The Soccer Blog: City 1, Everton 2--Minute by Minute Report

Tuesday, 21 December 2010

City 1, Everton 2--Minute by Minute Report

City 1, Everton 2–Minute by Minute Report - - The Offside - Manchester City English Premiership Football Blog

« Carlos Wants to Go? Uh-Oh. But Here’s How I Would Handle it in a Game of Football Manager | Home | City 1, Everton 2–Minute by Minute ReportBy: Thad | December 20th, 2010

Everton 2, City 1–a big setback in City’s push to to the top. Read in for a blow-by-blow account…

Greetings sports fans! Snow wiped out almost all of the weekend fixtures in the Premier League, but Manchester City-Everton is on!….And by the way, yes Carlos Tevez will play, and yes he withdrew his transfer request today. Whoo-hoo! Santa is a Blue!

City are fielding Mancini’s preferred lineup these days–Kolarov, Kompany, K Toure, Zabaleta, Hart at the back, Y toure, Barry, Milner in midfield, Silva, Tevez (still captain!), and Balotelli up front. Slight surprise Zab is in for Boateng.

Everton have Howard, Neville, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Osman, Rodwell, Felaini, Coleman, Anichebe, Cahill.

No Arteta tonight but Tim Cahill is always a threat.

Kick off is here–pitch looks okay but let’s see how it holds up.

1st min. Sub-zero temperatures as City kick off and Kompany almost in a spot of trouble. But he’s out of it and City spend a full minute in possession of the ball.

Second minute. Still City with all the ball but it hasn’t gone into the box yet.
Third minute. City could go top with a victory. Still all City but Zab’s cross in the box is pretty weak and is easily cut out.
4th min. Everton with a half chance falling to Rodwell but his shot is weak—but Cahill has scored, just like that!

5th min. City didn’t clear their lines and allowed Cahill to ghost in for a near post header from inside 5 yards, completely unmarked! That was bad. City need to recover.
6th min. Tevez tries a one-two but can’t get on the receiving end I believe from Y Toure.
7th min. Mancini is ranting a bit on the sideline, he’s unhappy at that goal. I think it was Coleman with the cross. Quite a sucker punch from the visitors.
8th minute. Everton have the ball for a spell and here’s another dangerous ball in, but City deal with it. But Tevez loses it as City attempt to break.
9th minute.Scoreline is 0-1 Everton, for the record. Barry with a nice move but Silva’s ball is too weak and it’s intercepted.
11th min. Well, any season produces a character test and here’s one for City. Silva with a great chance on the left, he hits it very hard from the left side but sends it wide at the near post. Great ball by Yaya to set that up.
14th min. Good play by City results in a corner as Kolarov’s low cross is knocked out. The corner is headed by Balotelli towards goal but right at Tim Howard for an easy save.
15th min. Balotelli is offside to negate a promising chance, Tevez chipped a ball in for him.
16th min. Cahill left the pitch and showed the world his tattoos while getting a bit of the magic spray.
18th min. City have a throw down the right side, they work it all the way to the left and Kolarov plays one in but Everton deal with it.
19th min. A second goal for Everton! Wow, that was a good move, finished with a curler by Leighton Baines, Cahill left it for him and Baines put it around Hart with his right foot.
20th min. That goal was scored while Zabaleta was out getting treatment—his opposite number scored in the area that would have been his responsibility.
21st min. Mancini is angry, I’m not sure at whom, but City need to get it together. City’s useless reliable defense has been MIA so far today.

22nd min. Adam Johnson is already warming up, could there be a first half change?
23rd min. Before that second goal I was about to post that it’s a surprisingly open game, but it has n’t worked to City’s advantage. Zab is finally out of the locker with a bandage around his head.
25th min. Silva and Tevez try to connect on a one-two in the box but Tevez’s ball finds Tim Howard before Silva can reach it. Zabaleta has four stitches, we’re told.
26th min. The crowd are still into it. De Jong I believe is suspended and perhaps City are learning his true value tonight.
27th mini. Here’s another attack, Zab with a good ball in to the 6 yard box but Everton hoof it away as Tevez lurked. Kolarov takes it on the right, Balotelli heads but Everton clear it for a corner.
28th min. Balotelli with a powerful hit left footed on the corner, but his volley sails over the bar. City’s fans are trying to will the team back into this.
29th min. Osman was through for a chance there but his shot takes a deflection and is held by Hart.
30th min. Long ball for Tevez is hoofed by Howard just outside his box for a throw. City set up shop. Here comes Silva.
31st min. He laid it off to Tevez who lost the ball, but City have it right back. Silva chips it in from the left, it finds no one but City come again. Balotelli takes it to the endline and wins a corner, nothing else was on.
32nd min. Kolarov takes, Kompan had a shot that was blocked, as were three more shots, but City still have the ball! Zabaleta now has a shot but another block by brave Everton!
33rd min. A remarkable sequence of pressure ends as Anichebe takes it away; Milner brings him down and it’s called a foul. City had no fewer than five tries to shoot but Everton blocked all of them before they could reach Tim Howard or the goal itself.
34th min. Replay shows that one of those attempts struck Neville on the arm, but probably that should not have been a penalty. Fellaini gets Tevez, and is rewarded with a yellow card.
35th min. Toure crossed it in, Tevez could do no better than try an audacious flick with his trailing foot, Howard saved it but carried it out for a corner.
36th min.That’s cleared out but City keep it and Barry is fouled by Cahill 30 yards from goal. Kolarov stands over the ball.
37th min. Kolarov goes for goal and Howard gets a finger to it though it was drifting just wide. On the corner Howard makes the punch, City put it back in and it falls to Yaya, but he doesn’t make the best contact and the ball goes over.
38th min. City are at least showing some fight here. Balotelli clattered Jagielka there going for that headed ball.
39th min. Distin with the free kick, City seemed to have won it but the linesman flags for a foul. Everton take from 40 yards out or so, Baines can’t find anyone with that bending ball.
41st min. City get it back, Balotelli brought down by Neville near halfway. Cit get on with it, Kolarov tried to shoot but was blocked, then nick it away from Zab and Tevez.
42nd min. City looked desperate to score before halftime. If only City played with this kind of aggressiveness when it was 0-0!
43rd min. Indecisive play by Hart there and City may have gotten away with one there as K Toure left it for Hart. Despite appeals from Cahill, the ref says that wasn’t a back pass..
44th min. Here come City, lots of possession but nothing penetrating yet. Here’s Silva, he puts one in the box, Yaya lurks but can’t reach it. Milner tries to pick out a run from Zab but the timing wasn’t right at all and it goes out of bounds for a goal kick.
46th min. Two minutes of stoppage time. Here’s a vote for Adam Johnson to come on at halftime. Distin hoofts that one away.
47th min. Last chance for City to hoof one forward, Silva puts it in the box but again it doesn’t fall City’s way. Some light boos as the halftime whistle goes.
Great performance for Everton, and City must find away to respond to rescue something from this match. We will be back but delayed by about 10 minutes due to some other obligations…
Okay, time for the second half. City need two goals to tie this one up, three to grab an unlikely victory. Again, character test time. I thought I spied Adam Johnson in the eleven coming out of the tunnel—yes I did. He’s being brought on, Milner is off.
I would have thought Barry might go off but he will be left as the holding midfielder, I expect.
46th min. Did the Tevez off-field fracas affect City’s preparation for tonight? Hard to know, but the question will certainly be asked if City don’t turn this around. Balotelli goes down from a stiff challenge from Fellaini, wasn’t a foul there but it looks like the players may have collided shins.
47th min. Nice build up, cross is cleared but Kolarov gets a shot on frame and it’s punched by Howard. City look ready to turn the screws.
48th minute. Dangerous ball from Johnson on the right but Balotelli can’t get there ahead of Howard. Johnson runs at Baines but nothing comes of it.
49th min. Zab called for a shove or something there—it wasn’t obvious what, but Anichebe wins that foul. Zab may now have to come off for good because blood is coming through his head bandage, down onto his shirt. Mancini won’t want to expend his second substitution on an injury but there may be little choice.
50th min. City carry on with ten for the moment. Good ball for Tevez from Johnson but he can’t beat Baines, here’s a pullback for Kolarov and it’s no more than a foot wide at the right post!
52nd min. Nice buildup and that could have put City right back in this. Still, City are playing with some purpose. Silva’s ball eludes Balotelli. Now Tevez comes and shuts down Neville’s attempt to clear.
53rd min. Now Anichebe called offside. At the other end of the pitch, Zab is taken out by Osman and is some pain. Been a tough day for the Argentinian so far.
54th min. TV shows that most fans are trying to cover their face, but not Mancini who doesn’t even bother with a hat—or a long haircut, either!
55th min. Hart is clatted into by Anichebe after the striker too enthusiastically closed down Hart on that clearance—the ball had slowed in the moisture on the pith on the backpass from Kompany.
56th min. There’s another cross that can’t find anyone in the box.
57th min. Johnson’s cross again dealt with all too easily.
58th min. Y Toure tries a Barcaesque cute ball in the box, but that doesn’t work. Everton are packing things in and making City work hard to carve openings.
59th min. Tevez taken down there by Osman, he got his foot into Tevez’s midsection as the captain tried to control that ball. Kolarov lines this up a yard outside the box on the right edge of the box. But that free kick wasn’t any good, it went right into the wall.
60th min. Anichebe is off! Just as he was about to be the subbed but Anichebe hit Zab way late on that challenge—the proverbial striker’s challenge. Second yellow and he is off. Just like that City have an advantage for the last half our.
61st min. That won’t help City unlock the box at the back, but will make City less vulnerable to any kind of quick counter-attack by the visitors that could salt this one away. City’s fans are trying very hard to get the team back into this.
62nd min. Poor cross from Johnson that time.
63rd min. Tevez brings it down the left then swings it to Zab, but that cross finds only an Everton head. City’s poor aerial ability by Premier League standards has been damaging today.
64th min. Jo is on the bench, but not Adebayor or Santa Cruz. Right now despite the man advantage it’s not obvious how City will score. The ref warns Howard about time wasting but no card.
65th min. Everton have it briefly, Cahill got behind as Zab slipped but he was just offside, good call. Big shout by Barry for handball against Jagielka in the box but there wasn’t anything in that.
66th min. Possession stats for match show City have had 64% of the ball. City want to finish the game with 60% of the goals to match, but that doesn’t look too likely just now. Crowd getting a bit frustrated,
67th min. Silva fires one in and City again cry for a penalty to no avail. Did that hit Neville’s hand? Balotelli had set up that play by getting behind.
68th min. Very good move but Johnson’s leave for Tevez is too short. Distin cut it out, then dribbled it a good 60 yards, bringing back memories of a great goal Distin scored for City against Aston Villa some four years ago. Replay shows that probably should have been a penalty against Neville, he raised his arms.
69th min. Tevez dribbles in, tries to find Silva but it’s cut out.
70th min. More City possession, Silva’s attempt was blocked but it fell to Barry who hit it well with his left foot after a nice juggle, but it’s over the bar—barely. It may even have skimmed the top of the bar as it dipped.
71st min. Balotelli was in the clear for a good chance but he slipped at the crucial moment and couldn’t get a shot away.
72nd min. Goal for City! Y Toure took the shot and it deflected in off Jagielka! City had worked the ball around well to set that up.
74th min. City are right back at the door and have a corner kick. Kolo Toure had a chance to shoot from distance, but it hits an offside Tevez and goes behind. Osman is coming off for Everton and Bilyatedenov is on (hereafter “Bilya”.)
75th min. Tevez runs at Distin, one City captain against another, and the old boy wins this round. Saha now is going to come on, Coleman is off.
76th min. Kolarov with a cross, Neville deflects it behind. Corner kick! It’s knocked out to Johnson who tries to set one up on his left foot, he hit it pretty well but it flies a yard or two over from 20 yards.
77th min. Oh dear!!! City hit the post through Balotelli, it looked like that was going in, and then Howard scrambled to block Tevez’s follow up.
78th min. Balotelli chipped the keeper nicely after being played in on a long bal. Big big moment in the game.
79th min. Johnson let that one roll too long and it goes out of bounds Jagielka is off for Hibbert, possibly due to an injury.
80th min. Here’s Y Toure, over to bandaged Zab, but that chipped cross is easily taken by Howard. Balotelli is down for the second time in recent moments. Replay shows what a nice save from Tevez Howard made. It looks like Jo may be coming on for Balotelli.
80th min. Here’s Y Toure, over to bandaged Zab, but that chipped cross is easily taken by Howard. Balotelli is down for the second time in recent moments. Replay shows what a nice save from Tevez Howard made. It looks like Jo may be coming on for Balotelli.
83rd min. Jo on for Balotelli. Some keep ball being played down the right. Saha thought he had won a corner but City get that call, to David Moyes’s annoyance.
84th min. Zab playing his heart out, he’s fouled but City quickly retake. Barry ended up with a chance to shoot but it’s another block from Hibbert. Kolarov chases it down the left and it fizzes past the bar from a ridiculously tight angle, that was closer than it had any right to be.
86th min. Silva’s shot looked goalward bound but Everton blocked it. City work it around the edge but Johnson loses patience and decides to fire from outside the box, well over. Jo was shouting for a penalty against Hibbert and Silva’s shot but nothing doing, though Hibbert’s arm may have been trailing.
87th min. Y Toure given time to shoot and it’s just wide from some 30 yards! That looked like City’s moment but it was not to be.
88th min. Would love to see Wright-Phillips get a chance to come on for Zab laet.
89th min. City played a short corner to Silva, he fires hard but it’s right at Howard at the near post. Jo now given offside, that was a good ball and he tried to leave it for Tevez but he was offside.
90th min. I recall a holiday fixture some eight years ago when Everton produce a late, late equalizer at home to rescue a point against City. City need to return the favor.
91st min. Four more minutes to rescue it. Cahill skillfully plays time wasting. Somebody went into the book there but I believe it was Barry for dissent. Finally City get the ball back.
92nd min. Great strike by Tevez but Howard is equal to it—again. Header goes to back post, Kompany couldn’t get any purchase on it and now Distin wins the ball and a yellow card off K Toure to boot as he tried to dribble away.
93rd min. Rodwell dives for a free kick but not given, City come again but Bilya steals it from him, and then K Toure fouls him for another yellow card! He’s off with a stoppage time red card. That will hurt City past this game.
95th minute. Well, that caps a bad night at the stadium for City, the ref surely is about to blow. City win it back, here’s a long ball, but Everton clear it and it’s game over.

Good win for Everton, bad loss for City who continued to be baffled by Moyes’s teams. City had all the pressure in the second half but it just wasn’t enough.

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