Melbourne City have fallen just short of a creditable draw
against their more illustrious Premier League sister club, losing 1-0 to
Manchester City .
A belting Samir Nasri volley in the 85th minute finally
secured the breakthrough for Manchester City in the twilight clash in Robina on
Saturday.
Melbourne City spurned two of the match's most clear cut
chances as they defended well and countered with genuine threat, but Nasri's
exquisite finish ultimately proved the difference.
Any fans on the Gold Coast hoping for a glimpse of star
signing Raheem Sterling on the pitch were left disappointed, with the England
winger training with his new team in Robina but not named in the team for
Saturday.
Sterling would watch on from the stands, but Melbourne City
winger Harry Novillo would show the Manchester side this would be no stroll in
the park, threatening with a dangerous cross and stinging the hands of Willy
Caballero with a turn and shoot.
Caballero nearly gifted Melbourne the lead just nine minutes
in before Manchester City cranked up a gear, enjoying a succession of probing
attacks, with star Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure smacking the crossbar with a
sizzling free kick.
Toure, Nasri, Brandon Barker and Spanish World Cup winner
Jesus Navas all showed skill and terrific passing exchanges to set up shots,
only to fire off target.
But the greatest chance of the half fell to the hosts as a
flowing counter-attack saw Robi Koren set up Stefan Mauk with an excellent
cross, only for the forward to spoon the ball over the bar with the goal at his
mercy.
"I think will Stefan will have a few moments in his bed
over the coming nights where he will think back over those moments you hope
never to have," Melbourne coach John van 't Schip said.
"Stefan was there, he made a great run into the box ...
in the moment, it bounced and he was unlucky with his touch and it was a great
opportunity, a great cross in, and a great move."
Novillo would let Manchester City off the hook again as he
collected an overhit cross from the right on the 68th minute, skinning his
marker and chipping Caballero, but watched on as the ball bobbled agonisingly
wide.
Manchester City made good on their promise to field a strong
team throughout with Toure, Nasri, Navas and full-back Gael Clichy all
featuring for at least 87 minutes.
It was left to Nasri late on to provide the spark required,
sending the mostly Sky Blue-hued crowd home happy with his thumping goal from
outside the box.
"Everybody made a great effort. Of course its always
hard when you give a goal jut a few minutes before the game. We had five really
good chances," van 't Schip said.
"We had our chances, it was good for a lot of things,
for the physical part but also for the club to play against Man City with the
players that they have.
"(Manchester City) wanted to win, they kept their top
players on the pitch as long as possible."
0 comments:
Post a Comment