City travelled to Kiev for this last 16, first leg tie in the Europa League, and apparently it was cold. I say apparently, but the ITV4 commentators talked about that fact that it was cold about every five minutes. I think the cold was mentioned more often than Clive Tyldesley bangs on about ‘That Night In Barcelona TM’. It was minus 2 oC, minus 5 if you add on the wind chill factor. It’s been colder than that here in Dorking at night in the last week, and I don’t understand why so many people seemed shocked that it was cold in Ukraine in early March.
Enough about moaning about people moaning about the cold, onto the game. City made 2 changes to the team that beat Wigan at the weekend, with Dzeko and Kolarov in for Tevez and Viera, with Barry taking the captain’s armband. The game started off pretty even, with City’s full-backs getting forward at every opportunity. Richards, in particular, didn’t seem too concerned with defending, and instead looked like he was playing inside-right, rather than right-back. In spite of this additional attacking pressure, City seemed rather toothless up front, and didn’t create any real chances.
The deadlock was broken after 25 minutes, and it was the home side that managed it. Shevchenko managed to lose his marker, and then beat a hesitant Hart to a near post cross and turned the ball in first time. It was a little harsh on City, who had matched their hosts, but Shevchenko showed why he is a world-class striker, even if he didn’t shine whilst playing for Chelsea. Not a lot else happened in the remainder of the first half, both teams comfortable on the ball, but not really creating any chances.
After some insightful half-time analysis from ITV ("it’s cold"), it was time for the second half. The start of the half was delayed slightly, as Balotelli didn’t come out with the rest of the team, and when he did, he looked out of sorts, before being subbed for Tevez after about 10 minutes. There was much speculation as to what had occurred. Had he been taken ill, was he not liking the cold, had he lost a contact lens, and many more were banded about. The reason given after the game was that he had had an allergic reaction to that specific type of grass. This is the first time I’ve ever heard of this, but I am aware of a long-jumper who is allergic to the sand that they use.
The game just trundled along to it’s conclusion from here, with Gusev adding a second for Kiev with the only real chance of the second half. City piled on pressure in the last few minutes, but every long ball into the box was easily cleared as the Ukrainians held a strong defensive line.
City have it all to do next week at COMS, and if Kiev can defend as well as they did in the first leg, then I struggle to see how City will get the two goals needed just to take the game into extra time.
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