Liverpool Win Titanic Match Over Manchester City

 3-2 

Today's match between Liverpool and Manchester City has been on the radar for some time now with title implications on the line.  Playing at Anfield, there were no surprises in the starting line-ups with both clubs putting their best eleven out for this crucial match.  Suarez, Sturridge, and Sterling headed the Liverpool attack while David Silva, Nasri, and Dzeko lead Manchester City.

Liverpool got off to a great start and had all the momentum in the opening stages of the game.  A pair of goals in the first-half had them in good position, for a time, as City struggled to get into the match.  First Raheem Sterling made a run behind defender Kompany and Suarez played a through-ball to put him in-on-goal.  Keeper Joe Hart came off his line in an attempt to intervene, but ended up in no-mans-land allowing Sterling to work enough space and bury the shot (6').

Yaya Touré was then forced to come out soon after the first goal with an injury.  While taking a shot from range, Toure injured his groin and could not continue.  Javi Garcia replaced him less than twenty minutes into the match.

Liverpool added a second goal from a set-piece later in the half to extend the lead.  Captain Gerrard delivered a corner-kick into the box and Martin Skrtel was at the near-post to attack the cross.  With a glancing header, Skrtel was able to sent the ball to the opposite post and find the side netting (26').

Manchester City eventually got into the match and gained a lot of momentum coming out in the second-half.  James Milner came on in place of Jesús Navas and the visitors started to take control of the match.  Shortly after coming on, Milner setup the first goal for City by rolling the ball into the path of David Silva who turned the shot into the net (57').  Moments later David Silva created another goal for City to level the score.  He intended to play a ball across the face of goal, but the pass came off defenders Glen Johnson and Sktrel causing a fortunate own-goal (62').

To make matters worse for Liverpool, Daniel Sturridge was force out with an injury and Joe Allen came on in his place.  But the Reds found an opening thanks to a mistake by Kompany in his own box.  The City captain scuffed a clearance and Coutinho pounced on the loose ball, smashing the shot home for the winning goal (78').

This win is the biggest of the season for Liverpool who extend their lead in the league table.  Chelsea reamin in second-place and City in third, though Manchester have played two fewer matches.  With only four matches left to play, Liverpool control their own fate and will need another strong performance when they play Chelsea in two weeks time.

Arsenal and Man City Miss Out, End Even

 1-1 

Earlier today Chelsea were stunned by Crystal Palace in a 1-0 loss.  John Terry scored an own-goal and Chelsea missed out on claiming any points.  Manchester City came into the later match against Arsenal with a chance to take the top spot if they could beat the Gunners at the Emirates Stadium.

City had a better start to the game and enjoyed the majority of possession in the early stages of the game.  David Silva was able to create the first goal of the match when Arsenal gave up possession in midfield.  Silva had space to dribble a long way towards the Arsenal goal and picked out Edin Dzeko running to the back-post.  Dzeko's shot was partially blocked by keeper Szczesny before coming off the post.  The rebound off the post then came back to David Silva who managed to get a foot on the ball to score (18').

The rest of the first-half featured a series of four yellow cards, three of them going to Manchester City.  Fortunately for both clubs, no one was shown a second yellow and both clubs finished with eleven men.

Arsenal regrouped during the half-time break and came out in the second-half with more intensity.  Their improved play paid off quickly and the Gunners managed to level the score.  Lukas Podolski delivered a skipping cross into the box and Mathieu Flamini was able to slip in front of defender Demichelis to get a shot at goal for the equalizer (53').

After conceding the goal, Manchester City played more conservatively bringing in Milner and Javi Garcia to secure the midfield.  Arsenal on the other hand went for more aggressive changes and brought Oxlade-Chamberlain and Yaya Sanogo on to the pitch.  However neither side could produce a go-ahead goal and the match ended in a draw.

For the moment Chelsea remain at the top of the table, but Liverpool will have a chance to take the lead tomorrow when they face Tottenham at Anfield.  The title race is anything but certain though, as just five points separate the current top-four.

Dzeko Nets Two As City Win Manchester Derby

 0-3 

Manchester United hosted rival Manchester City today at Old Trafford for the second meeting of the season.  City won the first meeting 4-1 back in September and more recently stomped Arsenal 6-0 over the weekend.  Today United again fell short to their rival.

Manchester City took less than a minute to score against United to put the home side in an early hole.  Fernandinho played Nasri in behind the United back line to work a shot that came off the goalpost.  The shot's ricochet off the post went to Dzeko waiting at the opposite post for an easy tap in finish (1').

Having to play from behind from the get-go, United were forced to take more risks and push more players forward to try to get back into the match.  Unfortunately for United their passing was poor throughout the match leading to ineffective attacks.

City added two more goals in the second-half while United failed to respond in kind.  Dzeko scored his second goal on the day from a corner-kick.  Nasri delivered the cross into the box and Dzeko was left unmarked for a free volley that he stuck in the back of the net.  Then in the closing minutes of regulation Yaya Touré was able to work a shot following a favorable deflection off a United defender.  With loads of space Yaya Touré easily finished for the final goal of the match (90').

The win for Manchester City helps them keep pace with Chelsea at the top of the table.  City are just three points behind the leaders with two fewer games played.  The title race could come down to the last match of the season as both clubs remain in good form.  United have no realistic chance of defending their title, but still have hopes of lifting a trophy in the Champions League.

Manchester City Rebound in League Play, Top Stoke

 1-0 

Manchester City certainly needed a win following the truly disappointing loss to Barcelona in the Champions League midweek.  Today Man. City hosted Stoke City for a Premier League game that was favorable for Machester to bounce back.

Edin Dzeko and Álvaro Negredo started in the attack with David Silva and Nasri occupying the wings for Manchester.  Peter Crouch was the lone striker for Stoke with Charlie Adam and Peter Odemwingie as his main support.

Neither side scored in the first-half, though both were able to test the opposite keeper.  Manchester City had far and away the majority of possession (over seventy percent) and created more shots on target.  Stoke were forced to defend for most of the match and they fended off the home side's attack well for a long time.

Eventually the persistent attack from Manchester City paid off and the dead-lock was broken.  Rightback Aleksander Kolarov fired a low cross into the box that Yaya Toure was able to redirect towards goal.  Stoke keeper Begovic got a hand to the shot, but could not turn it away from his goal and the ball found the net (70').

Stoke City could not create an equalizer in the time remaining as Manchester held on for the win.  Though the margin of victory was slim today, the win was the right kind of response from Manchester City.  Chelsea and Arsenal also won league matches today meaning there was no change at the top of the table.

Manchester City Eliminate Chelsea From FA Cup

 2-0 

The current top four clubs in the Premier League were paired off for the fifth round of the FA Cup with Manchester City hosting Chelsea today and Arsenal hosting Liverpool tomorrow.  Chelsea hold the top spot with Manchester City three points behind in third.  Today at the Etihad though Manchester City were far and away the superior team.

Manchester City had all the offense in the first-half and took the lead when starting forward Stevan Jovetić scored.  Edin Dzeko played the final ball that put Jovetić in-on-goal and the striker finished with a shot that just caught the inside of the post before finding the net (16').

After half-time Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho removed the ineffective Eto'o for Mohamed Salah.  Striker Torres also came in later looking to get something going offensively.  However neither were able to fuel the attack, and it was Manchester City's first substitute that made the biggest impact in the second-half.  Samir Nasri came on after an hour of play and scored a second goal for the home side.  A give-and-go with David Silva set him up for an easy finish from close range for the final goal of the match (67').

Obviously with today's win Manchester City eliminate Chelsea from the FA Cup and move on the quarterfinals.  The next match for Manchester City is another tournament game in the Champions League.  F.C. Barcelona come to the Etihad Stadium for the first of two meeting between the clubs.  Chelsea are also still alive in the Champions League and travel to Turkey for a match with Galatasaray.

Manchester City Thump Tottenham, Take First Place

 1-5 

Manchester City came into today's match against Tottenham with a chance to take the top spot in the Premier League table.  Arsenal tied Southampton the day before leaving only a two point gap between City in second place.

Despite playing on the road, Manchester City got off to a great start and held nearly all of possession in the first fifteen minutes.  Sergio Agüero started alongside Edin Dzeko at forward and put City in front early.  David Silva played the pass that put Agüero in scoring position and the striker finished with a slight chip shot over keeper Lloris coming off his line (15').

Agüero nearly scored a second goal with a header, but this time Lloris made the big play, getting his palm on the ball for the save.  The Argentine striker was looking good and put his team ahead, but moments before half-time Agüero pulled up with a hamstring problem.  He was immediately removed from the match and sent to the locker room with Stevan Jovetić taking his place.

The margin between the two clubs was only one goal at the start of the second-half, but a missed tackle by Tottenham defender Danny Rose ended any real chance of a come-back.  Rose was shown a red card for a tackle from behind on Dzeko inside the box to give City a penalty as well as leave his side down a man for the rest of the match.  Yaya Touré scored from the spot to give City a two goal lead (51').  Edin Dzeko then score a goal himself an instant later.  David Silva had a shot blocked that fell for Dzeko who finished the loose ball (53').

Tottenham managed to score one goal for a glimmer of hope in the second-half when substitute Etienne Capoue found the net.  A Tottenham corner-kick was not cleared off the line by City's defense and Capoue was able to turn a shot towards goal that beat keeper Joe Hart (59').  Capoue's goal was the only goal Tottenham could produce though, and City were not content with their three goals.

Substitute Jovetić scored his first ever Premier League goal when his shot took a fortunate deflection and ended up in the net (78').  Then in the final minutes of regulation captain Kompany scored when a blocked shot fell for him.  Kompany finished right in front of goal for the final score of the match (89').

The big win means Manchester City take the top spot from Arsenal in the table.  Chelsea were also held to a draw by West Ham United today so they remain in third place.  Chelsea and City meet this weekend in league play for a chance to either stretch or shrink the points difference.

Manchester City Coast Over Blackburn in FA Cup

 5-0 

Blackburn Rovers forced a replay against Manchester City in the FA Cup when the first meeting ended in a 1-1 draw earlier this month.  Manchester City were the obvious favorites heading into today's match and this time City did not let Blackburn hang around.

Manchester City were not particularly good in the first-half though, especially considering their opponent.  Edin Dzeko may have had the worst first-half in his career at Manchester.  Every shot attempt from Dzeko was either way over the goal or well wide.  The defense was shuffled for the mid-week fixture with Clichy the only regular starter.  The defense handled Blackburn nonetheless, and only allowed one shot on target in the half.

In the final seconds of the first-half City did finally score thanks to the other striker Álvaro Negredo.  Fernandinho played the cross into the box and Negredo scored with a far-post header to take the lead (45').  Not surprisingly, the goal at the end of the half completely changed the shape of the game allowing City to impose their will on Blackburn.

At the start of the second-half Blackburn made a change at keeper and brought on Eastwood in place of Robinson.  Eastwood did not get a chance to settle into the game and was tested right away.  An early cross put Negredo behind the defense and Eastwood was forced off his line.  Negredo got to the ball first though, and scored with a chip-shot over Eastwood (47').

Dzeko then made up for his poor first-half performance with a pair of goals.  Both times Jesús Navas played the final ball for the striker, and both times Dzeko scored with first-touch shots at the near-post 67' and 79').  In between the two goal from Dzeko, Sergio Agüero was introduced and scored immediately.  Dzeko made the pass inside the box for Agüero who used his first touch of the match to create space then finished with his second touch (73').

In the end this was a rather comfortable win for Manchester City.  All three forwards used today scored as the powerful offense helps City advance to the next round.  Watford are the "lucky" club to play City in the next round later this month.

Negredo Scores Hat-Trick, Manchester City Cruise

 6-0 

Manchester City and West Ham United met today for the first-leg of a Capital One Cup semifinal.  Manchester City have only conceded one goal in the tournament and finished ten in the first three matches.  West Ham had a big win against Tottenham to reach this stage of the Cup, but their last result was a dreadful 5-nil loss to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup.

Playing at home, Manchester City got off to a hot start and scored three goals in the first-half.  Álvaro Negredo scored the first two, both coming from well played through-balls.  Yaya Touré first played a long though-ball from behind midfield that split the West Ham centerbacks.  Negredo timed his run perfectly and finished with a confident first-touch finish (12').

Negredo then linked up with fellow striker Edin Dzeko to get behind the West Ham back line.  Dzeko played the ball forward into space and Negredo was able to beat keeper Adrián coming off his line with a sliding shot (26').

Yaya Touré scored the last goal of the first-half with an impressive individual effort.  Touré jumped on a loose ball at midfield and found space to run at goal.  The West Ham centerbacks did not step to Touré and allowed him to dribble all the way into their own box.  Touré was more than obliged to take the space and scored rather easily (40').

West Ham had nothing to build on heading into the second-half, and only found themselves further down by the end of the match.  Negredo scored a third goal for City when a pass from David Silva was deflected inside the West Ham box.  Negredo did not appear to be the intended target, but off the deflection, Silva's pass fell right in front of him and he finished first-touch to complete his hat-trick (49').

The other striker Dzeko was able to add to the goal tally late in the match as West Ham had less and less to play for.  Two crosses from the left flank gave Dzeko a pair of scoring opportunities that the striker capitalized.  First Clichy rolled a cross to the near-post that Dzeko finished with a sliding effort (60').  Then substitute Kolarov played a cross to the middle of the box that Dzeko was able to step into and drive into the net (89').

West Ham have now conceded eleven goals in their last two match.  The Hammers will have a second chance to get back at City when the two clubs replay on the 21st, but it will take a miracle to overcome this deficit.  Manchester City in all likelihood will reach the final and could face rivals United if they rally back to beat Sunderland in their second-leg meeting.

Manchester City Edge Crystal Palace

 1-0 

Coming off a big win against Liverpool earlier this week, Manchester City had a considerably easier matchup with Crystal Palace today.  Crystal Palace have won a few games this season, but they have far too many loses and only one draw so far.  Crystal Palace also have one of the worst goal-differentials while Manchester City has the best in the Premier League.  Manchester City were the obvious favorites to win the match, but Crystal Palace did not make it easy.

Through the first-half Manchester City were far superior and racked up over a dozen shots to Crystal Palace's two.  Neither side scored, and the biggest incident came when Crystal Palace forward Cameron Jerome collided with City keeper Joe Hart.  Jerome caught Joe Hart in the head with his foot causing a laceration just below the eye for the keeper.  However it was Jerome that came up the worse for wear and had to come out with a knee injury.  Marouane Chamakh replaced Jerome with ten minutes left in the first-half.

After half-time City manager Pellegrini made some changes and brought in more offense.  Nasri and Negredo entered the match and soon after Manchester took the lead.  Jesús Navas was able to roll a cross into the box for Edin Dzeko who score with a firm one-touch finish (66').

Crystal Palace had defended well up to that point, but had little attacking presence.  Now behind a goal, Palace were in poor shape to respond and get the equalizer.  Jonathan Williams and Dwight Gayle came into the match for Crystal Palace, but City remained solid in defense and held on to the one-nil lead.

Manchester City remain in first-place and put the pressure back on Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool who all play tomorrow.  With a win against Newcastle, Arsenal could become level on points with Manchester City, however the goal-differential would keep City in first-place regardless.

Manchester City Avoid Upset By Fulham

 2-4 

Manchester City have been on a good run since losing to Sunderland early in November.  Today at Craven Cottage, Manchester City continued their impressive run with a solid win against Fulham.  Fulham are without forward Berbatov who is injured and went with Adel Taarabt today at striker.  Similarly, City are without forward Agüero and played the tandem Edin Dzeko and
Álvaro Negredo in the attack.

Manchester City had the better start and scored two in the first-half.  A free-kick for Manchester City setup the first goal of the match coming from the edge of the penalty box.  Yaya Touré stepped up to take the shot and finished with a perfect strike that got over the wall and back down under the crossbar (23').

Later in the first-half captain Kompany added another goal for City with a second-chance effort.  Defender Demichelis won a header in Fulham's box that keeper Stekelenburg parried away.  However, the ball stayed in front of his goal and Kompany was ready for a tap-in finish (43').

Fulham were significantly better in the second-half and rallied to level the score.  Their first goal was initiated by Taarabt making a great run with the ball up the left flank.  Kieran Richardson made the run into the box and Taabart picked him out for an easy finish (50').

The home side then caught a lucky break that led to the equalizer.  Fulham fullback Riether got forward and delivered a cross into the box intended for John Arne Riise.  Kompany was in position to clear the cross, but the ball took an unlikely course off his foot and ended up as an own-goal (69').

Fortunately for Kompany the mistake did not cost City the match as two more goals were added to secure the win.  Substitutes Jesús Navas and James Milner each scored in the late minutes, bursting Fulham's bubble.  First Navas scored after Silva played a through-ball to put him behind the back line.  Navas finished with a firm strike that slipped between the legs of keeper Stekelenburg to retake the lead (78').

Then Milner scored the final goal moments after entering the match.  Negredo played a ball into the box that defender Hughes should have cleared.  However, Hughes whiffed his attempt allowing the ball to run to Milner waiting behind him for an easy finish (83').

Fulham have been rather disappointing this season and could find themselves in a relegation battle if their play does not improve.  Manchester City on the other hand are playing very well at the moment and could challenge Liverpool and Arsenal for the top spot in the weeks ahead.

Altidore Scores Hat-Trick in US Friendly

3-4

The US Men's National Team travelled to Sarajevo to play an friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina today.  Team USA had a number of changes to their line-up from their previous match, the Gold Cup final, and got off to a slow start.

Manchester City's Edin Dzeko put Bosnia and Herzegovina in front early in the match when he found space behind the US defense.  His initial shot was saved by keeper Tim Howard, but the rebound came right back to Dzeko and he finished with his second chance (8').  Later in the first-half Ibišević also scored for Bosnia on a second effort corner by winning a header (30').  The replay showed that Ibišević was slightly offsides, but since the game was a friendly, the US did not protest much.

After half-time Bosnia and Herzegovina made four substitutions while the US only made one.  The changes to the Bosnian team opened the door for the United States, especially Jozy Altidore.  First Altidore setup Eddie Johnson with a goal by trapping and laying off a well played ball over the top (55').  Soon after Fabian Johnson was able to play Altidore in-on-goal for his first score of the match (59').

Following the equalizer, the US and Bosnia made more substitutions including Aron Johannsson making his debut for the United States.  Johannsson made a positive impact on the game, creating two good shots on goal.  However it was Altidore who made all the plays for the US.  From a free-kick, Altidore scored his second of the match with a perfectly struck shot, curled into the upper-ninety (84').  Moments later Altidore completed the hat-trick when he scored after being played in behind the defense by Bradley (86').

Dzeko also had one more goal late in the game, finishing with a glancing header to the far-post (90').  The game ended with a final score of 4-3 in favor of the United States.  Bosnia and Herzegovina are not really known as a football powerhouse, but right now they are leading their World Cup Qualifying group and are ranked 13th in the FIFA world rankings.  Although it was just a friendly match, this is a good win for the US as coach Jurgen Klinsmann has shown he can win with a number of different lineups.