kind of conditions anybody really wishes football to be played in.
There
were some people inside the stadium. Officially the group of 200 or so
fans gathered in the main stand were sponsors and guests. The way they
behaved though – singing and chanting in unison with those outside the
stadium – suggested they were rank and file who had somehow gained
entrance to the ground.
On
the field, City fielded a strong side and that was predictable. This
was a game they really needed to win after disappointing early results.
By half-time City were well on top and led deservedly through Aguero and Milner.
CSKA
had started brightly and did threaten on a couple of occasions. A long
shot from Ahmed Musa had Joe Hart scrambling across goal before former
Manchester United winger Zoran Tosic cut inside to curl a left foot shot
wide with Hart once again in some trouble.
The two sides played out the match in front of an empty stadium after CSKA Moscow's fans were banned for racist chanting
Manchester City right back Pablo
Zabaleta shoots with his left foot as CSKA Moscow defender Aleksei
Berezutski attempts to block the ball
CSKA Moscow midfielder Georgi Milanov grimaces as he loses a boot during the clash against the Premier League champions
Milner jumps over the challenge of Dmitri Efremov as the CSKA Moscow man wins possession back for his side
Yaya Toure's heat map shows the Ivorian covered a huge amount of ground for Man City - CLICK HERE TO SEE MORE
Certainly
there was enough there early on to cause City some concern and twice in
the opening twenty minutes captain Vincent Kompany had to contribute
vital tackles, once to stop Tosic and then to thwart Musa after a heavy
touch from the striker.
Slowly,
though, City took hold of the game and twice they could have taken the
lead before they actually did score as Pablo Zabaleta and Milner
volleyed wide of either post from tight angles after good balls from the
impressive Yaya Toure.
When
City did score, it was a super goal. David Silva split the CSKA defence
with a through ball to Edin Dzeko and the Bosnian waited for Aguero to
arrive to his right before slipping the ball to his partner for his
eleventh goal in as many games this season.
Coming
in the 29th minute, the goal served to settle City down and suck a
little of the life out of the Russian. As such it was no surprise that
City scored again before half-time.
Again
it was another lovely team goal and this time Aguero played his part in
its creation, volleying the ball across goal for Milner to score from a
yard after Zabaleta had headed a Toure diagonal ball down in to his
path.
There
was still time for City to strike the post – Milner again – before the
interval and Pellegrini’s team went in at the break knowing they were
halfway to getting themselves right back in to the group ahead of the
return game in Manchester next month. After that, though, it all went
wrong.
Man City midfielder Fernando, signed from Porto in the summer, makes a forward run as CSKA Moscow frontman Ahmed Musa watches on
Stevan Jovetic, Fernandinho, Bacary
Sagna, Gael Clichy and Jesus Navas attempt to keep warm under blankets
whilst sat on the bench
City left back Kolarov attempts an effort inside the area as CSKA defender Vasili Berezutski looks to block the shot on goal
Midfielder Yaya Toure begins a marauding run from his own half past Natcho as Kompany and substitute Fernando look on
CSKA
– for their part – managed to rediscover a little of their forward
thrust early in the second half and spent 15 minutes inside City’s part
of the field. They couldn’t really find a way to Joe Hart’s goal during
that spell and only really came close when Georgi Schennikov volleyed
over from 25 yards after a knock down from Roman Eremenko.
However,
they were back in the game in the 65th miunute when substitute Seydou
Doumbia scored from close range after a low cross from the right by Musa
that left Hart and Kompany in a heap and the ball in the back of the
net.
It
was a goal that hadn’t looked likely at half-time and in truth it owed
as much to City taking their foot off the gas as it did CSKA’s own
efforts. With a good portion of the game still to go, City suddenly had
work to do.
To
their credit they did raise themselves again and began to play some of
the progressive passing football that had been a feature of their first
half. On two or three occasions with 15 or so minutes to go, the Premier
League champions threatened to break through again even if Pellegrini’s
decision to replace Dzeko with Jesus Navas in the 71st minute had
suggested City would look to hang on to what they had.
It
was, however, to get worse for City. With just five minutes left
Aleksandar Kolarov was penalised for a tug on Musa in the penalty area
and Bebras Natcho stepped up to beat Hart with the penalty.
In truth, it looked a harsh decision but all of a sudden City’s Champions League hopes looked very slim indeed
No comments:
Post a Comment