City travel back to Eastlands with the European tie goalless after a defensive first match display by the hosts, Aris in Greece on Tuesday. City pressed and harried but Aris defended the majority of the game with 10 men behind the ball which the slick passing of a superstar lineup City side couldn’t break. Positives from the game are that Mario Ballotelli made his comeback, off the bench late on for City.
David Silva had the first real shot on goal early on for City but in truth it lacked the pace to be able to beat the goalkeeper, which was a stark contrast to City’s last attempt on goal which had all the fury and pace on it but lacked the accuracy as Micah Richards sliced the ball so bad that even now it is probably still refusing to come back down!
While it is clear that Dzeko still isn’t quite there at the moment it is also clear that he certainly is no Jo from a lack of effort. A cross from Barry saw the Bosnians header saved from under the crossbar while later on a fierce shot from outside the box was only just off target as it whistled past the upright. All in all it was not the best result for City as an away goal (even 1-1 draw) would have been better but it also is not the worst result. With history showing that no team but Aris has won on that ground in European competition before and their previous two English opponents, Chelsea and Ipswich went on to win the Cup Winners Cup in 1971 and the UEFA Cup in 1981 after failing to win in Greece. So that coupled with the fact our year would be recorded as 2011 has to be a good sign as we look to the return leg at Eastlands a week on Thursday.
No comments:
Post a Comment