UEFA Europa League – First half review: Manchester City versus Red Bull Salzburg
Manchester City kicked off the match in pure attacking fashion as it was Mario Balotelli who screamed up the field with the ball but the Italian was fouled outside the Salzburg penalty area. Milner took the ensuing free kick for the Blues who couldn’t make
the set piece count as the ball went wide of the mark for a Salzburg free kick.
In the 5th minute of the match, Zabaleta took the throw in for the home side as Mario Balotelli collected the throw. The Italian turned and shot towards the Salzburg goal in superb fashion but unluckily his shot was just wide of the mark as the
score line remained at nil all. In the 9th minute of the match, Balotelli was in action again for the men in blue as he pulled off at the far post to connect with James Milner’s cross. However, the Italian’s header was not on target as Salzburg
were let off the hook once again for some shoddy defending inside their own penalty area.
In the 14th minute of the match, Salzburg were on the back foot yet again as this time it was Patrick Vieira who split the Austrian club’s defence with a characteristically visionary through ball for Mario Balotelli. Despite the fact that Jo was
in a better possession than himself the Italian striker took the shot on as he went for glory but his effort was acrobatically palmed away by the Salzburg goalkeeper who kept his team in the encounter once again through his perfect positioning.
In the 17th minute, City made their opponents pay for slack marking as they finally took the lead. It was Zabaleta’s cross which found Mario Balotelli unmarked inside the Salzburg penalty area. The ex-Inter Milan striker volleyed the ball home
despite the fact that it fell on his weaker foot i.e. his left foot. The goal brought the score line to 1-0 as snow started to engulf the City of Manchester stadium on an extremely cold night in Manchester.
In the 27th minute of the match, referee brandished his yellow card for the first time in the encounter as Afolabi was booked for Red Bell Salzburg due to his shirt pull on Joleon Lescott who seemed to be in a pretty advanced position for a centre
back. In the 31st minute of the match, a mistake in the Salzburg defence saw Jo clean through on goal once again with just the Red Bull goalkeeper to beat, however the Brazilian striker went down after some pressure from the Salzburg defence. It
was a horrible dive by the striker who was not awarded a penalty kick for his play acting sequence in front of his club’s own fans.
In the 41st minute of the encounter, City surged forward yet again and this time it was James Milner who let it rip from inside the Salzburg penalty area. The English winger waited for a pass to open up but then decided otherwise as he tried his
luck on goal, however, his shot just went wide of the mark as the first half soon came to a conclusion there after with the score line at 1-0 to Manchester City.
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