Marcelo celebrates his goal against City. (Reuters/Action Images)
I loved this match so much that I watched it twice. I'm not sure how someone could watch this, especially the last 20 minutes, and think that football is boring. Real Madrid dominated the first half, but failed to close the door until right at the death, giving Manchester City plenty of chances to come away with a result.
Joe Hart's goal came under frequent bombardment in the opening stanza as the Spanish Champions pushed hard to get off the mark. Obviously frustrated by their poor start in league play, they looked ready to take it out on City. However Hart made great saves early and often to keep Madrid at bay. At one point Cristiano Ronaldo tricked Vincent Kompany out of his boots and fired a low shot at the City goal, but Hart hit the deck and made the save. Later Gonzalo Higuain seemed certain to put Madrid on top when he redirected a shot on target with his head, but once again the England 'keeper was up to the task.
City had a hard time getting out of their own half though. They created very few chances in the first half, and seemed very vulnerable to the Madrid counter when they tried to create. Despite the heavy possession and shots edge to the home side, the match was still 0-0 at halftime which suited City manager Roberto Mancini just fine.
The action really came to life in the second half though. The longer the score stayed 0-0, the more confident City got, and they gradually began to carve out some chances. They were the first to hit pay dirt on 68 minutes. Yaya Toure triggered a counter attack featuring himself and the newly subbed in Edin Dzeko. They streamed forward and caught Madrid in a 2 on 1 situation. As they approached the penalty area, Toure hit Dzeko with a through ball, setting him up perfectly for a clinical finish past Iker Casillas to make the match 0-1.
The City goal really sparked Real Madrid to life, and they subbed in both Luka Modric and Karim Benzema. The fresh legs had an immediate affect on the attack as Madrid pushed for the equalizer. It finally came in the 76th minute as Marcelo found himself in space and smacked a shot into the top corner of the goal to make it 1-1.
However just when you thought Madrid would go in search of the winner, City struck again. The Premier League champs earned a free kick just beyond the Madrid penalty area in the 85th minute, and Aleksandar Kolarov beautifully curled the shot just inside Casllas' far post to make 1-2 to City with 5 minutes left.
The drama was just beginning though. Just two minutes later Benezma received the ball right the top of the City 18, turned around a defender, and slotted a goal inside Hart's near post to equalize at 2-2. Hart would then come up with a huge save on Ronaldo as the 90 expired, but formerly sad striker had the last laugh in stoppage time as he sent in a dipping shot that actually bounced right before it got to Hart and kicked up into the net to give Madrid the 3-2 lead, which was the score at full time.
No comments:
Post a Comment