November 2009
Manchester City 1 Hull 1 November 28th 2009
Barclays Premier League att 46,382
City supporters had little to celebrate after this lack lustre performance against Hull City , the game ending in yet another draw - their 7th in succession - a record! Once again there was a lack of confidence in the last third of the pitch by the home side. Though City had much of the play Duke did not have many saves to make and it was rare that City were able to put any slick moves together. Adebayor did not have too much support and suffered accordingly. Too often the ball was banged in the air without much chance of City retaining possession. Tevez worked his socks off and Bridge had his best game for City. Lescott too was in better form. Oh how we need a young Benarbia to read the game and control the midfield and present creative chances to his colleagues. Any more failures to win games and the knives will be out for the manager. With Chelsea next at COMS and then 2 away games at Spurs and Bolton it's going to be a tough few weeks.
Robinho returned for his first game since September. Barry missed his first game and Richards came in for the injured Zabaleta
Ex City star performer Uwe Rosler got a big welcome from the home supporters when he was introduced to the crowd
If City thought they were going to roll over Hull they were sadly mistaken and in the early minutes the City defence were brought into action
In the 4th minutes a move started by Adebayor ended with a Bridge cross which was cleared
A Hull attack down the left wing ends with Lescott clearing
Marney has a shot blocked
A City free kick taken by Tevez hits the wall
The Hull keeper just beats Tevez to the ball
de Jong and Marney in a clash
Ex City player and Wolves manager Mick McCarthy watches from the stand
After 19 minutes Robinho cut in from the wing and left fly .......
........but his effort went just wide of the far post
A tackle by Bridge on McShane .....
....... caused several discussion groups and you can see Robinho and Hunt chatting about climate change!
Tevez was in good form despite his tennis debut at the ATP Tour Final
Adebayor heads clear a Hull Corner
A City corner fails to produce a result - note Tevez been held -yet again!
A great City move involving several players ends with Ireland feeding SWP.....
.... who hits the side netting
Duke saves a Bridge cross
A shot by SWP goes wide as the defenders take cover
The ref tells Lescott he's been a naughty boy and Giovanni gives him a friendly look!
McShane heads wide when well placed
Just on half time Wright Phillips took a pass from Tevez and ran at goal ......
...... and shot for goal. The ball appeared to hit a defender and beat Duke at his near post to give City the lead
Just before half time Robinho fouled Hunt who took exception
City had a wake up call moments into the second half when Garcia beat Given only to see Lescott clear from the goal line.
Richards is fouled by Hunt
After 53 minutes Hunt was fortunate not to concede a penalty when he brought down SWP near the goal box.
On 65 minutes Hunt fouled SWP outside the area but the free kick taken by Robinho went wide. Why no City players in the wall to confuse defenders and the two man free kick was much too naive.
Zayatte gets a mouthful from manager Brown with ex City manager Horton in the background
Robinho shoots wide yet again
Toure goes on a run but is crowded out eventually
With just ten minutes to go disaster struck! With no great danger to the City goal suddenly there were appeals by Hull for a penalty. As you can see the referee was a long way from the incident between Toure and Vennegoor
The referee pointed to the spot and Jimmy Bullard beat Given to make it 1-1!
Bullard got his team mates to form a circle to reproduce the incredible on field telling off that manager Brown did last season at half time when Hull were 4 down
As a reminder here are a couple of pics of that amazing scene that I had never witnessed before in over 50 years watching first class soccer
A Tevez effort is blocked and from the corner Richards heads well wide
An Ireland run comes to an end with a foul
Though Hull protest the free kick stands but Tevez wastes the opportunity to put City back into the lead
Both keepers had clearances to make in the final minutes and the game finished in yet another draw!
Team
Given 6: Richards 5.5, Toure 6, Lescott 7, Bridge 7.5: Wright Phillips 7.5, Ireland 6, De Jong 7, Robinho 6.5 ( Bellamy 6), Tevez 7.5 , Adebayor 6 (Santa Cruz 5.5)