October 2009
Manchester City 5 Scunthorpe U 1 October 28th 2009
Carling Cup round 4 att 36,358
City sailed through to the quarter finals of the Carling Cup with an easy win over a plucky Scunthorpe side that tried to play football throughout but ended up being totally outclassed in the second half. The goals were shared by five players with the pick being a terrific effort by Michael Johnson on his return to fitness after a long absence. City played the second half with much more panache and some of the moves were excellent. It was our first sight of Sylvinho who did his job well and did not have to attack as much as Bridge. Kompany who stood in for the injured Toure did not look out of place. It was a good team performance with Santa Cruz leading the line well and Tevez working hard to keep their defence on their toes. With Adebayor and Bellamy ready in the wings things look good for City and oh isn't there a chap called Robinho still to come back ( if he can get in the side)! Stephen Ireland had his best game for while and Weiss looks a star in the making. I think there is still room for Improvement in defence - we need more clean sheets.
City made several changes due to injuries. Sylvinho made his debut at left back and Santa Cruz made his first start.
Scunthorpe brought a lot of support and took most of the South Stand
Scunthorpe made an early attack and Given was forced to make a good save from Hayes in the first minute
It did not take long for City to take exception at this. SWP gave the ball to Ireland .......
..... who took the ball to the edge of the penalty area before placing the ball past Murphy to put City ahead
Wright-Phillips shoots wide after 7 minutes
City piled on the pressure but we had a shock after 25 minutes.....
......when a good move by the visitors ended with Forde scoring from a cross by Williams. As you can imagine the visitors from Lincolnshire went mad with joy!
City were soon back onto attack but it was Scunthorpe who had the next good chance but Hayes headed ........
On the half hour SWP had a shot saved by Murphy
City took the lead after 37 minutes when a cross by Zabaleta was headed home with ease by Santa Cruz his first goal for City. It was 2-1 at half time
Ten minutes into the second half City scored again. An SWP corner was headed home by Lescott - his second in successive games
At last we are scoring from dead ball situations
It looked like being 4-1 three minutes later when Ireland broke through.......
.... and beat Murphy only for Canavan to clear off the line just as the ball was going over. Ireland then went off for a well earned rest - Vladdy Weiss coming on in his place
Weiss was soon working his magic along the touchline
A blue beach ball had a brief appearance at the edge of the pitch!
Murphy saves at the feet of SWP
Weiss was giving Williams a hard time so it was no surprise when one of his crosses......
...... found Carlos Tevez who scored from close range to make it 4-1. This was his 4th goal of the season.
However best goal of the night came in the 76th minute. Johnson hit a cracking goal from well outside the area taking the ball from a defender before banging the ball home.
It was his first goal since September 2007!
Scunthorpe did have the odd attack but the second half belonged to City
Towards the end Weiss just shot wide
In replacing Tevez we had a glimpse of Benjani - making his first appearance after injury
Santa Cruz had a full 90 minutes on the pitch and must be near to full fitness.
Weiss - who has lots of talent placed a great cross in a dangerous area in the final moments
Team
Given 7: Zabaleta 6.5, Kompany 7, Lescott 7, Sylvinho 7 : Ireland 7.5 ( Weiss 7.5) , Wright- Phillips 7, Barry 7.5 ( Johnson 7.5), de Jong 6.5: Santa Cruz 7.5, Tevez 7 ( Benjani)