Wednesday 24 July 2013

Match Reflection: City 1 - 0 South China

Dzeko heads home in Hong Kong

By Adam Bailey

With agony in Africa behind them, Pellegrini’s men cruised to a routine victory in Hong Kong thanks to an Edin Dzeko header on 21 minutes.

The match was cut short by ten minutes due the horrific state of the pitch which had been mauled by the horrendous weather and the boots of Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur and Sunderland.

The game was characterised early on by the outstanding tenacity and creativity of James Milner down the right flank. If City were going to score, Milner was almost certainly going to be the producer and his floated cross midway through the first half was headed in by Bosnian striker Edin Dzeko.

Edin Dzeko in action today in Hong Kong
Photo: Official MCFC Facebook

The Englishman was doing a fine job of staking his claim to start in Manuel Pellegrini’s star studded XI next season and although the City faithful will have been disappointed not to see new signings Stevan Jovetic and Jesus Navas even make the bench, they certainly will have been excited by Milner’s early play.



City’s second half performance lagged somewhat after Gael Clichy was replaced by Galatasary target Aleksandar Kolarov. The Serbian found himself too high up the pitch and allowed South China to assault City’s defence from the right hand side.

With the hosts in the ascendency, new signing Alvaro Negredo was thrown into the fray. The travelling fans began to drool as they witnessed a spectacular acrobatic effort from the Spaniard just fly over the bar and an exquisite through ball to Dzeko athletically saved by the keeper.

The final whistle sounded on eighty minutes, much to the relief of Pellegrini and co. The first win of our pre-season has definitely made the Chilean’s team selection even more difficult for next season, but strength in depth could be a vital factor in securing our second Premier League trophy.

Below is a video of Dzeko's goal for the Blues:





What did Pellegrini say?





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(c) The Sky Blue View 2013

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