Manchester City 1 - 3 Bayern Munich
Negredo 79' Ribery '7 , Muller 56', Robben 59'
Manchester City got a lesson the hard way by Bayern Munich
last Wednesday Night, when the German Giants ripped and torn apart the blues on
their home turf at the Etihad Stadium. Two weeks before in matchday 1
everything seemed to look bright and rosy for City after they had comfortably
beat Viktoria Plzen 3-0 in the Czech republic and that result looked like the
Blues could give the German champions a run for their money in matchday 2.
Sadly for City that proved to the most opposite thing possible as the game with
Bayern Munich showed their opponents was more ruthless from the as they
dominated from the first whistle and from looking like world beaters against
neighbours Manchester United in the derby, they looked more like lost sheep in
this clash.
Both sides had early chances, with Arjen Robben heading
over from a cross by David Alaba for Bayern and then Micah Richards went close
for the home side with a powerful header from a Samir Nasri cross, as the
defenders header was easy dealt with for Manuel Neuer who collected. Then a
hammer blow came to City, when Franck Ribery moved within 25 yards of the City
goals and the French International let loose a strike which wasn`t dealt with
by Joe Hart, as he made yet another mistake in a string of errors by the
England International goal keeper of late. Bayern took full control of the game
as Ribery, Robben and Muller was running the show for the visitors, with the
home side unable to stop the Bayern side as they played most of the first half
camped inside the City half with Munich looking much like the side that won
this tournament last season.
Bayern looked extremely dangerous and threatened on every
attack they made in the match, Robben was cutting City to shreds once again in
midfield, when the Dutchman put a fizzing
ball across the face of goal, where Muller was just unable to get a
touch on it as the ball was hit a bit too much with pace for the striker to
convert. Alaba saw his powerful volley deflect off Matija Nastasic chest and
get collected by Hart in goals as the deflection could have easily gone in the
nets. The first booking of the game came against City, when a poor challenge by
Sergio Aguero on Ranfinha saw him collect a yellow card as City were clearly frustrated
at not being able to contain the German side in this match. There were boos
aimed at the home side by the fans, as they were watching their side completely
outplayed and was embarrassing them too, with City putting up hardly any fight
at all as Bayern snuffed everything out they threw at the away side. Half time
came luckily for the home side and where
they could time to sit down and reflect on what they had to do to get back into
the contest, as they can count themselves very very lucky to be just 1-0 down
at the break.
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| pic via: Eurosports |
Second half was much in the similar vein of the first
half, Bayern were still by far in the
way of things in control of the game, as City started to look a bit brighter in
the game yet Bayern were beating City with ease and they should really have
been out of sight in the game by the time Thomas Muller doubled the lead for
the visitors. Bayern`s 2nd goal started from a long ball by Dante
and Gael Clichy was caught ball watching as well as trying to play offside and
got in a complete tangle, which gave Muller time to collect the ball and put
past Hart for a 2-0 lead as City were in
a total mess in defence. Pellegrini decided to make a change for City as he
substituted Edin Dzeko who did little all game for Spanish forward Alvaro
Negredo. Arjen Robben showed his dangerous trait as he made sure the points
were going back to Germany, when he teased and terrorised Nastastic pulling him
one way and another before he finally drilled his shot near post beating Hart
to make it 3-0 as Bayern scored 2 goals in 3 minutes to see off City and the
contest as a whole.
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| Pic via BBC: |
Bayern had 65% possession at the halfway point of the
second half, as Hart was called into action making saves from Kroos as well as two
Robben attempts as well, this was a reversal of fortunes for City as they were
having done to them what they did in the derby. Nasri picked up a yellow card
before the City manager made two changes to his side as he tried to tighten the
midfielder up which had more holes than swiss cheese in it. Aguero and Nasri
made room for David Silva and James Milner, as the City pair seemed to make the
team a bit more solid for the first time in the game. City had to play for
pride for the remaining 20 minutes or so in the game as they were out over by
the Bavarian side. Milner collected the home side`s 3rd yellow of the game for
a foul on Kroos and Muller nearly made it 4-0 for the German side when his shot
came back off the post and had Hart well and truly beaten. James Milner had an
effort on goal tipped over by Neuer as City mounted a mini revival.
Arjen Robben then went off to a standing ovation from the
Home supporters after his display for the Bayern, as he was one of the main
reasons his side won due to the chaos he caused for the Blues with his
attacking runs and play. Then with 12 minutes from the end to go, Alvaro
Negredo gave the home fans at last!..something to cheer for, when he score a
beautiful goal. The man named “the Beast” took the pass outside the area and
turned away quickly from the ex City defender Jerome Boateng and he then curled
a shot far corner past the out stretched glove of Neuer for 3-1 score and could
City make an unlikely comeback in this game. Franck Ribery then got subbed for
Mario Gotze for the visitors, we then had a City attack get stopped as Yaya
Toure broke through on goal and then got brought down by Boateng outside the
area was shown a red card for being last man as it gave City a slight bit of
hope for the remaining 8 minutes of play.
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| pic via : theguardian |
The resulting free kick by David Silva saw him
beat the wall and keeper, but not the wood work as it struck the bar and the
ball got cleared away by the Bayern defence. Milner was giving Bayern a few
problems late on with his pace as he made a surging run down the wing and
managed to pick out Negredo, whose header went goal wards and saw it
agonisingly go just past the post for the home side. The German side held on a
very comfortable and terrific lesson on how to pressure and retain the football.
This display made them look a lot more powerful and dominant than last year`s
success which is a very scary thought for the rest of the sides in the
competition. For City, it`s back to the old drawing board and regroup with the
next two games vital for Champions league qualification, as they take on CSKA
Moscow both home and away in their group as it seems all but certain that
Munich will take top spot.
GROUP D
PLD W D L F A GD PTS
1 Bayern Munich 2 2 0 0 6 1 5 6
2 Man City 2 1 0 1 4 3 1 3
3 CSKA Moscow 2 1 0 1 3 5 -2 3
4 Viktoria Plzen 2 0 0 2 2 6 -4 0
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