December 2007
Manchester City 4 Bolton 2
Dec 15th 2007 att.40,506
A great game - end to end - goals galore - plenty of near misses - City's ninth league win on the trot - and we all expected a dour battle with City winning one nil! After City took the first twenty minutes or so Bolton took over and City's defence looked very fragile at times. The substitution of Fernandes and switch to 4-4-2 with young Etuhu coming in on the right changed things and in the end it could have been 6-2 . Neither defence today won many plaudits though. Bianchi and Vassell showed they wanted to stay at City and all in all it was a good team performance with everybody chipping in. Back into 4th position -for a few hours!!
The absence of Elano ( perhaps saved for Tuesday) was a blow. Bianchi started up front and Hamann returned from suspension
The big battle was between Dunne and ex City striker Anelka and this early run was ended with a clearance from Ball
Hamann leaps over Gardner
Richards manages to thwart Anelka
After five minutes Gardner miskicked to let in Vassell who dashed down the wing ........
...... and his shot was blocked by Jaaskelainen The ball ran back to Vassell who fed Johnson.....
..... his precise pass found an unmarked Bianchi who with necklace and all had an easy task of shooting past the Bolton keeper.
An early lead for City and more confidence for Bianchi
Vassell and Jaaskelainen go head to head!
Michael Ball looks as though he's seen a ghost as he defends.
The ever dangerous Kevin Davies is about to be tackled by Fernandes
Anelka manages to beat Isaksson from a narrow angle and the ball rebounds off the post. A near miss.
Another Anelka shot goes just wide but well covered by the City keeper
There was a shock for the home supporters just after the half hour mark as Bolton equalized. A good move ended when a ball in from the right found Diouf within spitting distance of the City goal and he swept the ball past Isaksson first time.
Nicky Hunt takes evasive action from a Petrov cross
Johnson tries to get a shot in whilst outnumbered by defenders
An error by Corluka who was slow to react to a break down the left by Gardner whose pass to Nolan caught the City defence napping and an unmarked Nolan placed it past the City keeper to give Bolton the lead after 40 minutes
After the way City ended the first half it was gong to take a miracle to turn the game round and so it was !
Five minutes after the break Etuhu ( on for Fernandes ) broke down the right after a great through ball inside the full back by Corluka
A Johnson backheel to Etuhu following up was passed by the young Academy player to Hamann who took a touch and shot for goal........
The ball was diverted past Jaaskelainen by a defender ( Michalik ) to equalize for City. Dietmar Hamann was almost strangled by Martin Petrov in the celebration!
Richard Dunne had his work cut out to control the menace of Anelka.
Anelka had a half chance when Dunne slipped but City survived
Diouf missed a great chance when a long ball from the Bolton keeper evaded the City defence but the header from Diouf went wide.
After 71 minutes Isaksson made the save of the game turning a close range shot from Anelka over the bar
A minutes later and City almost scored. Good work by Etuhu won the ball back from Nolan and the move ended with Vassell finding Johnson whose shot beat the Bolton keeper but just hit the outside of the post
With Geovanni waiting on the touchline to come on Martin Petrov broke down the left wing and his cross..........
Richards clears a Bolton attack
....... was met by Vassell who flicked the ball past Jaaskelainen and Gardner to roll in the net at the far post.
3-2 to City and Geovanni went back to the bench.
City were dangerous on the break and several chances were missed a the final whistle approached.
The City defence were often hard pressed in the final stages but in extra time Garrido who had replaced Petrov after 83 minutes broke down the left and crossed.........
......for Kelvin Etuhu to crash the ball into the net for his first premiership goal. he dashed into the crowd......
... to be rescued by the rest of the City players before getting a yellow card by referee Walton ( who had a good game).
Team
Isaksson 6.6: Corluka 6.5, Dunne 7, Richards 7, Ball 6.5: Johnson 7, Hamann 7, Petrov 7 ( Garrido 7) Fernandes 6 ( Etuhu 7.5) Vassell 7.5, Bianchi 7.5 (Mpenza 6)
