By Chris Wright
"There's contact...juuuuust...hold on...wait a second...there."
Ne'er does a week go by without some dime-a-dozen pundit rolling it out. That sodding word.
'Contact'. A word which is quickly becoming the bane of my very existence.
Manchester City moved three points clear at the top of the Premier League thanks to a convincing
3-0 win at home over Fulham.
Heading into the Fulham match a lot of questions were being asked about a City side that had
lost four of their eight matches in 2012, exiting the FA and League Cups and seeing Manchester
United draw level with them on points at the top of the Premier League.
Manchester City moved three points clear at the top of the Premier League thanks to a convincing
3-0 win at home over Fulham.
Heading into the Fulham match a lot of questions were being asked about a City side that had
lost four of their eight matches in 2012, exiting the FA and League Cups and seeing Manchester
United draw level with them on points at the top of the Premier League.
By Alan Duffy
Manchester City 3-0 Fulham Premier League 4th February 2012
Manchester City put the disappointment of that midweek defeat against Everton behind them at a
snowy Etiahd Stadium on Saturday, coasting to victory against a Fulham side who rarely threatened
Jose Hart's goal.
I imagine there will be people angry about this but City have won every single home game this
year, right? So quite what we were supposed to do about that I'm not sure. People talk about our
record at Eastlands but that was before City became CITY and, well, honestly...
The shame was that the game was over before it had begun, Adam Johnson managing to fall over
Chris Baird in the area to win a dodgy penalty to make it 1-0, then Baird put through his own goal
to make it two before we'd even started to play.
Two women. Two crucial football matches. One widescreen TV. One slightly dodgy internet feed.
Copious amounts of white wine & fruit juice.
Ain't no party like a liver failure party and a liver failure party don't stop.
We thought that supplying the Kellys with all the equipment they demanded might compel them to
produce full match reports of the Copa Del Rey quarter-final and the Carling Cup semi-final.
Leading the league table for quite sometime and even managed to build a pretty huge lead with
their rivals, things gets really tight at the moment for Manchester City, but their players still
have high confidence about their title chance at the end of season.
Adam Johnson is one of those who believes his team strength in maintaining their current
position until the end of season since the winger thinks that it would be a big disappointment if
his club can't do that.
I've seen some hand-wringing and questions as to how Liverpool were lined up yesterday, especially
in the second half.
I tried to explain the set-up and the reasons for it in yesterday's match review, but pictures
always make things easier. Not a 1000 words easier, but easier nonetheless.
Manchester City 0Liverpool 1 Steven Gerrard 13′ (pk)
A week after falling 3-0 to Manchester City in the league, a Liverpool side without two of their
top players returned to face a City side missing three of their best for the first leg of the
League Cup semi-finals.
Roberto, ditch Sheikh Mansour for Mitt Romney. He's got cash to give away.
The Italian is complaining that he's down to two central midfielders and one striker. James
Milner and Nigel De Jong will start in the middle and Sergio Aguero patrols up front.
The Ivory Coast has refused his demand to release Yaya and Kolo Toure till after the Man Utd FA
Cup showdown for their ACN campaign.
Manchester City's coach, Roberto Mancini, reveals that they might try to snatch an additional
midfielder in the January transfer window, but it will only happen once they managed to offload
some of their current unused players, including Carlos Tevez.
Mancini reveals that there are around three to four players that his club planned to offload
this winter and the manager is very hopeful that everything would happen just as planned.
Dynamo Kiev forward Andriy Yarmolenko has emerged as the latest striker to be linked with a move to
Liverpool.
Despite being linked with a host of players including Colombian striker Teo Gutierrez, Jan Klaas
Huntelaar, Eden Hazard, Adam Johnson and Christian Eriksen, Footybunker.com are reporting the
Anfield giants have now switched their sights to Ukraine international Yarmolenko.
1. It was a great night for goals. There were some stunning efforts from Wayne Rooney, Adam
Johnson, Demba Ba and Paul Scharner can all take a bow for starters. 2. Adam Johnson must have
thought twice before firing in his long-range effort against Stoke though. He usually gets a
rollicking from Manchester City boss [.
Manchester City scored three and stayed top of the table. Manchester United score five and
remained in second position. Tottenham and Chelsea, in third and fourth position respectively, play
each other on Thursday night. On the face of it, everything stayed the same. Manchester City first,
Manchester United second, Tottenham third and Chelsea fourth.
By Alan Duffy
Manchester City - Stoke City Premier League 21st December 2011
Manchester City will be top of the Premier League/First Division at Christmas for the fits time
since 1929 after they recorded yet another victory at the Etihad Stadium.
Manchester City continue their winning run after last weekend's victory over Arsenal by gaining
another important victory, this time against Stoke City at Etihad Stadium.
The result brought the Eastlands closer in getting the half season champion as they would need
one more victory to seal that temporary morale boosting achievement.
Man City vs Stoke Goals 3-0 Highlights Video Sergio Aguero Adam Johnson 2011 December is a post
from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter
Man City vs Stoke Goals 3-0 Highlights Video Sergio Aguero Adam Johnson 2011 December is a post
from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Man City vs Stoke City 2011 ( Manchester City
vs Stoke video below) Final score and result:- Man City vs Stoke 3-0 ( Sergio Aguero*2, Adam
Johnson) Etihad Stadium, Manchester- [.
By JOHN BOSCHINI
Manchester United and Manchester City might be competing atop the Premier League standings, but
neither of them will be taking part in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Instead, it's off to
the Europa League.
Manchester United became the first finalist to be knocked out in the group stage the following
year after being shocked by FC Basel in Switzerland, 2-1, and relegated to the second tier
competition with a third-place group finish.
Canada Drugs
Now that England are safely through to the Euro2012 Tournament Finals in Poland and
Ukraine next summer, and that their Group opponents have already been finalised, I thought it
timely to decide who might be in the squad for the June kick off against France in
Donetsk.
By Alan Duffy
Manchester City 5-1 Norwich City Premier League 3rd December 2011
The league-leaders kept their 100% home record this season with a goalfest at the Etihad Stadium
against Norwich. However, it took City over half-an-hour to break the deadlock, courtesy of a
superb piece of skill by Sergio Aguero.
Manchester City remain five points clear at the top of the Premier League, while the three big
London clubs; Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, all got important wins.
Man City have a massive Champions League match against Bayern Munich this coming week, and they
warmed up for that encounter with a 5-1 thrashing of Norwich City.
Manchester City remain five points clear at the top of the Premier League, while the three big
London clubs; Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, all got important wins.
Man City have a massive Champions League match against Bayern Munich this coming week, and they
warmed up for that encounter with a 5-1 thrashing of Norwich City.
Arsenal's 1-0 loss to Manchester City in the Carling Cup match yesterday showed, once again,
the power of petropounds. But one goal from over 100 million is a pretty weak return, really.
However, a win is a win and even if City are on the ropes in Europe, they've booked their spot in
the semifinals of the league cup.
The Los Angeles Galaxy opened their Asia Pacific Tour in winning fashion, posting a 1-0 victory
over the Indonesian National Select Team on Wednesday.
Robbie Keane scored the winner for the Galaxy, who trotted out the same starting lineup that
defeated the Houston Dynamo in the MLS Cup Final just ten games earlier.
By Chris Wright
Man City ousted Arsenal from the Carling Cup last night and while the match itself may have been
a bit naff, the goal that won it was anything but.
Everything about Sergio Aguero's 83rd-minute decider was exquisitely done; from Edin Dzeko's
immaculate through-ball to Adam Johnson's reverse assist to Kun's cool finish.
Video highlights and reaction match report -
So Carling Cup defeat last night, and late defeat at that, but the overwhelming sense I have
this morning is that of team that deserved more. Arsenal's youngsters, combined with some
experience, more than held their own against the most expensively assembled squad in modern
football.
Cool T? Surely not
Arsenal failed to qualify for the semi finals of the Carling Cup after a 1-0 defeat at home to
the moneybags of the Premier League. $amir Na$ri was jeered and booed throughout. Just after 5
minutes before the whole stadium was standing because "stand up if you hate Na$ri" was the song
doing the rounds.
I'm proud of the team today.
An Arsenal side composed mostly of our youth players and our second string benchwarmers did much
better than anybody expected, outplaying a "reserve" Man City side that still had the likes of
Nasri, Dzeko, Aguero, Johnson, and De Jong on the pitch and which likely cost more to assemble than
15 first XI's in the EPL.
The pre-match hype was all about squad rotation. Who of those gracing the benches of these deep
squads was going to make their rare first team appearance tonight? For Manchester City, players
like Nigel de Jong, Kolo Toure, and Adam Johnson were looking for a rare place in the side. For
Arsenal, the troop of [.
By Alan Duffy
Arsene Wenger did his usual Carling Cup thing against Manchester City on Wednesday night,
resting most of his first teamers and giving some youngsters a bit of action. Roberto Mancini
rested Joe Hart, Mario Balotelli and a couple of other City megastars, but with the squad the
Italian has assembled, even a (partly) second-string side is full to the brim with expensive
internationals.
City will come with a physically strong side, in the hope of bullying our Young Guns out of the
Carling Cup tonight. This does not have to be the case if Wenger deploys his squad correctly.
Bosnian hitman, Dzeko, will be the only player who can win this game for City... and with Adam
Johnson a certain starter, it's pretty easy to see the tactics Mancini will employ.
Good morning to you.
We have the Carling Cup to contend with this evening and we take on the richest club in the
world, with the biggest, most expensive squad in the world, and a manager who is complaining about
a fixture pile-up. To be fair to Roberto Mancini, he's got a point. Playing Sunday then Tuesday is
tough for any team but when you can replace all 11 players and call on the likes of Kolo Toure,
Kolarov, Dzeko, Adam Johnson and others who didn't start the game against Liverpool then it does
make life a bit easier.
Chasing after his former self, not the opponent
Carling Cup returns to the menu as the victors of tonight's game will seal their path into the
semi final of this competition. It won't be so easy to win this year's competitions, well, compared
to our run last season. Apart from Manchester City, there's still Manchester United, Chelsea and
Liverpool still in this competition.
This is a tough one to call. Arsenal are very strong at home in the Carling Cup the last eight
games ending in wins with a cumulative score of 23-3. On the other hand, City are probably the only
club that can put out a second-string side that would not look far out of place in the
Premiership.
For the visitors, Dzeko, Adam Johnson, Nigel De Jong, Kolo Toure, Kolarov, Zabaleta, Savic, and
even Hargreaves might get a start.
Adam Johnson has signed a new four-year deal with Manchester City, putting an end to Kenny
Dalglish's alleged interest in capturing the England winger for Liverpool.
After arriving at Eastlands from Middlesbrough in January 2010, Johnson has impressed with some
very creative, sparky performances.
Mancini and his Manchester City have shown us many sides to their character this season. They are
resolute in defence, even without the collossal Nigel de Jong. City have shown that they are not
content to sit back on a lead. They have served up game after game of excellent attacking football,
never resting but always probing.
Their fifth straight victory and a 5 point lead. Goals from Edin Dzeko, Aleksandar Kolarov and
Adam Johnson made it 36 goals for Man City in their first 10 games.Levante's miracle run in the La
Liga have put a spanner in the works of the two horse theory there.The EPL now looks that it might
become a 2 horse race instead.
By Alan Duffy
Manchester City 3-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers Premier League 29th October
2011
Roberto Mancini's star-studded squad had to dig deep to secure yet another league victory, this
time at Molineux.
2-0 up, courtesy of strikes from Bosnian Edin Dzeko and Serb Alexander Kolarov, the Citizens
then saw captain Vincent Kompany sent off for a last-man challenge on Kevin Doyle in the box after
a shaky-looking Joe Hart had spilled the ball.
By Chris Wright
Just the five? How disappointing.
Manchester City (or more accurately, their second string) made it 21 goals scored in their last
five matches with a 5-2 rollocking of Wolves at Molineux last night easing into the Carling Cup
quarters alongside Man Utd, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Blackburn, Cardiff and Crystal Palace.
Continuing where they left off on Sunday Manchester City came from behind to beat Wolverhampton
Wanderers 5-2 to move into the Carling Cup quarters.
Nenad Milijas opened the scoring for the Wolves but City levelled ithrough Adam Johnson.Samir Nasri
beat the Wolves defence with sheer pace 3 minutes later and scored.
