City sunk by late penalty
By Aaron Leggott
City endured their second successive defeat of pre-season after AmaZulu converted a late penalty to beat the 2011-12 Premier League Champions.The hosts initially took the lead through Bongani Ndulula before City hit back thanks to James Milner just six minutes later.
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| Micah Richards and James Milner celebrate the equaliser Photo: Official MCFC Facebook |
The first meaningful chance of the game fell to French playmaker Samir Nasri on eight minutes, after his free kick forced a great save out of Tapuwa Kapini in the AmaZulu goal.
However, with Manuel Pellegrini flying to Chile for personal reasons, Aleksandar Kolarov will be hoping his new boss will cut him some slack after his back pass fell to Bongani Ndulula, who skipped past Joe Hart before giving the hosts the lead.
The Blues hit back immediately and James Milner grabbed an equaliser just six minutes after Ndulula's opener after he smashed the ball home from a tight angle.
City were showing themselves to be the stronger side and on 35 minutes Micah Richards nearly gave the visitors the lead - only to see his shot blocked.
The scores remained level at the break, with City making three substitutions ahead of the second half. Pablo Zabaleta, Jack Rodwell and Javi Garcia all replaced Micah Richards, Yaya Toure and Vincent Kompany - and Rodwell was close to making an immediate impact after his effort was saved on 52 minutes.
The second half was limited to chances in truth - with City looking the most likely to grab a winner. Edin Dzeko was denied on the hour mark before a host of changes were made as the young players were being given a chance to impress.
However, there was to be no late winner for the Blues and the hosts grabbed the winner after Abdul Razak gave away a penalty in the dying stages.
Up stepped Carlington Nyadombo, who finished well to give AmaZulu a win on Nelson Mandela Day. For City, there were large periods of encouragement as the players' sharpness is starting to emerge once again after the summer break.
Above are highlights of the game which saw the Blues lose their second consecutive pre-season game.
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