City drew Arsenal at home in the quarter finals of the Carling Cup, which will be played on the week beginning 30 November. The focus will undoubtedly be on Emmanuel Adebayor, but Mark Hughes will be more concerned with taking the club to our first major semi-final since 1981.
Archive for October, 2009
Preview: Birmingham City v Manchester City
30th October 2009
Mark Hughes’ team head to the midlands buoyed by the five goals against Scunthorpe and desperate to get back to winning ways after three consecutive Premier League draws. The excellent performances of returning players on Wednesday have left the manager with options aplenty.
Player ratings: Manchester City v Scunthorpe United
30th October 2009
Given – An early save tested his alertness. From then on there was little for Shay to do. No chance for the goal, and Scunthorpe’s other big chance was straight at him fortunately. 6
Zabaleta – Unusually he looked better going forward than defending in the first half. Nearly cost us a second goal with an uncharacteristic failure to win a 50-50, but made up for it with a peach of a cross for our crucial second goal. 6
Carling Cup verdict: Manchester City 5 Scunthorpe United 1
30th October 2009
City finally cut loose for the first time this season and overwhelmed a Scunthorpe side with five goals after the Iron had tested City’s nerves with a first half equaliser to Steven Ireland’s opener. Roque Santa Cruz, Joleon Lescott, Carlos Tevez and Michael Johnson all got on the scoresheet as Mark Hughes rotated his squad for the first time.
Wayne Bridge, Kolo Toure, Martin Petrov and Emmanuel Adebayor were all missing with minor injuries, while Craig Bellamy was rested. Pablo Zabaleta returned for Micah Richards at right-back. Sylvinho finally got to make his debut – his last competitive fixture involved defeating Manchester United to pick up a Champions League winners medal!
Carling Cup preview: Manchester City v Scunthorpe United
27th October 2009
City will be without the injured Kolo Toure and Martin Petrov as Mark Hughes looks to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup. A Scunthorpe side who are holding their own in the Championship this season will come to Eastlands with plenty of backing from over 3,000 travelling fans.
Player ratings: Manchester City v Fulham
26th October 2009
Given – The Irish international was sharp off his line to take the ball off Kamara, then finished off with a late save from Zamora. 7
Richards – Started brightly, but then a few passes went astray. Needed to be tighter on his opponents in the second half. 6
Verdict: Manchester City 2 Fulham 2
26th October 2009
Memories of Sven’s last home match came flooding back as City once again let slip a two goal lead against Roy Hodgson’s Fulham. Second half goals from Joleon Lescott and Martin Petrov gave City the advantage, but a failure to heed earlier warnings saw them pegged back for a third consecutive draw.
Kolo Toure and Craig Bellamy returned to the starting line-up as expected. Ireland remained as sub while the big decision by Hughes was ‘rotating’ Wright-Phillips onto the bench. Bellamy played on the right, while Petrov held onto the coveted left wing position.
Preview: City v Fulham
24th October 2009
Fulham return to Eastlands a month after their defeat in the Carling Cup, but this time we’ll be facing Roy Hodgson’s first choice side. City made hard work of the extra-time win with a jaded performance coming a few days after the defeat at Old Trafford.
This time Fulham could be tired ones, after playing on Monday night, then entertaining Roma in the Europa League on Thursday. It would be a mistake to consider them a pushover though. Hodgson did his best to rotate the team against Roma with the likes of Zamora and Duff only playing a portion of the game. A bit of tiredness won’t affect their organisation, and breaking down Fulham is no easy task these days.
Robinho still a couple of weeks away
22nd October 2009
In the Fulham pre-match press conference, Mark Hughes said Robinho’s stress fracture has still not healed sufficiently and he wouldn’t be ready for 10-14 days. Transfer speculation surrounding the Brazilian was once again rebuffed, along with that around Michah Richards, who “has a big future here”.
Hughes on Robinho:
“Robi is 10-14 days away because his stress fracture has not healed as anticipated.
“Any rumours linking him with a move away are a non-story. He will be back soon and I expect him …