Manchester City lose to Lech Poznan courtesy of two late goals
Manchester City suffered a 3–1 defeat to Polish side Lech Poznan in the Europa League on Thursday, 4 November.
Emmanuel Adebayor's strike cancelled out Dimitrije Injac's opener, but two late efforts from Manuel Arboleda and Mateusz Mozdzen saw City suffer their third consecutive defeat in all competitions.
"I'm disappointed because we don't deserve to lose this game," City boss Roberto Mancini commented. "At the moment everything is against us, we are very unlucky. We played a good game and we had a lot
of chances to win, but we must continue to work."
Both teams demonstrated attacking potential early on, with the first finish coming from City's Adebayor when the striker hit a quick shot that Jasmin Buric dill well to tip over with eight minutes played.
In the 19th minute, a scramble in the Poznan box led to Adam Johnson crossing for Dedryck Boyata, who headed the ball into the ground from six yards, allowing Buric just enough time to stop the defender's
effort.
Injac fires home the opener
After 30 minutes, Injac put the home team ahead with a fine strike from distance.
Poznan worked the ball from the left, sending a cross into the box that City's Patrick Vieira could only head into the path of the midfielder, who struck a clean half-volley into the far corner of the
net from 25 yards.
Adebayor scored his fourth European goal of the season five minutes after the restart, rising high in the box to head James Milner's corner towards goal. Buric parried his first effort, but could do nothing
about the rebound, which the Togolese smashed into the roof of the net.
In the 71st minute, City executed a smart counter attack through Milner and Adebayor, with the latter's cross finding substitute David Silva, but the Spaniard's volley hit the ground before going out off
the crossbar.
Dying minutes devastating for City
With 86 minutes gone, Sergei Krivets hit a free kick that Boyata rose to head clear, but the defender knocked the ball straight onto the head of Arboleda, who couldn't believe his luck when the ball bounced
in off Given's left post.
The Polish champions added insult to injury four minutes later, when substitute Mozdzen collected the ball 30 yards out, turned and hit an unstoppable shot high into the left corner of the goal.
The loss sees City relinquish their lead in Group A, with Poznan also on seven points but ahead of Mancini's team on goal difference. Juventus are third with four points, while FC Salzburg have two points
from the four games so far.
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