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| Manchester City players celebrate after David Silva's goal. Ytimg Images |
Oh my goal, I only have 30 minutes to write this, my
next class starts at five. I don’t even get a full half. No warm up, let’s get
going.
Manchester City defeated Dynamo Kiev 3-1 in the
first leg of the round 16 of the UEFA Champions League Wednesday at NSC
Olimpiyskiy.
Sergio Aguero opened the scoring for City in the 15th minute. The Argentine forward struck the ball in the corner of the net after Yaya Toure headed down David Silva’s corner kick.
Manuel Pellegrini’s side doubled their lead 10
minutes after the half hour mark as Aguero released Raheem Sterling with a
marvelous backheel, the English midfielder then hit a pinpoint low-cross to
Silva. Silva scored but he shot the ball so high in the net (from inside the six-yard box!) that the whole stadium thought he was going to miss. Pellegrini is going to have a few words with him for that.
Vitaly Buialskyi cut the lead for the Ukranian side in the 59th minute with a sweet volley. But the goal of the match wasn’t yet to come. Toure curled a beauty in the top corner of the net after a neat one-two play with Fernandinho.
A wise man once said there’s a reason for everything.
Let’s take a look at the reasons why City defeated the second best team in
Ukraine—we need to do that, especially after they lost to Chelsea 5-1. I’m joking,
City fans.
Dynamo struggled to get into City's half
Dynamo struggled to get into City's half
Dynamo couldn’t get out of their own half for most
of the first 45 minutes, they constantly passed the ball back. Their keeper Oleksandr
Shovkovskyi nearly conceded a goal after they pass the ball back to him in the
first ten minutes. Bad start, their confidence went down—even though, they were playing home. Serhiy Rebrov’s side had a much better start in the second half.
Manchester City's rocky midfielders
The two defensive midfielders, Fernandinho and Fernando Reges, alongside Yaya Toure were rock solid in the midfield. Any time Dynamo managed to get in City’s territory, they weren’t afraid to throw their boots at them (not literally). The three midfielders were physical, they had a couple of fouls in the first ten minutes (again with how the game started). They didn’t fly all the way to Ukraine to play around.
The two defensive midfielders, Fernandinho and Fernando Reges, alongside Yaya Toure were rock solid in the midfield. Any time Dynamo managed to get in City’s territory, they weren’t afraid to throw their boots at them (not literally). The three midfielders were physical, they had a couple of fouls in the first ten minutes (again with how the game started). They didn’t fly all the way to Ukraine to play around.
City's spotless defending down the wing
Kiev played with three men up top. City’s defense down the flank was excellent for most of the game, as far as intercepting crosses or stopping the opposing wingers. How many times did Vincent Kompany bolt down the wing to put up a tackle?
Oh, I need like five minutes of added time, wait for me
English class. Even though, they lost, Dynamo saw most of the ball with 52% of possession,
when City had 48%. And up to the hour mark, they had 27 more passes than the
English side.
Five minutes of added time is already done? Let me
leave on this note, great performance from Toure.
