Club America Pay The Penalty

Manchester City overcame Club America after the game went to penalties following a 1-1 score line after 90 mins.

Emmanuel Adebayor struck from the penalty spot after Adam Johnson was hacked down in the box to give City a deserved lead after dominating the first-half.

The second-half started disastrously for the Blues, their Mexican opponents drawing level just minutes after the restart.

Joleon Lescott failed to read a long ball over the top of the back four and was too slow to make the tackle before the shot got away. Shay Given was back from injury, but he was powerless to stop the shot from hitting the back of the net.

City made a string of changes im the second-half and Club America looked far more comfortable in possession. Both sides had chances to win the game with either side managing to hit the woodwork, Adebayor's header tipped onto the crossbar.

In the end, the game came down to penalties, the Citizens prevailing in the shoot-out 4-1, with Shay Given saving twice.

City win their first piece of silver wear this season, hopefully not the last.

Team: Hart (Given 46); Richards (Cunningham 81), Toure Kolo (Lescott 46), Boyata, Bridge; Kompany (Zabaleta 46); Toure Yaya (Ireland 46), Barry (Vieira 46); Wright-Phillips (Weiss 46), A. Johnson (Jo 46); Adebayor.

Verdict

City looked a lot more accomplished in this match, fielding a much stronger side than in previous games.

Yaya Toure made a strong debut, controlling the pace of the game and dominating in midfield.

Unfortunately, with three defensive midfielders, in Yaya Toure, Kompany and Barry, City lacked a creative spark in the middle.

This was further accentuated by the fact that Johnson was on the right, with SWP on the left; meaning that they were continually cutting in and not providing any width.

With Adebayor up front on his own, the lack of support meant that City rarely ever threatened to score.

After the break, Mancini made a number of changes throughout the squad, making the second-half somewhat irrelevant in terms of team performance. Credit to Club America for taking advantage of our weakened team and punishing us for poor defending, Lescott entirely at fault for the equaliser.

On balance, City deserved the victory, but it will be a different proposition against the European Champions Inter Milan next week.

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