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.

PRE-SEASON: Barclays Asia Trophy 2013

Second part of an in depth look at City's pre-season schedule

By Aaron Leggott

After defeats to SuperSport United and AmaZulu in the Blues' pre-season tour of South Africa, Manuel Pellegrini has led his team to the Far East to partake in the Barclays Asia Trophy over Wednesday and Saturday. 

With it being the only Premier League affiliated competition outside of England, it is a great chance for Pellegrini to test his team against two Premier League competitors as Tottenham and Sunderland also make the trip to Hong Kong. 

The knock-out competition will take place over two matchdays, with South China completing the list after being crowned the 2012/13 Champions of the Hong Kong First Division League. 

All four games will be held in the 40,000 capacity Hong Kong Stadium, with the Blues facing South China in the semi-final tomorrow afternoon (1.30pm BST). 

PRE-SEASON: Nelson Mandela Football Invitational

Where are the Blues heading? First part of an in depth look at City's pre season schedule

By Aaron Leggott

Modern day footballers are getting used to having to travel around the globe during pre season nowadays - it's a hard life isn't it?

But as demand for extra revenue and sponsorship increases, the hierarchy at Manchester City know that these trips are a must if they want to attract and generate extra income.

The first trip sees the Blues stop in South Africa to partake in the Nelson Mandela Football Invitational.

Manuel Pellegrini's men will come up against two of the countries top teams, with the first fixture against SuperSport United on Sunday, July 14. 

The game is being held in Pretoria at the Loftus Verseld Stadium at 2pm - a ground capable of holding over 50,000 spectators. 

Pellegrini speaks to the media

Gaffer 'not concerned' about title pressure

By Aaron Leggott

After speaking to the English media for the first time, new boss Manuel Pellegrini has insisted he feels no pressure to win the Premier League with the Blues.

But whilst he is confident in his ability, the Chilean knows that immediate success is the aim, whilst also producing an academy capable of rivaling that of FC Barcelona.

Official MCFC Facebook

He said: "I'm not only here to win trophies, I'm here to work with young players.

"As a coach, we want immediate success. I'm trying to have a strong squad that can bring us trophies."

Match Preview: Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City

City travel to London in hope of securing second place

By Aaron Leggott

Manchester City travel to North London for the second consecutive weekend - but this time it is Premier League duty for the English Champions as Tottenham entertain the Blues at White Hart Lane.

Attacking duo David Silva and Sergio Aguero are expected to miss the game through hamstring injuries whilst Spurs will be handed with a big boost with Gareth Bale, Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe all set to feature after recovering from injuries.

Edin Dzeko celebrates after scoring the winner against Tottenham last November.
Official MCFC Facebook

City come into the game as arguably the league's form team after eight wins in their last nine games and they will be hoping to grab another victory to reduce the gap at the top to 10 points for at least 24 hours.

FA Cup: Top 5 Quarter Finals

By Aaron Leggott

After Saturday's emphatic 5-0 win at home to Barnsley, here are my top five quarter final performance's from City teams from now and in the past.

5: Manchester City 1 - 0 Stoke City. 3rd March 1934

This game will go down as the game which records the highest attendance at a club ground in England to this day. City comfortably beat the Potters 1-0 in front of 84,569 fans and secured a semi final tie against Aston Villa at Leeds Road.

City beat Villa 6-1 (familiar scoreline, hey?!) and ended up fulfilling club captain Sam Cowan's promise that the Blues would win the trophy after failing at the final hurdle the season before, thanks to goals from Fred Tilson which secured a 2-1 victory for City against Portsmouth.

City vs Spurs: Match Preview

City press for media recognition

By Dave Walker

So the media darlings of Spurs will roll up at the Etihad Stadium with all the jaundiced anti-Manchester City journalists hoping Andre Villas Boas’ team can end the champions’ near two year unbeaten home run.

It was even worse when Harry Redknapp was indulging in an appreciation society with the journalists, but even the demise of Redknapp hasn’t stopped the Spurs adulation society.

The contrast as to how the two clubs are portrayed in the press is staggering. City remain unbeaten in the Premier League and are cheated out of the Champions League by a dodgy Danish ref and yet still court negativity.

Spurs lose at home to unfancied Wigan and then beat a bunch of Slovenian no hopers – NK Maribor – but are still lauded for their wonderful free-flowing play. Pathetic.

Reflection: Controversial referee costs City

By Aaron Leggott

City's chances of Champions League qualification from Group D were all but over after last night's disappointing draw at home to Dutch champions Ajax.

After the 3-1 defeat in Amsterdam a fortnight ago, City knew that defeat last night was unthinkable, as was a draw. Whilst it is still not mathematically impossible, we are relying heavily on our rivals dropping points in the final two group games, which is unlikely.

Two goals from Siem de Jong in the first 17 minutes gave City a mountain as the Blues were once again unable to deal with the Ajax threat from set pieces. After Niklas Moisander exploited the weakness in zonal marking a fortnight ago, it was de Jong's turn last night, as he scored two of the easiest goals in his career.

City vs Tottenham: Match Preview

City go into this game five points ahead of their opponents, who could only manage a draw at home to struggling Wolves last weekend. City, on the other hand, strengthened their title bid with victory at the DW Stadium, as they overcame Roberto Martinez's Wigan Athletic.

Dzeko was inspirational in the reverse fixture
last August

Is Edin Dzeko our new Shaun Goater?

I know it might sound a little silly, but there are a lot of similarities between Dzeko and the Bermudan striker who became very much a fans favourite during his time at the club. In terms of ability, Goater was nowhere near as talented as Dzeko, but he knew how to put the ball in the back of the net, and was a real goalscorer. Edin is just like this, and his record at Wolfsburg proves he can put the ball in the net when given some confidence. Of course, Goater found his level when he reached what is now known as the Championship in my opinion, and when we got promoted twice in 2000 and 2002 it was clear that he was not as effective, but he still scored goals.

Dzeko has the potential to become a City great

In my opinion, since Shaun Goater departed, we haven’t had a real poacher in front of goal until Dzeko arrived in January. Of course, we have bought the likes of Carlos Tevez and Robinho, but those two are different kind of players, who offer more than just putting the ball in the back of the net. However, every team needs an Edin Dzeko type player in their squad, because when your desperate for a goal, there’s not many like Dzeko when he is on form. He proved that on Sunday, by scoring 4 goals which were all of top class quality and varied each time. Some people refer to it as a ‘Golden Hat trick’ when scoring a goal with both feet and your head, and if you don’t believe his first 3 were golden, his last one was for sure, as he hit the ball first time into the top corner on the edge of the box, a shot that no keeper in the world would’ve saved.

Another similarity between the two is the difficulty they both had in settling in at the club. In both their first seasons at the club, both were regularly hounded by a small majority of fans, and it seemed like they would never gain the confidence they needed. However, with Joe Royle and Roberto Mancini putting faith in their respective players, they started grabbing goals and whilst Goater is now known as an icon for many fans, I have a feeling Dzeko will follow the same path in years to come. The service he is getting from Samir Nasri, Sergio Aguero and David Silva is frightening at times, and knowing that all he needs to do is stick the ball in the back of the net, Dzeko could easily be the league’s top scorer this season and for many seasons to come – and it couldn’t happen to a nicer person!

Match Preview: Tottenham Hotspur vs Manchester City

Competition: Premier League
Time: 1.30pm GMT
Venue: White Hart Lane

TSBV Feature: Premier League preview (Part 4)

With less than 24 hours to go before the season finally kicks off, we wrap up our Premier League Preview by examining how Swansea City, Tottenham Hotspur, West Bromwich Albion, Wigan Athletic and Wolves will do this season.

Latest Transfer News: 3rd August

Firstly, there has been some confirmed news, with 21 year old Ryan McGivern has joined Crystal Palace on an initial month long loan deal. Palace manager Dougie Freedman said: "I am pleased to be able to agree with both Andrew and Ryan for them to be with us for the opening month of our season. I am fully aware the qualities which both bring to our playing squad. Both bring experience to an area of the team where we need cover going into an important opening set of games and I see them as important additions to the players we already have available."

Elsewhere, according to the Mirror, City are willing to offer Emmanuel Adebayor in a swap deal for the Spurs right winger Aaron Lennon. If true, it will be a great shock to Harry Redknapp, who only recently desired his admiration to sign up out of favour Adebayor. Talks are supposedly progressing well, with the only stumbling block proving to be the wages of the Togo star, which are way out of Tottenham's range.

Roberto Mancini is desperate to get rid of Emmanuel Adebayor, who has been nothing but a distraction for the past season, publicising the pair's relationship with each other on various occassions. If Mancini can get Lennon as part of the deal, he would see it as a big bonus.

In other news, there are rumours going around that Sunderland have made an enquiry for right winger Shaun Wright Phillips. The 29 year old recently expressed his desire to fight for a place at City, but the likes of Sunderland, Bolton and Wigan have something which cannot be offered at City; first team football. City would probably consider selling him, but only for the right price