TrueBlues

Manchester City vs West Ham United (Match Report)

2009-09-28T14:45:00.000-07:00

Manchester City vs West Ham United

Venue: City Of Manchester Stadium
Kick Off: 8PM

Manchester City will look to make it 3 out of 3 home wins tonight, as they face West Ham at Eastland’s.

Manchester City Line-up

Given

Zabaleta Toure© Lescott Bridge

Wright-Phillips Barry De-Jong Petrov

Bellamy Tevez

Manchester City started the game very well with a goal just after 5 minutes through Carlos Tevez. A ball in from Petrov after a run down the left allowed the former Manchester United man to slot the ball into an open net. Tevez then came close again after Petrov played a quick one two of the corner, then the Bulgarian played a ball into midfielder Gareth Barry who played a ball into the Argentine whose shot went just wide Robert Greens right post. Manchester City then continued to dominate, with petrov coming close after Carlos Tevez superbly picked out the Bulgarian whose left footed volley was saved by Robert Green. An equaliser was then scored by Carlton Cole, very much against the run of play. A ball was played in from a West Ham free-kick which was headed out by Jolean Lescott, but the ball only fell to a West Ham shirt on the penalty spot. A shot from Kovac was deflected in by England forward Carlton Cole. After that West Ham managed to get back into the game, and Shay Given was called into action for the third time in the game after a header from Cole was directed into the bottom right corner. But after 32 minutes Martin Petrov put the blues 2-1 up after a brilliant free kick was hit low into the bottom left corner. Jolean Lescott then got away with a mistake inside his own half, which resulted in Scott Parker putting the ball into the net, but the referee had already blown for a Manchester City free-kick. Manchester City then nearly put the blues ahead after a ball from Zabaleta was headed into the corner by Craig Bellamy, but Rob Green was equal to it. Two brilliant corners from Petrov and Bellamy were nearly converted into goals but the half finished 2-1.

Not much had happened in the second half until Carlos Tevez was fouled by Julian Faubert. A brilliant ball in from in-form Craig Bellamy resulted in a well finished header from Carlos Tevez, much to the applause from the City fans, the faithful fans then started singing the chorus of ‘Fergie, sign ‘im up’ for the second time in the game. A corner was given to West Ham much to the displeasure of the fans, after the ball did not appear to hit a City player. A quick corner kick was taken by the Hammers and a strike from Scott Parker was spectacularly palmed over by Shay Given. Brilliant moves from Manchester City promised a goal but it did not happen, a promising attack ended up in a brilliant strike from Gareth Barry being just tipped over by the English Keeper. Debutant Roque Santa Cruz then came on for the last 15 minutes to rapturous applause from the home fans. Martin Petrov should’ve scored in the last 2 minutes, but his effort went just over. Straight after that Barry came off for Michael Johnson, who has been out of the team for 1 year due to injury. 3 minutes were added at the end of the second half but no one could make use of them.

Full time score - 3-1

Man of the Match – Carlos Tevez
My Man of the Match – Craig Bellamy
Attendance – 42745

Under 18's smack 6 past Liverpool

2009-09-26T09:27:00.000-07:00

Under 18's had a brilliant second half this morning, after winning 6-2 against the red side of merseyside.

The blues got of to a terrible start after conceding in the first 28 seconds. Anyone would think that a romp was going to come after that, but city managed to hold out until half time. The second half brought an early sending off for Liverpool. Manchester City took advantage of this and decided to put 3 at the back and they brought on Spanish attacking midfielder Joan Olle to spice the attack up a bit. The spanish man then went on to get 2 before Harry Bunn got 2. After that Liverpool managed to pull one back to make it 4-2 but then the blues struck twice again through John Guidetti and Omar Elabdellaoui.

This left the Under 18's coaching staff in a very happy position for their next game.

Manchester City can confirm that Sheik Mansour has completed a deal

2009-09-26T02:29:00.000-07:00

Manchester City can confirm that Sheik Mansour has completed a deal that involves the last 10% of the club.

The 10% was previously owned by 'Worldwide Investments Limited' and it was revealed that Sheik Mansour took over full control of the club on Wednesday evening. Sheik now owns 100% of Manchester City Football Club.

Man City 2 - 1 Fulham

2009-09-25T15:15:00.000-07:00

There was just one change to the line up with Argentina international Pablo Zabaleta replacing Micah Richards (sore shoulder) at right back.

Experienced boss Roy Hodgson changed his entire first eleven from the one that did duty in the previous Premier League game.
Even so after one the most mundane openings to a game anyone in the City of Manchester Stadium can probably remember he saw his second string shock the Blues by taking a 34th minute lead thanks to a wonderful strike from 20-odd yards by former West Brom man Zoltan Gera.
It took seven minutes for Hughes’ half time words to work their magic and inevitably it was the in-form Craig Bellamy who had a foot in the equaliser picking out Barry at the far post from where the England man made no mistake with a close range header.

With a tight game being taken to extra time to find a winner, nn the end it took another corner, this one from the right delivered by the left boot of Martin Petrov, to undo Fulham. His firmly hit flag kick whistled its way to the back post where the Ivorian saw his name writ large upon the ball and despatched it with powerful aplomb.

Goal Scorers Minute Fulham Goal Scorer Minute

Barry 52 Gera 34

Touré 110

Zabaleta ready for blues challenge

2009-09-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

Pablo Zabaleta, defender for Manchester City has said he is ready to fight for a first team place. The argentine has only play 30 minutes of premier league football this season due to a Micah Richards injury, and started once, against Fulham in the Carling Cup.

He said: "Fulham was a difficult game because the team had just played in the derby and we went into extra time in a physical game against a team who had changed eleven players.
"I was happy to be given an opportunity to show my quality. It's not easy being on the bench, everyone wants to play but it's so difficult - there are so many quality players, you need to work hard every day for your opportunity.
"There are a lot of games. We are fighting for every competition - the Premier League, the FA Cup, the Carling Cup. It's important for us because we need an opportunity to win a competition."
Pablo insists the derby blip at Old Trafford, when City lost 4-3 to a controversial late goal, will have no long-term bearing on the team's challenge to the established top four.
He said: "We'll have had a good rest after Fulham, and West Ham will be a great game to win after the derby result. It's an opportunity for three points to keep us high in the table.
"It's not impossible to finish in the top four, but it's not easy - the Premier League is very combative. We have good quality players, but we need to play very well to be in the top four."

Preview

2009-09-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

Well, so far we have notched a brilliant 12 points out of 15, with a loss to the rags on sunday. We have improved our away form massively this season compared to last season, so far we have played 3 away games, getting 2 wins againt Blackburn(2-0) and Portsmouth(1-0). We have had 2 home games so far, with wins over Wolverhampton(1-0) and a win over Arsenal(4-2). Altogether i am pleased with our new signings and i am very impressed with the way the team have gelled so well. Currently the blues lie in 4th with 12 points having played 5 games.
I really do believe that the top 4 has changed to top 5 after Manchester City's recent activity and results. By christmas i think the club could be in the top 4 easily, i also think maybe we can push for third and take over Liverpool.
Our next 6 fixtures could be seen as an easy 18 points for us, Aston Villa being the hardest.
Next 5 fixtures:
West ham
Aston Villa
Wigan
Fulham
Birmingham City

My Predictions
West Ham 2-0(city)
Aston Villa 3-1(city)
Wigan 4-0(city)
Fulham 1-0(city)
Birmingham City 3-0(city)

Under 18's fire 5 star performance

2009-09-25T13:46:00.000-07:00

Manchester City under 18's showed out in force after winning 5-0 against a Middlesbrough that really did not turn out at Platt Lane

The blues took an early lead after a cross was deflected into the back of the net after 15 minutes. The skipper then fired in a brilliant solo effort with his left foot just on the 22 minute mark. City then added a third after about 36 minutes. They then added a fourth five minutes before the break, this left them in a very strong position going into the second half. The blues then couldn't carry on their fantastic first half performance but still managed to pop one more into the Borough net after a fantastic indivdual run resulted in a top corner strike after 70 minutes.

Goal Scorers Minutes

John Gudetti 15, 36

Ahmed Benali 22

Tommy Smith 40

Harry Bunn 70