MANCHESTER CITY 5 - 0 FULHAM
Manchester City kept their Premier League title hopes on track with a
5-0 thrashing of ten-men Fulham at the Etihad Stadium, the game also Ivorian
Midfielder Yaya Toure netting a hat trick for the Blues to see the Cottagers sink
deeper into relegation trouble at the foot of the table.
With Chelsea handing out capital punishment to their fellow London
rival Arsenal in the game early kick off, it was important that Man City kept
the pressure up on the teams above them with and a great opportunity to do so in
the shape of bottom of the table side Fulham.
The home side was missing the services of Captain Vincent Kompany for the
game after the Belgian defender was sent off in the 2-0 win at Hull last
weekend for the Blues.
It saw Manuel Pellegrini using the same centre back pairing that he
used in the FA Cup defeat to Wigan Athletic a couple of weeks ago, as Joleon
Lescott came into replace Vincent
Kompany and saw them play very well in the City defence.
City typically threatened throughout the match with the home side
restricting the play of Fulham as they never gave them a sniff all game. The
home side had a good shout for a penalty claim in the 11th minute of
the game, when a Samir Nasri corner was missed by Martin Demichelis which saw the ball strike the arm of Steve
Sidwell who had put his head down and despite
the blue shirts appealing to the referee over a penalty the claims were waved
away and play continued on.
Sidwell was involved in another penalty claim by the home side after City
was targeting the Fulham right and so when Alvaro Negredo mis-controlled the
ball, it saw the Spaniard dashing to keep the ball in play with a great
backheel that saw it stop dead. From
then Pablo Zabaleta put a little ball through towards James Milner just inside
the area and as the City man turned, Sidwell then tackled his man without
getting the ball and saw Sidwell get away with two incidents.
The game saw all the different types of weather Manchester could muster
as it was going from one extreme to the other while play was ongoing. It wasn`t
the first time a game played between the two at the Etihad Stadium had saw
crazy weather, as last year saw play held up for a few minutes due to the snow
flurries during the game and needed the groundsmen to shovel snow off the white
lines so the players and officials knew where the penalty area was.
City had the first chance of the game through James Milner after
Aleksander Kolarov`s cross was deflected away ,only as far as the England man
and his driving effort saw Dean Stockdale push it away and his defender had to
head it out for a corner.
In the 24th minute James Milner put a ball deep into the
penalty area for the chasing Negredo to chase down and it seen the striker take
a boot to his lower back from Defender Fernando Amorebieta who made a poor
challenge and saw the Fulham man booked and gave away a penalty to the home
side as well.
Yaya Toure stepped up to take the penalty for City and saw him side
foot home into the bottom left hand corner to beat past Stockdale for a 1-0 lead.
Fulham then had a chance minutes later when Kieran Richardson beat Demichelis
down the left side and put a little cross towards the back post where upon Sascha
Riether header was wide of the target and saw the home side showing signs of vulnerability
at the back.
The Blues midfield then almost orchestrated a fantastic goal between
them all which saw James Milner lead the attack, before Fernandinho took up the
play and when a ball was meant to go to the far side it seen David Silva get on
it and his lovely first touch took it away from the defender, before the
Spanish wizard dinked it over the keeper with Amorebieta was on hand to clear off the
line and see Fulham let off.
Kolarov then smashed the bar with a fierce shot on target after Milner
again was the creator of the move, Milner had done brilliantly to chest down a
Fernandinho ball before he then laid it off to the Serbian defender and he let
rip with side footed effort that shook the woodwork from the shot.
Second half saw a more ruthless Manchester City side come out to play and
it wasn`t too long before they doubled their lead when the home side was
awarded a second penalty in the match and in the process ,saw Amorebieta getting
his marching orders for a second bookable offence to go along with conceding two
penalties.
The penalty came from more sublime passing play by the home side, which
saw Fernandinho`s pass to Milner backheeled into the path of David Silva and saw
the defender take him out to give away another penalty.
A second spot kick to Toure saw a second goal for Toure, with the Ivory
Coast International placing the ball in exactly the same place as the first one
and put City lead 2-0 up and all but end Fulham`s hopes of getting back in the
game.
 |
| Amorebieta shown red card PIC: news168.com |
It almost became shooting practice for the Blues from that point
really, with the home side having a fair few efforts on goal but not hitting
the target. James Milner saw his shot
blazed over after he tricked two Fulham players in the build up and seen the
midfielder firing high and wide before Kolarov strike this time round was a
poor one, with it going wide of the goals but you sensed a goal was coming
soon.
When Yaya Toure scores goals they are normally stunners and so when the
Ivorian received a pass from outside the Fulham penalty area which was close to
35 yards out, you felt it would take a special strike to go in from that range
and it was. Samir Nasri had took a free kick that was played to Toure and the
midfielder took a little touch before bending the ball round the defense to
beat the keeper and go in for a 3-0 score with Yaya Toure`s completing his HAT TRICK.
Aleksander Kolarov nearly made it four for City after his drive from
outside the area was stopped well by Stockdale and needed his defender`s to help
in clearing the danger away after a good save.
Both of City`s midfield dynamos was then substituted when Toure and
Silva made way, with them both doing their jobs to perfection and got a
standing ovation from the Etihad crowd as Pellegrini had his eye slightly turned
to Tuesday night`s game in the Manchester Derby at Old Trafford.
Demichelis came close to increasing the score for the home side, after his
flick on at the near post beat the keeper but was kicked off the line by the
Fulham defender and seen the away side under the cosh a bit. Samir Nasri was
then replaced by the fit again Montenegro striker in Stefan Jovetic and that saw
Nasri given a standing ovation too with the Frenchman being saved for that big
game too.
City eventually scored their fourth of the game through Brazilian Fernandinho,
as the midfielder ran diagonally into the penalty area before unleashing a fierce
shot that gave the goalkeeper no chance of stopping and seen the home side seal
the win in the 83rd minute of play.
 |
| Toure converts penalty :Pic: ITV.COM |
Milner kept plugging away in his search of what would have been a very
much deserved goal in the contest, but Stockdale was equal to his shot and seen
him tip it away for a corner. The Blues added one more goal to score, when from that resulting corner saw Milner
take it quickly and saw play go to the far side with Javi Garcia`s shot palmed
away, only as far as Martin Demichelis who stuck a foot out and saw the ball
run slowly over the line with the Argentine defender hold his arm up to
celebrate before the ball had even gone in.
 |
| Demichelis adds 5th Pic: TERRASPORTS |
Alvaro Negredo then really should have made it 6-0 late on after that
man again James Milner, used all of his trickery to get by the Fulham defence
and put a ball into the area which was stopped by Steve Sidwell. Sidwell then
tried to head it back to the goalie while on his hands and knees and which saw
Negredo sneak in round the back to poke the ball between the two and watched it
pass the post to see the Spaniard`s goal drought continue on. City keep up
their recent good form and clean sheets to complete a very impressive display by
the Blues to see them heading into the important game with neighbours
Manchester United on Tuesday night full of confidence.
