Despite the frequent counter attacks by Wigan Athletic, Manchester City carried onwards with their game plan. The home side didn’t shy away from the contest as they piled up the pressure on Wigan Athletic.
Regardless of all their possession, Manchester City actually found it hard to get in behind the Wigan defence. Every City attack was built up in front of the Wigan defence which made it easier for the likes of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gary-Caldwell-c14440 to read the game and thus nullify
the threat.
In the 23rd minute of the match, Carlos Tevez forced his way through the Wigan defence. He went past two Wigan defenders, using his pace and skill, but his final finish was wayward as it went past the far post of the Wigan Athletic goal.
In the 25th minute, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/David-Silva-c10602 led the charge for Manchester City. The Spanish midfielder used Carlos Tevez’s outside run as a decoy and took on a shot of his own but the ball whizzed past Al-Habsi’s near post as the score line remained 0-0 at
the Eastlands Stadium.
In the 27th minute of the encounter, Wigan pierced their way through the Manchester City back line as a finely timed ball was played towards http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Figueroa-c13730 by Thomas Cleverley. However, the full back was quickly tracked by Vincent Kompany as the Belgian
defender guided the ball out of play for a Manchester City throw in.
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mario-Balotelli-c23937 clashed with Gary Caldwell in the 28th minute of the match but the Italian front man was let off with just a warning by the referee as the play resumed with a throw in for Wigan Athletic.
In the 30th minute, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vincent-Kompany-c36184 but the young playmaker thrashed his shot wide off the mark as Manchester City were
let off the hook for some really careless defending.
In the 31st minute of the match, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Hugo-Rodallega-c16414. In doing so, the Englishman became the second Manchester City player to go into the referee’s book.
The lack of width inside Manchester City’s ranks made it hard for the home side to get the breakthrough in the first half. They failed to stretch Wigan’s defense time and again which meant that Wigan was always comfortable on the ball and threatening on
the counter attack. However, City’s first goal of the match came through a couple of mistakes in Wigan’s defense.
It was David Silva who fired in a shot towards Al Habsi’s goal after Lopez slipped inside the Wigan Athletic penalty area. Unluckily for Wigan, Al-Habsi didn’t get his body behind the ball while stopping the shot and as a result the ball sneaked past the
goal keeper. With Silva’s goal, City took the lead in the 38th minute of the match and the score line reached 1-0 in favour of the home side.
At the end of the first half, Gary Caldwell was booked by the referee for a late challenge on Yaya Toure in a build up to one of Manchester City’s offensive moves. In the end, the first 45 minutes of the half came to an end with the score line at: Manchester
City 1 – 0 Wigan Athletic.
Tags: