Showing posts with label Sergio Aguero. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sergio Aguero. Show all posts
Premier League, Etihad Stadium – Manchester City 3 (Kolarov 5, Aguero 60, Milner 89) Sunderland 0.
Manchester City got back to winning ways in the Premier League with a commanding 3-0 win over Sunderland at the Etihad Stadium.
Aleksandr Kolarov’s vicious free kick got the champions off to the perfect start five minutes in, and though they spurned a raft of chances, substitute Sergio Aguero did eventually double the lead on the hour.
It could easily have been a landslide win for the home side, who made it 30 victories in their last 33 home games in the Premier League with the result, but in the end they managed only one more, with Milner’s 89th minute free kick going straight through Mignolet.
City move up provisionally to second after the win, and extend their unbeaten start to the season to seven games with perhaps their most convincing display of the season so far.
Roberto Mancini rang the changes – seven of them from their midweek Champions League match – but most surprising of them was the absence of captain Vincent Kompany.
Mancini subsequently confirmed the Belgium defender was suffering an injury, handing a first start of the season to Micah Richards in partnership with Joleon Lescott.
The nerves were quickly settled as by City racing into an early lead.
Carlos Cuellar, fit from injury and the only Sunderland change to the side which had beaten Wigan last weekend, marked his return with a dreadful sliding tackle on Carlos Tevez.
Kolarov and Mario Balotelli debated who should take the set piece from the left – the Serbian won that battle, then dispatched it left-footed past Simon Mignolet at the near post.
Sunderland, who claimed four points out of six against the champions in the corresponding fixture last year, responded well enough, with Stephane Sessegnon going closest with a half-chance on the volley.
But City’s class told, and as the half wore on they went close on several occasions.
Pablo Zabaleta pounced on a loose ball 20 minutes in, only to see his shot smothered by Mignolet, while Tevez dragged the rebound wide.
Balotelli, victim of some nasty challenges from Craig Gardner, almost turned in a low centre from the right-hand side half an hour in, while Adam Johnson, making his first appearance against his former club, very nearly played in former team-mate Tevez with a terrible crossfield pass.
Sunderland rode out the storm and made it to half time without sustaining further damage.
But despite a spirited start to the second half, with Stephen Fletcher seeing a well-struck volley blocked, it was City who set the pace.
Richards was on the end of every set piece – that he did not end up on the scoresheet owed everything to some desperate goal-line defending from Danny Rose and some sharp saves from Mignolet.
Balotelli had another gilt-edged chance too, but could not get a touch on Kolarov’s low centre just before he made way for Aguero.
Five minutes after his arrival, the Argentine notched his 25th Premier League goal, Kolarov again the provider, with a first-time shot at the near post.
Tevez had further chances, as did the effervescent Kolarov, while David Silva struck the woodwork with Mignolet out of position.
Milner did eventually manage the third, though Mignolet, who had otherwise had a good game, let himself down with the free kick from a narrow angle.
Mancini had insisted in midweek that he knew how to solve City’s problems after a slow start to the season – and on this showing, the Italian was right.
MAN OF THE MATCH
Aleksandr Kolarov (Manchester City) – With not too much to do in defence, Kolarov was given freedom on the wing. Scoring one and setting up another, he was a handful for Sunderland.
Premier League, Craven Cottage – Fulham 1 (Petric 10, pen) Manchester City 2 (Aguero 43, Dzeko 87).
Edin Dzeko scored with his first touch off the bench as Manchester City came from behind to beat Fulham 2-1 at Craven Cottage in the Premier League.
Dzeko, seconds after coming on, fired into the top right after an error from John Arne Riise, giving City the win when it looked like Fulham had done enough to earn a point.
Mladen Petric had given Martin Jol’s side an early lead from the spot after Pablo Zabaleta pulled back Riise in the box, with Sergio Aguero levelling just before half-time.
The win keeps City four points off leaders Chelsea, while Fulham – without injured star Dimitar Berbatov – are on nine points from their opening six games.
Fulham started brightly as a somewhat sluggish-looking City became accustomed to their surroundings, and the Whites exploited the moment by taking an early lead.
The champions’ defending has been suspect this season, and Pablo Zabaleta was hapless in his efforts to halt the run of John Arne Riise, who skipped past the Argentine far too easily before being taken down by a desperate tug.
The incident occurred on the fringes of the penalty area, with contact just inside, as Mark Halsey pointed to the spot: Petric made no mistake with a fierce penalty, sending Joe Hart one way and the finish the other.
Incredibly they could have doubled that lead soon afterwards when, on the quarter-hour, Petric thrashed his shot wide after fine build-up play from Hugo Rodallega and Steve Sidwell.
City seemed to wake from their slumber and, predictably, dominated the rest of the half as David Silva and Yaya Toure dominated the midfield in contrasting fashion.
Brede Hangeland cleared off the line when Zabaleta’s low cross looked set for a Toure tap-in, while Aguero should have done better with a free far-post header that he put wide.
Carlos Tevez tried in vain to claim a penalty when tumbling past Riise, although replays showed he made the most of it, while Whites goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer clawed the ball off the line after a goalmouth scramble saw Tevez and Aaron Hughes slide in together.
The big Australian made a smart double save from Silva and Aguero as City continued to bombard the home area, but he was powerless to prevent the equaliser on 43 minutes.
Schwarzer had already made one great save to palm away Silva’s first-time finish, which was a diversion of a Zabaleta cross-shot into the box: the keeper prostrate from his heroics, he could only watch as Aguero drove home the loose ball from a tight angle for a deserved leveller.
Half-time could not come quick enough for Fulham, who had their backs against the walls for the latter stages of the half.
They were better in the second period which, while largely controlled by City, was a more even affair, if relatively light on chances.
Indeed, both sides had just one noteworthy opportunity apiece in the third ‘quarter’, Brede Hangeland and Aguero both heading wide after good balls from Bryan Ruiz and Zabaleta respectively.
Aware that the match was in danger of drifting into a bore-fest, Roberto Mancini acted by introducing the volatile but inquisitive Mario Balotelli, who immediately launched a long-range effort past the post.
Most of City’s good work went through Silva, whose running and movement with the ball was exceptional, although he was unable to pick out a final ball of note.
Fulham, meanwhile, were not exactly passengers, the introduction of Swedish winger Alexander Kacaniklic injecting some flair to proceedings and carving out a chance for Ruiz, whose fine drive was batted away by Hart.
The last quarter-hour saw Samir Nasri enter the fray as the well-organised home defence and midfield constantly shut the door on City’s forays into the final third.
It was testament to work-rate and determination by the hosts, with veteran Greece midfielder Giorgos Karagounis brought on to shore things up further as City grew frustrated.
His first act was to give away a free-kick, which Balotelli spanked into the wall, signalling a last throw the dice for Roberto Mancini, with the introduction of Dzeko.
It threw up a six as, with his first touch, the Bosnian latched on to a dreadful defensive header from Riise to smash a vicious finish into the top right.
Schwarzer was right to be furious, his team’s good work undone by the sloppiest of errors. City could have added a third as Fulham left gaping holes while chasing an equaliser, the best chance falling to Silva, who fired just over from the edge of the box.
MAN OF THE MATCH
David Silva (Manchester City) – a livewire behind the strikers, his dribbling and poise was the standout in an otherwise tired-looking City performance.
Manchester City moved back on track in their Premier League title hunt with a 3-0 win at home to Fulham at a snowy Eastlands.
The league leaders, stunned 1-0 at Everton last time out, overcame the poor conditions with a Sergio Aguero penalty, Chris Baird own-goal and Edin Dzeko strike to open up a three-point, nine-goal gap on second-placed Manchester United, who visit Chelsea on Sunday.
City controlled the game, dominating possession and pegging Fulham back into their own half for large swathes of the first half.
However, the Premier League leaders seemed a touch static when reaching the final third, with the exception of Adam Johnson, a livewire on the right, although he faded in the second half.
And the two first-half goals they did score resulted from work by the former Middlesbrough winger, although they will not enter his portfolio of top moments.
On nine minutes a mazy run from the England international sent him wriggling into the box: Chris Baird, playing out of position at left-back, stuck out a leg but quickly withdrew it.
Johnson had already started his tumble though, wrapping his own leg around Baird’s almost as an afterthought: it happened in an instant, Mike Dean convinced enough to point to the spot while the replays suggested gamesmanship from Johnson.
Aguero stood up for the spot-kick and, dubious as the award was, his finish was superb, high and mighty into the top right, his 15th in the league this season.
Within 10 minutes Johnson took another tumble in the box, but this time Dean did not buy his aquatic antics, waving play on with Baird relieved.
It would not be Baird’s day though as, on the half-hour mark, he scored an unfortunate own-goal.
Johnson was involved once again but, crafty as his earlier intervention was, this one was all down to his poor shooting, an effort going nowhere near goal before taking a wild deflection off the Northern Irishman to leave the returning Mark Schwarzer helpless.
While the first penalty incident was debatable City, at 2-0, should have had another, with Dickson Etuhu fortunate to escape after rattling into David Silva from behind.
That evoked some kind of response from Fulham, who had been drearily negative prior to their best spell leading into the break.
After Philippe Senderos almost scored another own-goal when deflecting Micah Richards’s cross into Schwarzer’s arms. Damien Duff had a couple of efforts wide while Simon Davies forced a straightforward save from Joe Hart after some cute build-up play.
But with Fulham coming forward more City were even more dangerous as it played to their preferred counter-attack, with Schwarzer saving well from Aguero and Dzeko denied by a Brede Hangeland block.
The second half was a difficult affair as the snow thickened both on the pitch and in the air: it was causing problems, Hart struggling to hold on to daisy-cutters from Stephen Kelly and Baird, while referee Dean made a clear mistake by booking Senderos when Aleksandr Kolarov went in late on the Swiss, and not vice versa, the former Arsenal defender getting the ball first and an injury in the 50-50.
Meanwhile the conditions worsened, the groundsmen rushing on to shovel snow from the lines as the pitch whitened as the game got ragged.
However, the third goal - on 72 minutes - was a work of brilliance, as a mesmerising solo run from Aguero was capped off by a cut-back that Dzeko gobbled up with a low finish.
It was a touch harsh on Fulham as they had done better in the second half, indeed hitting the post through Dempsey while John-Arne Riise forced a smart stop from Hart.
But City had some chances late on, Richards bounding forward after a ‘steal’ off Moussa Dembele but putting his shot wide, while no-one was able to finish a superb cut-back from Kolarov in the dying seconds.
There were some handbags too, as Dembele and Kolarov escaped with bookings after going tete-a-tete over a petty foul by the Serb.
So the win was ultimately deserved but the margin of victory somewhat flattering for City, who will hope that Chelsea do them a favour at Stamford Bridge on Sunday.
A fine Sergio Aguero strike and a memorable goal from Mario Balotelli helped Manchester City to a 5-1 win over a poor Norwich City at Eastlands, as the hosts remained unbeaten in 14 Premier League matches this season.
In a match the big-spending Blues dominated, a great piece of skill from Aguero opened the scoring on 32 minutes, with Samir Nasri adding a second after a goalkeeping error by John Ruddy and Yaya Toure making it 3-0 with a smart low finish.
The Canaries pulled one back late on as Steve Morison headed in a fine cross from David Fox, but they were no threat to City who added two more through Balotelli - who brought a new dimension to the term ‘tap-in’ - and fellow substitute Adam Johnson.
The result puts the title favourites eight points clear of city rivals Manchester United, who can close the gap with a result against Aston Villa later.
Despite the thrashing, promoted Norwich stay in mid-table and seven points clear of the drop zone.
Unusually for a Premier League game, where the lesser lights usually put up some kind of challenge to the big-spending title challengers, this match had a heavy whiff of a Barcelona match in La Liga.
The hosts utterly dominated possession with a patient, short-passing game, while Norwich got men behind the ball and occasionally tried to go for the break.
Early on the tactic almost paid off as, after a David Silva shot was blocked, a long ball sent Morison clean through - a terrible touch on the edge of the box took the ball away from the Wales striker and Joe Hart rushed out to deny him.
That was pretty much it for Norwich as Roberto Mancini’s side pounded the visitors, who were barely able to pass halfway for the rest of the opening 45 minutes.
Edin Dzeko saw a low shot deflected wide while Aguero fired over from 12 yards as City tried to pass their way around a nine-man defence.
Norwich were actually doing quite well at frustrating the hosts, who refused to change their gameplan.
It needed a moment of brilliance to break the deadlock and one came on 32 minutes when a trademark bounding run from the rampaging Micah Richards saw the right-back cut the ball inside to Aguero.
He was only eight or nine yards out but the Argentine had his back to goal and a sea of defenders to negotiate, which he did with a superb drag-back and shimmy before flicking a low finish through the bodies and past Ruddy into the bottom left corner.
As expected Norwich attempted a more adventurous game which - the winning of a late corner aside - merely served Manchester City, who were able to find more space as Aguero and Dzeko both fired over from good positions.
Given the circumstances Paul Lambert would have been reasonably positive going into the break and his side came out with renewed confidence at the start of the second half.
After a good spell of possession, Elliott Bennett raced on to a Morison flick-on but was forced wide by Hart as he attempted to round the England goalkeeper, smacking the finish well off target from a tight angle.
City responded with a counter of their own, Nasri’s dipping cross just evading the close-range lunge of Dzeko when any touch would surely have put the ball in.
And Norwich’s brief renaissance was soon ended when what was a poor free-kick from Nasri on the left missed all his team-mates and slipped through the hands of Ruddy to make it 2-0 on 52 minutes.
Ruddy partly atoned for his blunder with a fine double save from Silva and Aguero - the latter from close range - but he was beaten again on 68 minutes when Toure drove a low finish into the bottom right after Nasri and Silva combined on the left side of the penalty area.
Just to remind everyone of Manchester City’s prowess, Aguero made way for Italy striker Balotelli - who returned to the bench following suspension - but it was Norwich who got the next goal.
It came from a superb first-time cross by Marc Tierney, with Morison able to evade his markers to power a header beyond Hart with 10 minutes left.
While clearly no more than a consolation it did spark what had been a fading Norwich side, with Andrew Surman going close with a low drive not long afterwards.
All that did was provoke the home side into further action, with two late goals giving the score-line the sheen it deserved.
First came Balotelli, who had been benched after returning from suspension. While technically only a tap into an empty net from the goal-line, it will go down as one of the goals of the season purely on account of the execution.
With two minutes remaining, Johnson did very well to weave in from the left and slip a low cross towards the six-yard box: the Italian saw his close-range finish kept out by Ruddy but, as the ball spun up in the air, he ambled towards the goal-line and - like a 1980s body-popper - nonchalantly flicked the ball into the empty net with the top of his shoulder, expressionless as he strode away without celebrating.
Johnson added a fifth in injury time, passing the ball into the net from the edge of the box, as City continued to annihilate opponents in what looks like a romp to the title.
Manchester City have formally announced the signing of Sergio Aguero from Atletico Madrid on a five-year contract for a reported £40m.
The 23-year-old has been the most sought-after striker in world football since he said he wanted to leave Atletico in May and his decision to sign a five-year deal with City will raise already sky-high expectations that they can challenge Manchester United for the Premier League title.
Aguero, seen as the natural replacement for fellow Argentine Carlos Tevez who wants to leave the club, said he was ready to fight to help City achieve their ambitions.
"My style has always been to fight to the death for every ball, and give 100 percent every game," Aguero, who scored three goals in four games in Argentina's disappointing Copa America campaign, said in an interview on Manchester City's website.
"I'll be concentrated to the maximum in everything I do, movement, running off the ball, winning the ball back and scoring goals..."
"To be honest, I don't think I'll have too many problems settling in to the team," added Aguero, whose transfer fee was reported to be around 45 million euros (£40 million) which would eclipse the sum they paid for previous record-signing Robinho.
"I'll do my best to do what the manager asks and try to work the way he wants me to. Of course he will know how he wants to use me."
Aguero said he had signed for Champions League debutants City to challenge for major trophies, having watched on television as the club won its first silverware for more than 40 years by beating Stoke City in the FA Cup final.
"I saw the FA Cup victory last season," Aguero said. "I think we are a team that in the future will be fighting every year to win major trophies and let's hope its quite a few major trophies."
Aguero, who married one of Argentine great Diego Maradona's daughters, will wear the No.16 shirt at City and could get his first taste of action in this weekend's pre-season Dublin Super Cup tournament, the club said on its website.
"I've only heard good things about the squad and can't wait to get to know them," said Aguero, scorer of 74 goals in 175 appearances for Atletico during his five-year stay in the Spanish capital.
City, who are bank-rolled by Abu Dhabi billionaire Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, have already been spending heavily in the summer transfer window which closes at the end of August.
French left back Gael Clichy was signed from Arsenal while Mancini also pounced for highly-rated Serbian defender Stefan Savic from Partizan Belgrade.
Coach
* Diego Maradona
Goalkeepers
* Mariano Gonzalo Andújar
* Diego Pozo
* Sergio Romero
Defenders
* Nicolás Burdisso
* Martín Demichelis
* Ariel Garcé
* Gabriel Heinze
* Nicolás Ottamendi
* Clemente Rodríguez
* Walter Samuel
Midfielders
* Mario Bolatti
* Ángel Di María
* Jonás Gutiérrez
* Javier Mascherano
* Javier Pastore
* Juan Sebastián Verón
Strikers
* Sergio Agüero
* Gonzalo Higuaín
* Lionel Messi
* Diego Milito
* Martín Palermo
* Maxi Rodríguez
* Carlos Tévez
