Manchester City 3-2 Southampton
The reigning Premier League champions Manchester City got their league season kicked off by facing the newly promoted Southampton who appeared to be in line for a true baptism of fire. What on paper seemed likely to be the most one-sided match of the weekend actually turned into the best match of the weekend as the new boys refused to fold to the reigning champions and put up an incredible fight before finally losing.
The match started badly for City who saw Argentinian international Sergio "Kun" Aguero, last season's top scorer, leaving the pitch with a nasty looking knee injury after just 13 minutes. Things went from bad to worse for City who despite earning a penalty couldn't convert it with David Silva taking one of the weakest penalties we'll see this season.
Despite creating a number of chances City we're being held by on equal footing for much of the first half, until Carlos Tevez broke the deadlock in the 40th minute. It seemed as if this could open the floodgates and that City could begin to run away with the match however they failed to bag a second before half time. At the start of the second half City seemed almost certain to finish off the match as Edin Dzeko had a catalog of chances to double the Blue's lead. It seemed almost certain that City were going to eventually double their lead but then, out of the blue Southampton managed to draw level via a Ricky Lambert strike. Amazingly, just minutes later Southampton actually took the lead as Steven Davis finished off a counter to double the tally for the Saints and it appeared as if a giant upset was on the cards.
In a similar fashion to how they won the Premier League last season City showed true resolve and managed to pull level just 4 minutes after going behind with Dzeko finally converting a chance. The goal suddenly opened up the game with both teams coming close to scoring a 3rd, though it City who eventually managed to bag the decider with 10 minutes left as Samir Nasri, the stand out player on the day, put the ball past Kelvin Davis to secure the 3 points.
Despite being run very close Man city have got some positives to take from this game. They showed real resolve in fighting back from 2-1 down and really did dominate the game (having almost 65% of the possession). Sadly for City however the game had more negatives for them than positives. Firstly the injury to Aguero looked very serious, whilst I'm not aware yet of how bad it was, it certainly looked nasty, losing Aguero for a few months would be a giant loss to City. Secondly their shooting was terrible for much of the match, especially Dzeko who could have bagged 4 or 5 though only managed to bag a solitary goal. Thirdly, and possibly most worryingly, their defence was caught out looking very poor for the Davis' goal which actually came from a City corner. The champions certainly need to improve on this performance if they are intending to retain the title, though I'd be shocked if they look this poor next time out.
The newly promoted Southampton should hold their heads very high after the match, not only were they in the lead against the champions at one but they held their own with the City for vast swathes of the match. Despite the fact they were helped by City's wastefulness around goal they showed they weren't intimidated by the champions and will take a lot of heart from the fact they were so competitive. Whilst many maybe tipping Southampton to go down, this performance seems to suggest they are a team who can stay up and give anyone in the league a good game. Nigel Adkins' should be proud of his men and if he can get them playing like this every week they will be safe.
Showing posts with label Samir Nasri. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Samir Nasri. Show all posts
Sunday, 19 August 2012
Premier League Week 1-As it Happens (Sunday)
Yellow Card
Southampton get their second yellow card as Morgan Schneiderlin cynically breaks down a Manchester City counter attack and receives a yellow card, surprisingly the first non-celebration booking of the match.
Yellow Card
Samir Nasri becomes the first Manchester City player to have his name taken as his celebration for scoring City's third goal gets him a booking.
Goal!
Normal service has resumed as the Etihad stadium as Manchester City reclaim the lead with goal from Samir Nasri it's now seeming like City could well bag themselves another few goals. The class has started to show by City who have now started to finish their chances.
Manchester City 3-2 Southampton
Tevez (40)
Lambert (59)
Davis (68)
Džeko (72)
Nasri (80)
Goal!
Southampton's lead didn't last for long at all as the champions show their resolve and equalise within 4 minutes through Edin Džeko who finally manages to put away a chance after missing a huge number of chances. Man City are now looking like a team who mean business after being embarrassed by Southampton's goals. Looks like their could be more goals in this!
Manchester City 2-2 Southampton
Tevez (40)
Lambert (59)
Davis (68)
Džeko (72)
Goal!
Have we got an upset on our hands? Southampton take the lead with a little over 20 minutes left to play thanks to an excellent counter attack finished off by Steven Davis. What a shock this could be.
Manchester City 1-2 Southampton
Tevez (40)
Lambert (59)
Davis (68)
Yellow Card
Southampton's Danny Fox was shown a yellow card for his part in the Southampton celebration following their very unexpected equaliser.
Goal!
City have had a lot of chances to finish this off with Dzeko missing a number of easy chances and now they've been made to pay as substitute Ricky Lambert scores Southampton's equaliser. Will City rue their missed chances or will this stir them on to finishing off the newly promoted club?
Manchester City 1-1 Southampton
Tevez (40)
Lambert (59)
Goal!
Carlos Tevez finally puts Manchester City ahead as the Champions finally break through a resolute Southampton defense. So far Southampton have genuinely held their own and this will have to hope that the flood gates don't open as a result of this goal.
Manchester City 1-0 Southampton
Tevez (40)
Penalty
Carlos Tevez is fouled in the penalty area by Jos Hooiveld giving David Silva a chance to put Manchester City in the lead from the spot...and he's fluffed it. Awful penalty by the Spaniard that was very easily saved by Kelvin Davis.
Ouch!
Manchester City's talented forward Sergio Agüero was tackled fairly but went down nastily and appears to quite badly injured. He's been taken off and City replace him with Edin Džeko.
Result
Wigan 0-2 Chelsea
Yellow Card
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard collects the 4th yellow card of the day.
Substitution
Chelsea make the first substitution of the game as they take off new signing Eden Hazard and replace him with fellow new boy Oscar. Still 2-0 though the Blues almost scored a 3rd with a Fernando Torres effort cleared off the line just before the substitution.
Yellow Card
Wigan pick up their second booking of the game, and the first of the second half as James McArthur gets his name taken by the referee.
Yellow Card
The goals have stopped at the DW but the cards have seemingly just began as Chelsea pick up their first booking thanks to David Luis.
Yellow Card
The first booking of the day goes to Gary Caldwell of Wigan as the Latics try to over-turn a nightmare of a start to their campaign.
Penalty
Chelsea get a chance to double their lead as they get awarded a penalty....and Frank Lampard opens his account for the year as he smashes it in. Awful start for Wigan but the dream start for Chelsea.
Wigan 0-2 Chelsea
Ivanaovic (2)
Lampard (7)-Pen
Goal!
Within just 2 minutes we have out first goal as Branislav Ivanaovic puts Chelsea in an early lead. This really could be a worrying day if your Wigan, as Chelsea really did just slice through them there.
Wigan 0-1 Chelsea
Ivanaovic (2)
After yesterday's hugely exciting start to the Premier League with no less than 19 goals, 4 penalties and 2 red cards we are back again with 2 games. Wigan v Chelsea (13:30) is the first of those games with Man City v Southampton (16:00) closing out the games for the weekend. Enjoy folks! As with yesterday this page will be updated with all the goals, cards and penalties.
Southampton get their second yellow card as Morgan Schneiderlin cynically breaks down a Manchester City counter attack and receives a yellow card, surprisingly the first non-celebration booking of the match.
Yellow Card
Samir Nasri becomes the first Manchester City player to have his name taken as his celebration for scoring City's third goal gets him a booking.
Goal!
Normal service has resumed as the Etihad stadium as Manchester City reclaim the lead with goal from Samir Nasri it's now seeming like City could well bag themselves another few goals. The class has started to show by City who have now started to finish their chances.
Manchester City 3-2 Southampton
Tevez (40)
Lambert (59)
Davis (68)
Džeko (72)
Nasri (80)
Goal!
Southampton's lead didn't last for long at all as the champions show their resolve and equalise within 4 minutes through Edin Džeko who finally manages to put away a chance after missing a huge number of chances. Man City are now looking like a team who mean business after being embarrassed by Southampton's goals. Looks like their could be more goals in this!
Manchester City 2-2 Southampton
Tevez (40)
Lambert (59)
Davis (68)
Džeko (72)
Goal!
Have we got an upset on our hands? Southampton take the lead with a little over 20 minutes left to play thanks to an excellent counter attack finished off by Steven Davis. What a shock this could be.
Manchester City 1-2 Southampton
Tevez (40)
Lambert (59)
Davis (68)
Yellow Card
Southampton's Danny Fox was shown a yellow card for his part in the Southampton celebration following their very unexpected equaliser.
Goal!
City have had a lot of chances to finish this off with Dzeko missing a number of easy chances and now they've been made to pay as substitute Ricky Lambert scores Southampton's equaliser. Will City rue their missed chances or will this stir them on to finishing off the newly promoted club?
Manchester City 1-1 Southampton
Tevez (40)
Lambert (59)
Goal!
Carlos Tevez finally puts Manchester City ahead as the Champions finally break through a resolute Southampton defense. So far Southampton have genuinely held their own and this will have to hope that the flood gates don't open as a result of this goal.
Manchester City 1-0 Southampton
Tevez (40)
Penalty
Carlos Tevez is fouled in the penalty area by Jos Hooiveld giving David Silva a chance to put Manchester City in the lead from the spot...and he's fluffed it. Awful penalty by the Spaniard that was very easily saved by Kelvin Davis.
Ouch!
Manchester City's talented forward Sergio Agüero was tackled fairly but went down nastily and appears to quite badly injured. He's been taken off and City replace him with Edin Džeko.
Result
Wigan 0-2 Chelsea
Yellow Card
Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard collects the 4th yellow card of the day.
Substitution
Chelsea make the first substitution of the game as they take off new signing Eden Hazard and replace him with fellow new boy Oscar. Still 2-0 though the Blues almost scored a 3rd with a Fernando Torres effort cleared off the line just before the substitution.
Yellow Card
Wigan pick up their second booking of the game, and the first of the second half as James McArthur gets his name taken by the referee.
Yellow Card
The goals have stopped at the DW but the cards have seemingly just began as Chelsea pick up their first booking thanks to David Luis.
Yellow Card
The first booking of the day goes to Gary Caldwell of Wigan as the Latics try to over-turn a nightmare of a start to their campaign.
Penalty
Chelsea get a chance to double their lead as they get awarded a penalty....and Frank Lampard opens his account for the year as he smashes it in. Awful start for Wigan but the dream start for Chelsea.
Wigan 0-2 Chelsea
Ivanaovic (2)
Lampard (7)-Pen
Goal!
Within just 2 minutes we have out first goal as Branislav Ivanaovic puts Chelsea in an early lead. This really could be a worrying day if your Wigan, as Chelsea really did just slice through them there.
Wigan 0-1 Chelsea
Ivanaovic (2)
After yesterday's hugely exciting start to the Premier League with no less than 19 goals, 4 penalties and 2 red cards we are back again with 2 games. Wigan v Chelsea (13:30) is the first of those games with Man City v Southampton (16:00) closing out the games for the weekend. Enjoy folks! As with yesterday this page will be updated with all the goals, cards and penalties.
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