Manchester City come from behind win against Monaco 5-3

By Martin Samuel for the Daily Mail PUBLISHED: 21:36 GMT, 21 February 2017 | UPDATED: 10:28 GMT, 22 February 2017

Maybe this is the game through which Manchester City will finally learn to love the Champions League. For if they cannot now, they probably never will.

There were eight goals scored, and all but the last changed the state of play. Manchester City ahead, Monaco level, Monaco ahead, Manchester City level, Monaco ahead, Manchester City level, Manchester City ahead. And then even further ahead.

It was the first time eight goals had been scored in the first leg of a Champions League tie, and the first in a European Cup tie since Real Madrid beat Swarovski Tirol 9-1 on October 24, 1990.

There is a substantial difference, however, between a one-sided drubbing and this twister of a tie, in which reputations were made and trashed as the energy and balance of power deliriously swirled.

What an occasion it was, what a spectacle. City almost out of Europe one moment, appearing stronger than ever the next — 3-2 down with 20 minutes to go, 5-3 up 12 minutes later. And Monaco missed a penalty.

A word of warning, mind you. Against a Monaco team with this attacking potential, even two goals clear, no tie is over with 90 minutes still to play. City will have to be at their best in the return. Both teams are at their strongest going forward, and 3-1, for instance, would send Monaco through.

Perhaps, after this, City’s supporters will begin to see Europe’s greatest tournament as more than a vehicle to vent their anger at UEFA. They were ready to shout conspiracy here, too, after a first-half penalty they thought should have been awarded, and one in the second-half they thought shouldn’t — they were right about the first, not the second — but they went home happy enough.

And why not? It was the greatest match here since Sergio Aguero’s title-winning goal against Queens Park Rangers and, naturally, he was at the centre of it last night, too. Twice, he equalised, and also had a hand in the fifth. His opposite number for Monaco will feel more of a mix of emotions. Radamel Falcao scored twice — as many goals as he got in this city for Manchester United in an entire season — but missed the penalty that changed the game. Had it gone in, Monaco would have led 3-1 and maybe City would have crumbled.

Instead, Falcao’s failure re-energised the stadium in a howl of righteous anger and encouragement. Even though Monaco did score again after that, this surge of emotion carried City forward.

It had started well enough, the hugely impressive Leroy Sane shooting over after seven minutes, Monaco’s defensive rock Kamil Glik booked for a foul on him moments later – and out of the return leg. City had already gone close twice when they opened the scoring after 26 minutes. 

Raheem Sterling scored it, but Sane’s celebrations were wildest, and justifiably so. It was Sane in midfield, holding off a succession of challenges and keeping the ball under control; Sane who worked the ball to David Silva; Sane who made ground for the return and Sane who struck the cross. Sterling, in a great spot, tucked it away, but Sane was worthy of an assist. About four of them, in fact.

City’s flaws, however, are significant — and one of them is the distribution of goalkeeper Willy Caballero. The problem is Pep Guardiola wants him to be something he is not: good at football.

He had already mislaid several passes when, in the 31st minute, he tried to float one into midfield, failed miserably, and saw the ball mopped up by Fabinho, who laid the ball off, got it back and hit a deep, low cross that Falcao met with a magnificent diving header. Here, at last, was the player Manchester United thought they were getting in 2014.

There followed the incident that looked to have turned the game in Monaco’s favour, while also turning the air blue with local fury. In the 34th minute, Aguero was put away, rounding goalkeeper Danijel Subasic only to be sent tumbling. Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz brandished what many expected to be a red for the Monaco man. Instead, it was a yellow, provoking groans. Groans that turned to howls on realisation it was a yellow for Aguero, for diving.

The mood was hardly improved when Yaya Toure was booked for a foul on Bakayoko – thanks to another alleged pass from Caballero — and then Fernandinho followed him. The free-kick this time was taken quickly, 18-year-old Kylian Mbappe alert to it, Nicolas Otamendi and Caballero not. What started as a simple chip over the top was smacked smartly into the net by the teenager tagged the new Thierry Henry. He certainly looked the part in spells here.

The second half, however, belonged to City. Eventually. 

First, the game-changer. In the 48th minute, as if to hone the local persecution complex, Monaco were awarded a penalty. That it looked justified, Otamendi bringing down Falcao, seemed to hardly matter. Outrage enveloped the Etihad. If this affected Falcao, he is not the player he looked at other times. Either way, he took an age over the kick and then struck it, soft to the right and far too near City’s goalkeeper. Never give a sucker an even break. Falcao did. Caballero saved.

Now the stadium was beserk for revenge. Maybe this troubled Subasic. His goalkeeping for City’s equaliser was as poor as Falcao’s penalty taking. Sterling put Aguero away, but hopeless handling from Subasic at the near post turned a tame shot into an equaliser and brought to an end 580 minutes of goalless Champions League knockout football for Aguero.

But if there is a lesson for City in the return it is that Monaco were not done. Falcao got away from Stones with ease and finished with a quite sublime chip over the head of Caballero, from close range, up and down like Andy Murray to the back of the court.

Yet, having seemingly thrown it away, again, from nowhere a blue tornado arrived.

For some reason, Monaco forgot City’s defensive vulnerability and allowed themselves to be pushed back. Fatal mistake. City, like them, are at their best going forward and Aguero has a point to prove, having lost his place to Gabriel Jesus. What a sweet strike it was to equalise again – volleying in a David Silva corner from 12 yards, but Monaco had allowed him far too much space.

Now Guardiola’s men were as irresistible as Monaco had once seemed. Another corner saw them ahead, this time from Kevin De Bruyne, flicked on by Toure and converted by Stones, inexplicably unmarked, at the far post. Had he not put it in, it would have fallen to Aguero, similarly unguarded. Monaco were falling apart.

The fifth confirmed that. Toure, Silva, Aguero and finally Sane combined in a wonderful passing move, yet with a striking absence of challenges from men in red shirts.

Delirium reigned. There have been a few revivals here, but none quite like this.

FC Barcelona v Manchester City: Cruising into quarter-finals

MICHAEL TOLL

 

03/18/2015 23:07

Catalans get lone first-half goal from Ivan Rakitic, reach Champions League last eight 

Ter Stegen stops Agüero’s second-half penalty kick to preserve win

FC Barcelona rode a solitary score from the foot of midfielder Ivan Rakitic to top Manchester City 1–0 on a crisp evening at Camp Nou, capping a 3–1 aggregate result and putting the Catalans through to the quarter-finals of theUEFA Champions League. Barça goalkeeper Marc-André Ter Stegen made a diving stop on a late Kun Agüeropenalty kick to preserve the victory.

Barça’s next opponent will be determined in the quarter-final draw, set for Friday in Nyon, Switzerland.

Messi in top form

Leo Messi, despite being kept off the score sheet, was at or near his best. The Argentinian put on a true show of his technical prowess, wowing the crowd by dribbling around, and through, defenders all night long, while coming very close to scoring on several occasions. His front-line cohorts, Neymar and Luis Suárez, also enjoyed multiple opportunities, but Citizen goalkeeper Joe Hart was spectacular between the posts and single-handedly kept the game from turning into a rout.

Unlikely scorer

Despite Barça's attacking firepower, it was Rakitic who broke the ice at the half-hour mark. Jordi Alba started the play by carrying the ball from deep in Barça territory out to midfield, where he found Messi lurking near the sideline.

The Argentinian crossed into City territory and glided towards the penalty area before lofting a long cross to Rakitic on the far side. Rakitic corralled the ball with his chest and effortlessly lifted it over a charging Hart and into the net.

Manchester City played at the limit of aggressivity throughout the encounter, drawing four first-half yellow cards and frequently tackling from behind while attempting to keep Barça from controlling the flow of the game.

Late chances

After the break, City began to settle in and were more at ease moving into Barça’s end. Knowing they had to score, the visitors became more vulnerable to counterattacks, which Barça’s forwards exploited without mercy. One of those instances came on 65 minutes when Neymar and Messi had a two-on-one that ended with Hart thwarting Messi at point-blank range.

As time was running out for City, their persistence seemed to pay off in the 77th when Barça defender Gerard Piqué was whistled for taking down Agüero in the penalty area. With a chance to tie the game from the spot, Agüero had his shot blocked by Ter Stegen, who pounced to his right and batted the ball away to safeguard Barça's lead and essentially seal their berth in the quarter-finals.

Manchester City punch a ticket to knockout stages, beats Roma 2-0

Champions League: Manchester City conquer Roma to make last 16

Manchester City progressed to the last 16 of the Champions League after beating Roma 2-0 at the Stadio Olimpico on Wednesday night.

Second-half goals from Samir Nasri and Pablo Zabaleta secured a win which, coupled with Bayern Munich’s 3-0 home victory against CSKA Moscow, means that Manuel Pellegrini’s side qualified as runners-up behind the Bavarians in Group E

The visitors made the breakthrough thanks to Nasri’s long-range strike on the hour mark, before a late goal by right-back Zabaleta confirmed the result.

However, the Premier League champions still needed captain Joe Hart to produce a number of word-class saves before their victory was sealed.

The result means City finish Group E on eight points and are in the hat for Monday's draw, where the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid could be lying in wait.

It was the home team who started the brighter of the two sides, and none more so that their pacy forward Gervinho, with the former Arsenal player causing Zabaleta all kinds of problems down the left wing.

After one neat move early on involving both Gervinho and Roma skipper Totti, the ball was fed through for Jose Holebas to have a clear sight of Hart’s goal, only for the England goalkeeper to do well to come quickly off his line and smother the Greek's close-range shot.

City were not without their own moments of promise in the opening period though, with James Milner in particular testing Roma goalkeeper Morgan De Sanctis with one effort from the edge of the area.

Meanwhile, the England international was then unlucky not to put the visitors ahead six minutes before the interval, only for the Giallorossi shot stopper to keep his shot out at the near post after good approach play by the lively Jesus Navas.

However, after Milner had been denied by De Sanctis, Gervinho immediately broke broke clear of the City back line, with Hart again needing to produce a brilliant fingertip save to stop his low shot from finding the bottom corner of the net.

The second period mainly belonged to the English side with City’s nerves - already calmed by news of Bayern having taken the lead against the Russian champions at the Allianz Arena - soothed even more by Nasri’s brilliant opener.

Picking up possession of the ball some 20 yards out on the left-hand edge of Roma’s penalty area, the mercurial Frenchman decided to try his luck from distance with few other alternatives to aim for in the box.

And it proved to be the right decision, with the midfielder’s powerful drive leaving De Sanctis with no chance in the Roma goal as the ball flew into the back of the 'keeper’s net off the inside of the post for what was his first goal of the season.

City, though, still needed to rely on both Bayern holding firm in Bavaria and their own goalkeeper to seal their place in the knockout phase of Europe’s premier club competition, with the latter’s contribution absolutely vital to their victory.

The England No 1 firstly turned aside Miralem Pjanic's shot from the edge of the area, then kept out Rajda Nainggolan’s long-range piledriver after 65 minutes, before the City skipper did even better to get his fingertips on to Konstantinos Manolas’s header, with the post also helping keep the effort out.

And from the resulting corner, much-maligned centre-back Martin Demichelis was in the right place at the right time to block substitute Mattia Destro’s close-range effort on the goal line as Roma’s hopes began to fade.

In fact, the hosts' hopes were extinguished with just four minutes to go when Nasri played in the marauding Zabaleta on the right-hand channel of the area before the Argentinian kept his cool to fire City into the knockout phase.

Jamie Carragher's verdict

"It was a proper European performance that we’ve been looking for from City not just this year, but in years gone by. It doesn’t mean they played free-flowing football or they were fantastic on the eye – they weren’t.

"After the first 15 minutes they came through the scares and grew into the game. At times it wasn’t pretty to watch and it wasn’t great football. But they made it difficult for Roma and grew into the game. It comes off the back of a lot of big players missing, like Kompany and Aguero."

Manchester City wins derby anew 1-0, deal Manchester United another loss

Sergio Agüero strike wins derby for Manchester City against 10-man United

It was a derby that left Manchester United a long way back in Manchester City’s wing-mirrors and, in the worst moments, straying dangerously close to being their own worst enemy. They had contributed heavily to their own downfall, most glaringly with the senselessness of Chris Smalling’s red card, and they should know by now that Manuel Pellegrini’s team are not the kind of opponents to pass up these kind of handouts.

Smalling’s quick one-two of yellow cards towards the end of the first half had left an air of inevitability about what would follow and, if anything, it was probably a surprise that City restricted themselves to Sergio Agüero’s goal bearing in mind another of United’s defenders, Marcos Rojo, was taken off on a stretcher early in the second half with a dislocated shoulder. It left Louis van Gaal’s team with a back four of Antonio Valencia, Michael Carrick, Paddy McNair and Luke Shaw. Carrick was playing his first football of the season. Valencia is known more as a low-confidence winger and McNair is a 19-year-old who has been fast-tracked from the youth academy after being spotted at Ballyclare Colts. This might not be City at their fully functioning best but it would have been almost implausible if they had not found their way through.

For that Smalling will have to do his time grazing in the scapegoat’s paddock because his contribution here supplied hard evidence of a player lacking the football intelligence that is needed at the highest level. He has previous on that front and it is difficult to find any mitigation for the way he scythed down James Milner when the first rule for a defender on a yellow card is not to dive in unless it is absolutely necessary. Smalling’s first booking had come eight minutes earlier for standing in front of Joe Hart to block the goalkeeper’s kick and it is hard to think of too many occasions in the history of this fixture when one of the players has been so hare-brained – or “stupid”, to use Van Gaal’s description.

Remarkably United’s 10 men almost salvaged an improbable draw during a late, spirited challenge. They showed great competitive courage in that period and there were chances for Robin van Persie, Ángel Di María and Marouane Fellaini to punish City for defending too deeply and not being more clinical with their opportunities at the other end. Yet the truth is that City would probably have been coasting by that point if the referee, Michael Oliver, had not turned down three separate penalties, at least two of which could be accurately described as certainties.

Wayne Rooney spent much of the game remonstrating with Oliver about his own grievances and, in the interest of balance, there were certainly occasions when United had legitimate complaints. Oliver had an erratic and often bewildering afternoon and, just to pick out one incident, the images of Joe Hart putting his forehead uncomfortably close to the official are certainly far from the norm.

Yet the reality is that City had the stronger grievances. United would have been down to nine men if Oliver had made the correct decision when Yaya Touré surged into the penalty area and Rojo, the wrong side of his man, took him down in the last piece of action of the first half. Fellaini had already got away with a risky challenge in the penalty area on Agüero and he was guilty in the second half of the same again. City will feel nonplussed when they review the tape and Pellegrini had to summon all his restraint in the post-match interviews. He did, however, describe it as “unbelievable” and we can only imagine the volume of criticism for Oliver had Agüero’s goal not made it seem more like an irritating sub-plot than the main story.

The breakthrough came after 63 minutes as United’s unorthodox defence desperately tried to hold off a spell of sustained pressure. Gaël Clichy was galloping down the left and, when Touré played the ball between Valencia and Di María, the visitors’ back line was caught out of shape. Clichy picked out Agüero with a low cross and the Argentinian thumped a rising shot past David de Gea.

De Gea had been a difficult goalkeeper to beat, keeping out Agüero and Jesús Navas, during an opening half an hour when there was not a great deal between the teams. At that stage City had found it hard to get any real momentum, with Stevan Jovetic not making any real impression and Touré taking his time to get into the match. It was Smalling’s dismissal that changed everything.

Van Gaal responded by replacing Adnan Januzaj with Carrick and, in fairness, the emergency centre-half did exceedingly well given that he has not played since May. McNair also acquitted himself well after Rojo was injured sliding into a challenge with Martín Demichelis – moments after Fellaini had been guilty of pulling out of one – and Van Gaal was entitled, for the most part, to recognise his team’s personality. “Our problem is we give the ball away too often.”

Hart had to make two splendid saves as Van Persie and Di María took aim and Fellaini should really have done better with a headed chance. City, however, had accumulated many more scoring opportunities, with Milner excelling before his substitution, Touré and Fernando becoming increasingly influential and Navas striking the post when he had the chance to double the lead.

It leaves United contemplating their worst start to a season, with 13 points from 10 games, since Ron Atkinson was sacked at the corresponding stage in 1986. It was City’s sixth win in their last seven league meetings against United, including four in a row for the first time since 1970, and Van Gaal’s expression suggested that he had not accepted Smalling’s apology. Smalling had been “very humble”, according to Van Gaal, but there was no sympathy here. “Not so smart,” as the Dutchman put it.

Man of the match Sergio Agüero (Manchester City)

Sergio Aguero explodes with four goals as Manchester City dominates Tottenham 4-0

FOUR-MIDABLE! Aguero runs riot as champions rock Spurs in match that has two missed penalties and a red card

In a game of four penalties – only two of them awarded correctly - Aguero scored four goals, might have had seven were it not for Hugo Lloris and dominated a game in which City chose to rest key men for their crucial Champions League clash in Moscow on Tuesday. Not content with that list of achievements, he also surpassed Carlos Tevez as City’s all time Premier League scorer.

And yet Pochettino’s despair was legitimate given that Tottenham played well, were the victim of some poor decisions, and had the opportunity to bring the the game back to 2-2 on 61 minutes when Roberto Soldado missed a penalty. Well though Soldado played up to that point, you fear that might represent the point of no return for his confidence as a Premier League player.

Instead of pushing City to the bitter end, Tottenham added yet another excruciating result to their recent run against Manchester City: 0-6, 1-5 and 1-4 runs the sequence since last November.

‘It was amusing game for the fans,’ said Manuel Pellegrini, in his precise but idiosyncratic English. ‘It was 4-1 but it could have been 7-3. It’s very important to be an attractive team but maybe it’s important also not to make as many mistakes, especially with excessive trust, with the ball at our feet.’

Indeed, were you inclined to picky, the laxity of City’s holding midfielders once Frank Lampard had gone off injured would be a major point of concern. Still, the brilliance of Aguero made it hard to dwell on negatives. ‘He is one of three of four best strikers in the world,’ dead panned Pellegrini, as excited as an accountant announcing mediocre end-of-year results.

‘I’m not just saying it after this game: It was not easy for him last year when he had so many injuries to produce these kind of performances when he’s not 100 per cent fit. Now he demonstrates how he can play. Maybe he won’t score four goals a game but he will demonstrate why everyone says he is one of the best players in the world.’

For Pochettino there were only regrets. ‘It’s tough to accept the result, because the performance was good,’ he said. The persistence and determination of Lee Mason and the guile of Christian Eriksen gave them a real opportunity to obtain points from this game; yet the rash decisions of Younes Kaboul and Federico Fazio would cost them. 

Tottenham should have taken the lead on eight minutes, Soldado playing in Mason, who should have scored from close range but was denied by Joe Hart. You suspected Tottenham would suffer for that and on twelve minutes Lamela lost the ball to Sagna who found Aguero in tight space in the penalty area.

Kaboul thought he had him covered, but there is no real containing the Argentina. He simply jinxed away to create space and shoot beyond Lloris. Yet Tottenham had legitimate cause for complaint, Lampard, preferred to the rested Yaya Toure, jumping over the ball in an offside position as it headed goal-wards.

No matter, for within a minute Spurs were level. Fernando lost the ball to the superb Mason, Soldado picking up the scraps and feeding Eriksen, who fired in off the cross bar. But they weren’t level for long. On 19 minutes Lamela attempted a clumsy but innocuous challenge on Lampard, who fell to ground in the manner of a seasoned professional and a penalty was awarded. It was barely a penalty but Aguero simply stroked the ball past Lloris.

The game threatened to run away from Spurs for the first time on 32 minutes. This time it was Kaboul committing a rash challenge on David Silva in the area and this time the penalty was legitimate. But this time Aguero proved fallible, allowing Lloris to save with his legs. Even then, such is his ability, Aguero almost scored anyway, leaping in the air to volley the impossibly-high rebound over. 

A Lloris versus Aguero side show was developing – the Frenchman produced excellent saves on 24 minutes and 49 minutes – but Tottenham stayed in the contest. Eriksen’s strike on 40 minutes tested Hart and the Dane set up Mason on 41 minutes, whose strike required excellent reactions from Hart.

It was on 61 minutes that Hart came into his own. Soldado spun his marker Martin Demichelis, and was clipped, crucially, outside the penalty area. Regardless referee Jonathon Moss awarded the spot kick. Soldado took the kick, lamely, and Hart, diving splendidly to his right, stretched out a hand to save.

Hart again was on hand to parry away a Soldado volley on 64 minutes, a key moment for Pochettino. However, Tottenham do have that innate capacity to self-destruct. Federico Fazio had performed competently on his Premier League debut until the 66th minute when the sight of Aguero rushing away on to a Navas cross proved too much and he and hauled the Argentine back, unnecessarily, as there was still plenty required of the Argentine to score.

A red card, a fourth penalty and a hat-trick for Aguero ensued. The contest ended there. Aguero added the fourth, simply finding space from a deep free kick, this time at the expense of Jan Vertonghen, and shooting low past Lloris on 75 minutes. Yesterday, there was containing his genius, not unlike that well-known Salzburg playmaker, Wolfgang Amadeus.

Frank Lampard saves a point for Manchester City against his team Chelsea 1-1

Manchester City 1-1 Chelsea: Blues legend Frank Lampard haunts his former club with late equaliser after Andre Schurrle opener

Frank Lampard has now scored against 39 different Premier League teams. He just didn’t ever imagine Chelsea would be one of them.

Not since Denis Law believed he had condemned Manchester United to relegation – also in a Manchester City shirt, coincidentally – has a player looked so mixed up about scoring. 

Lampard’s 85th minute equaliser came at the end of an afternoon in which his name had been sung as enthusiastically by the away end, as by the fans of his new club.

They held up banners in his honour, and continued to celebrate and embrace him as one of their own. Lampard said he didn’t get a chance to say a proper goodbye. He must have been relishing the opportunity, yet privately dreading a send-off like this. 

More importantly, Zabaleta deserved to go. Already booked for a foul on Eden Hazard – there were nine yellow cards, including Zabaleta’s two – he was reckless in his challenge on Diego Costa and became involved in some pointless grappling after the event. It was the foul that earned the second yellow card, though, and Zabaleta’s protests were futile and misguided. 

He has been sent-off in six of his seven seasons with City and, for all his excellence, has a tendency to hot-headedness. So does Costa, but he was the wronged party here. In the circumstances, City have no cause for complaint.

Chelsea’s breakthrough, which followed soon after, was poetry in motion. Costa held the ball up in midfield perfectly, moving it on and finally out to Hazard on the right flank. His cross was precise as was substitute Andre Schurrle’s run, arriving at the far post as he so often does for club and country, sharper than City’s covering defenders, a goal waiting to happen. 

It could have been all over from there had Costa not hit a post after 81 minutes. This meant he failed to match the Premier League scoring record of eight in five games – held by Micky Quinn at Coventry City.

In these days of sprees measured in hundreds of millions, it is nice to know that an old school figure like Quinn can still have his name in the record books. Lampard, too. Thirty-nine and counting. Don’t think it ends here. He couldn’t stop himself, you know, even if he tried.

Jerome Boateng brought down Manchester City with a late goal 1-0

Champions League: Jerome Boateng sinks Manchester City as Bayern Munich win 1-0

The hosts had the better chances of the opening 45 minutes as both Thomas Muller and Robert Lewandowski hit the side-netting after rounding Joe Hart, who was in inspired form to keep both Muller and Mario Gotze at bay.

Hart denied Gotze again in a much more subdued second period, while David Silva threatened for City, but Boateng, who left Eastlands after a year with the club in 2011, struck with one minute remaining on the clock via Gotze's back to secure the three points.

Bayern were without Franck Ribery for the Group E opener but Pep Guardiola’s three-pronged attack still boasted plenty of goal threat with Lewandowski leading the line, while Arjen Robben returned to the bench following a knee injury.

Manuel Pellegrini, who was serving the final game of his touchline ban, opted to start Edin Dzeko ahead of Sergio Aguero up front in the most eye-catching of his four changes from Saturday’s 2-2 draw at Arsenal.

It was Guardiola’s men who began the liveliest and within 40 seconds of kick-off, one side of the ground thought Bayern had taken the lead as Muller rounded Hart after racing through on goal, only to find the side-netting as he lost his footing.

The German felt Hart had tripped him as he looked to apply the finish but Spanish referee Alberto Undiano Mallenco waved away the protests in an early warning for City assistant Ruben Cousillas.

City were seeing more of the ball than they might have expected in the opening stages, though, and Dzeko forced Manuel Neuer into a smart low stop at his near post after being threaded into an acute angle by Silva.

It was a fairly open start to proceedings and Joe Hart was called upon for the first time after 18 minutes with a superb one-handed save to deny Muller’s goal-bound header, before Boateng sliced over from the resulting corner.

Hart was busy again two minutes later to beat away Gotze’s deflected effort, while Dzeko curled a wicked left-footer inches wide of Neuer’s post at the opposite end after a swift City break up-field.

After two half chances in quick succession for Dzeko, David Alaba looked to up the ante in Bayern’s favour, lashing wide from range before Hart pushed away his half-volley after the ball had fallen kindly on the edge of the City box.

The hosts were beginning to find their rhythm and Lewandowski threatened for the first time on 35 minutes in a similar chance to Muller’s early miss, rounding Hart but hitting the side-netting after Alaba’s through ball.

Bacary Sagna, who came into the side for the suspended Pablo Zabaleta, then saw a near-post header pushed away by Neuer from Samir Nasri’s corner as the game remained goalless at half-time.

Five minutes after the restart, Philipp Lahm dragged a low strike wide after being invited to shoot from range before Hart clutched onto the ball after Vincent Kompany’s block had taken the sting out of Gotze’s shot.

City were prompted into their first change on 57 minutes as the match-winner in this fixture last year, James Milner, replaced the largely ineffectual Nasri.

Bayern had started the second half the brighter of the two and there was a nervy moment for Hart as he misjudged the flight of Rafinha’s cross from the right, but the England keeper managed to recover in time to push away the danger from Mehdi Benatia’s return ball.

City looked at their most dangerous on the counter-attack and an incisive move into the Bayern half culminated with Silva launching himself at a right-wing cross from Navas that he was just unable to direct on target.

That chance triggered a brief spell of possession inside the Bayern half for the visitors but Martin Demichelis was still needed to stand firm to block and then hook away Bernat’s inviting low cross from the left.

Hart then spilled a speculative strike from Rafinha but managed to react in time to block Muller’s rebound from close-range, although the linesman’s raised flag would have spared his blushes.

Dzeko made way for Aguero on 73 minutes, while Robben replaced Muller soon after for the hosts. The Dutchman was soon in the thick of things as his penalty appeals were dismissed after going to ground under the close watch of Fernandinho.

Silva then felt he was fouled inside the area at the other end after a clumsy challenge from Benatia.

Bayern were pressing for a late winner as Hart produced another stunning stop to push away Boateng’s long-range strike before the former City man finally broke the deadlock with one minute on the clock as he lashed home a half-volley from the resulting corner.

Replays later showed the strike to have taken a slight deflection on its way off the back of Gotze, but the former City defender was quick to claim a rare goal. 

Substitute David Pizarro smashed into Hart’s side-netting moments later, while Aguero poked wide the game’s final chance after a gut-wrenching finale for the Premier League side.

Manchester City and Arsenal draw 2-2

Martin Demichelis’s late goal earns Manchester City a 2-2 draw at Arsenal 

By the end, there was unmistakable disappointment on Arsène Wenger’s face and a heavy sense of regret engulfing the stands about Arsenal’s failure to capitalise on those goals from Jack Wilshere and, brilliantly, Alexis Sánchez that had turned the game upside down in 11 second-half minutes. Yet they will also know it might have been worse on a day when both sides could easily have won or lost and that culminated in a rare show of temper from Manuel Pellegrini.

Martín Demichelis’s late header ultimately spared Manchester City a second successive defeat but they still had time to hit the post twice during that wild, chaotic finale when their opponents seemed to be doing everything possible to contrive a way to lose. Samir Nasri, facing his former club, was denied a stoppage-time winner because of an offside flag and City also had justifiable grievances that the referee, Mark Clattenburg, missed Wilshere’s handball inside the penalty area.

Arsenal limped to the finish but it would be unfair to reproach them too heavily when, earlier in the game, they had played as though affronted by their record against the top sides. Wenger and his players had been reminded all week about their sorry run of results in these high-importance fixtures but there was no sense of a side with an inferiority complex. They played with high skill and intensity and, more than that, they had to show considerable personality after going in behind at half-time to Sergio Agüero’s breakaway goal.

To recap, this is an Arsenal team that had taken 26 points out of a possible 90 against the teams they want to consider as bona fide rivals over the past five years. They set off like a team that wanted to show that statistic must be a glitch in the system, but for a long time after Agüero’s goal they found it difficult to get any momentum back. Vincent Kompany was a formidable opponent, as he always is in the big games, and David Silva’s nimble artistry between midfield and attack frequently troubled the home side.

It was a test of Arsenal’s character and, midway through the second half, they passed it with distinction. Wilshere equalised in the 63rd minute after running on to Aaron Ramsey’s pass, eluding Gaël Clichy and clipping a lovely diagonal shot above Joe Hart, and what followed was sensational.

This was one of Sánchez’s better performances from his brief time at Arsenal and it was a majestic volley with which he gave Arsenal the lead, even if Hart might have done better.

It was just a pity for Arsenal that everything started to unravel from that point. Wenger talked of conceding a “cheap goal” and he must have been startled by the carelessness of his team in the moments before and after Demichelis thudded a header past Wojciech Szczesny straight from a corner. “We did something remarkable to come back,” Wenger said. “The only disappointment for me is that we couldn’t keep the lead.”

Instead, there was enough late pressure from City to feel they could have added one final, dramatic twist. Aleksandar Kolarov drove one shot against the upright and then another substitute, Edin Dzeko, was denied by the other post.

Dzeko had been on the pitch, Pellegrini said, because City’s manager was convinced Clattenburg would end up sending off Agüero. Fernandinho and Frank Lampard, two of City’s other booked players, had already been withdrawn and it was rare to hear Pellegrini be so critical of a referee’s performance. Uppermost in his mind was that there were “clear fouls” before both Arsenal goals. That was an exaggeration but, overall, he was justified to say Clattenburg had a “very bad day”.

Lampard had been held back for this game so Yaya Touré could have a break after playing for Ivory Coast in Cameroon on Wednesday but the 36-year-old looked his age on a difficult City debut. His yellow card, for sliding into Ramsey, had exposed his lack of match fitness and the game was played at an unforgiving speed.

To start with, Arsenal had the clear edge but Danny Welbeck, on a debut that showed his good and bad, opted for the lofted shot, the dainty little pitching wedge, when he ran clear early on with the chance to open the scoring; as Wenger acknowledged, it was almost certainly the wrong choice of club. The ball came back off the post, rebounding into Hart’s arms, and even at that early stage it was tempting to wonder whether the £16m signing might regret that wastefulness.

Sure enough, City broke in the 28th minute. Agüero went for the same ball as Mathieu Flamini in midfield and, as the ricochet spun it to the right, the Arsenal man hesitated, believing it was going for a throw-in. Jesús Navas had read the trajectory of the ball and as soon as he started haring down the line Arsenal were in trouble. His cross was beautifully weighted and Agüero had eluded Flamini to show his expertise in the penalty area.

Arsenal lost Mathieu Debuchy in the closing stages to a badly sprained ankle and they were looking dishevelled in those moments when the champions went searching for the winner. They very nearly found it but Arsenal, on the balance of play, had done enough before that point to think that it would have been unwarranted.

Manchester City notch second win at Liverpool's expense 3-1

 

By Phil McNulty Chief football writer at Etihad Stadium

• Manchester City make it two wins from two

• Jovetic scores first Premier League brace

• Balotelli watches his new side lose

Manchester City delivered an early statement of intent as the Premier League champions comfortably overcame last season's runners-up Liverpool at Etihad Stadium.  Stevan Jovetic scored either side of half-time to punish Liverpool, who dominated much of the first half without creating the opportunities to go with their excellent work-rate and approach work.

And as Liverpool's new £16m signing Mario Balotelli watched from the directors' box against his former club, any hopes of a comeback were snuffed out when Sergio Aguero slid home the third 23 seconds after coming on as substitute for the injured Edin Dzeko.  Pablo Zabaleta's own goal at least got Liverpool on the scoresheet but the last 20 minutes were played out as a formality, such was City's control.

Jovetic's first season at City was hampered by injuries but he has form for tormenting Liverpool after scoring twice against them in Fiorentina's Champions League win in 2009 and he showed his quality again here. Liverpool are in a period of transition with nine new signings this summer following the departure of Luis Suarez to Barcelona.

And, while they were the better side for the first 40 minutes, they never recovered from an error by debutant Alberto Moreno that allowed City to take the lead just before half-time.  The pleasure for Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini will not just come from the victory, but also from the fact that it was achieved without ever truly hitting the heights against the team who pushed them to the final day of last season's title race. 

For City, without needing to be at their best, this was very much business as usual for the reigning champions.  Liverpool will obviously miss a player of Suarez's world-class calibre but Rodgers must also be given time to bed in his reshaped squad, and these early days of the season will represent a work in progress.

Rodgers will also be hoping the maverick Balotelli will provide the sort of X-factor Suarez provided without the accompanying unsavoury headlines once he gets down to business after completing his move from AC Milan.

Liverpool's greater strength in midfield numbers and intense pressing posed problems for City until the deadlock was broken after 41 minutes in a manner the visitors' manager would have found hugely unsatisfactory.  Dejan Lovren attempted to find Moreno with a header in the area but the £12m signing from Sevilla hesitated, allowing Jovetic to pounce and beat Simon Mignolet.

If Jovetic's first goal owed something to a Liverpool lapse, his second, 10 minutes after the restart, was a superb team goal started and finished by the talented Montenegrin. Jovetic's brilliant flick set Samir Nasri free and he continued his run into the area to end a prolonged period of City passing with another emphatic finish. 

City wrapped things up in remarkable fashion with 21 minutes left. Aguero made his entrance to replace Dzeko and, within seconds, he was running on to Jesus Navas's perfect pass to beat Mignolet from a tight angle.  Liverpool pulled a goal back when Zabaleta turned into his own net after a far-post scramble with Rickie Lambert, but there was no consolation on offer here, only the concern of defender Glen Johnson limping off with what looked like a groin injury.

Rodgers will hope Balotelli can help bridge the gap between the sides over the course of a season but this was an impressively understated win from City. 

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini: "We worked the whole game and played a very good team. We worked without the ball for 95 minutes and with the ball we made enough danger to score three goals.

"When you play against a strong team you have to concentrate and our concentration and intensity was good. Liverpool are an important team and one that will be fighting for the title. It's so important to get six points from our first two games as it was a very difficult start for us.

"Stevan Jovetic was very unlucky last season and he had so many injuries. He has been patient and worked very hard to come again. We bought him because he is a very good player, he had a good pre-season and I'm very happy for him - he deserves it.  "We need four strikers. At this moment Stevan is doing very well but you cannot forget Alvaro Negredo is injured. Edin Dzeko and Jovetic and Aguero are working well. It is important that they continue playing the way they did."

Manchester City start their title defense on track tames Newcastle United 2-0

  

 

David Silva and Kun Aguero both scored in City win

By Saj Chowdhury  

BBC Sport

Manchester City began the defence of their Premier League title with a routine win at Newcastle thanks to David Silva and Sergio Aguero goals. 

Manuel Pellegrini's side were rarely troubled by the hosts and took the lead when Silva tucked in following a brilliant backheel by Edin Dzeko. Substitute Aguero added a second in stoppage time when he poked in after his initial shot was saved by Tim Krul. Dzeko had a shot blocked by Krul, who also stopped Samir Nasri's drive. 

That was the sum total of City's best chances during a match in which they did not have to be at their best and their keeper Joe Hart - preferred to summer recruit Willy Caballero - was rarely tested.  Pellegrini was confident enough to leave influential striker Aguero on the bench and for £32m signing Eliaquim Mangala to remain in Manchester. 

City got on top of Newcastle from the whistle, with Yaya Toure, the often maligned Martin Demichelis and another newcomer Fernando first to the second ball in dangerous areas without over-exerting themselves.  In attack, Silva, who did not show his true form at the World Cup, was back to his brilliant best while Montenegro's Stevan Jovetic, frustrated by niggly injuries in his first season, was exceptional in his role as roving midfielder. 

The 24-year-old played the role of quarterback in the opening moments, producing a delightful lofted pass for Dzeko who could only strike his effort at Krul, who read the situation.

The Netherlands keeper, who played a starring role in the World Cup quarter-finals, was also called into action soon after when he dived to his right to prevent Nasri's pile driver from bursting the net. 
 
Containment seemed to be the Magpies' primary focus, although £12m midfield signing Remy Cabella was a willing outlet on his debut. Against a potent City side that defensive tactic rarely bears fruit, and seven minutes before the break the final line of defence was breached. 

On this occasion, Toure found Dzeko in the area with a long pass and he then took two Newcastle defenders out with a backheel for Silva to stroke home. Pellegrini's side had gone into the match having beaten Newcastle in their previous nine league meetings. 

However, late in the game that run looked like it would come to an end when substitute striker Ayoze Perez, who replaced ineffective fellow newcomer Emmanuel Riviere, was found in the area.  He jinked inside and fired in a shot that took a vital deflection off Fernando to take it past the post.

That was the best of two good opportunities for the Magpies, with full-back Paul Dummett heading over earlier when Hart misjudged a delivery into the area. 

Newcastle lacked a cutting edge but, with promising attacking midfielder Siem de Jong waiting in the wings, manager Alan Pardew stressed afterwards he was happy with his options.

Magpies fans probably wish they could afford someone like Aguero, who dealt the final blow after coming on late to calmly slot in City's second, after his initial angled strike was saved.