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 Shutout At Home, Chelsea Win Again

 0-1 

The biggest match-up this week was the Monday feature of Manchester City hosting Chelsea.  Manchester City held the first-place position in the table prior to Arsenal's win on Saturday, but could reclaim the top spot with a win today.  Chelsea, in third-place, aimed to upset the home side and become level with City in points.

Manchester City have been perfect at home this season winning all eleven previous league matches at the Etihad.  However, Chelsea won the first meeting at Stamford Bridge 2-1 and today they were again able to get the better of City.  Branislav Ivanovic scored for Chelsea following a blocked shot in the first-half.  Ramires fired a shot inside the box that was blocked and the rebound came out to Ivanovic.  The rightback stepped into his shot and picked out the far corner to give Chelsea the lead (32').

Ivanovic's goal was the only goal of the match as City were unable to respond.  Though Chelsea only scored the one goal, they created better chances than City throughout the match.  Thrice Chelsea were denied by the woodwork to the relief of keeper Joe Hart.  City had a few shots on target, but could not find the quality to get the equalizer.

Taking the big road-win, Chelsea are now level with Manchester City with 53 points in the league table.  City still maintain a huge goal-differential advatage, but getting shutout at home is cause for concern.  Up next City travel to Norwich and Chelsea host Newcastle.

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 Leap Liverpool With Win

 2-1 

Manchester City hosted Liverpool today in a battle between top flight clubs.  Manchester City and Liverpool are fighting for position in the table, and look to unseat the league leading Arsenal.  Today would prove to be a tough defensive test with the league's two top scoring teams meeting at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester.

Liverpool scored first when Philippe Coutinho benefited from a run by Raheem Sterling.  Suarez played the through-ball for Sterling who managed to get a touch around keeper Joe Hart.  Sterling might have scored on his own, but Coutinho was in better position and came in late for the final touch that put Liverpool in front (24').

Manchester City were not down for long and scored the equalizer on a set-piece.  David Silva delivered the corner-kick that was won by Vincent Kompany at the near-post for a header finish (31').  Then on the verge of half-time Manchester City scored again to take the lead.  Jesús Navas setup Álvaro Negredo on a breakaway for the go-ahead goal.  Negredo's shot should have been saved by keeper Mignolet, but he was fooled by the flight of the ball and did not get a firm hand on the ball to turn it away.  Instead the ball ended up in the net for the deciding goal of the match (45 +1').

Liverpool worked several shots in the second-half, but none got past keeper Hart.  Victor Moses also entered the match in an attempt to add offense for Liverpool, but he never made any kind of impact.  The Reds fall to fourth place following today's loss, while City sit one point behind Arsenal in second-place.

Bayern Munich Bust, Manchester City Prevail

 2-3 

The final round of the group stage in the Champions League started today with Manchester City playing Bayern Munich in Germany.  Both clubs earned enough points to advance out of the group stage coming into today's match, with Bayern Munich winning the last five including the meeting with City back in October.  Manchester City won every other match played in the Group D and had a chance to take the top stop away from Bayern.

Two early goals for Bayern Munich gave the home side a huge advantage and set the game up for a total blow-out.  Thomas Müller scored the first goal when defender Dante played him behind City's back line with a long diagonal pass.  Müller brought the ball down with a great chest-trap before beating keeper Joe Hart (5').  Mario Götze then added a second goal minutes later when a deflected shot fell for him.  Replay showed he may have been just offsides, but the flag stayed down and he was able to finish from close-range (12').

Manchester City's fortunes got worse before they get better.  Starting right-back Micah Richards had an issue with his hamstring and had to be replaced by Zabalete after only fifteen minutes.  Zabaleta is usually preferred in the starting eleven, but manager Manuel Pellegrini had intended to save him for the big Premier League game with Arsenal.  In any case, Zabaleta was an improvement, and City took over the match.

The come-back started when David Silva was left unmarked on a late run into the box.  Jesus Navas initiated the play with a cross to James Milner at the back-post.  Milner could only head the ball back to middle, and Silva came running in late to score for City (28').

The visitors took the momentum into the second-half and out-played Bayern for the rest of the match.  Milner won a Penalty for Manchester City when Dante missed his tackle and took down the winger in the box.  Aleksandar Kolarov stepped up to take the Penalty and scored from the spot to tie the game (59').

Then moments later a terrible mistake by Bayern defender Jerome Boateng opened the door for City to take the lead.  A cross by Navas was rolled into the box and Boateng was in good position to clear the ball off the line.  However he completely whiffed on his attempt and the ball kept rolling right to Milner at the back-post.  Milner finished with a well struck curling shot to pull ahead and silence the home fans (62').

Bayern Munich could not muster a response equalizer and end a ten game Champions League winning streak.  The German club still win the group by goal-differential, but Manchester City get the payback.  Manchester United also qualified for the knockout stage today while Chelsea and Arsenal will play tomorrow to earn their spots.