West Bromwich Albion overcome Manchester City
Manchester City's hopes of winning the Carling Cup were ended by West Bromwich Albion on Wednesday evening, as the home team prevailed in the third round of the competition with a 2–1 win.
Roberto Mancini fielded a young team for the match, with three of his players making their first starts for city. A resilient and more experienced West Brom team managed to fight back in the second half
after falling behind to Jo Alves de Assis Silva's strike in the first half.
"It was a great result. Really positive. We made numerous changes and the lads responded well," Michael Appleton, assistant manager of West Brom, said after the victory. "We were second guessing their
side bearing in mind they have Chelsea on Saturday but there was still a lot of experience in the side.
On target early on
West Brom were optimistic going forward from the start, with Somen Tchovi's shot from 12 yards narrowly missing the post after 15 minutes.
Mancini's Brazilian striker Jo Alves de Assis Silva, who impressed the Italian during the pre-season, thanked his manager for including him in the starting lineup by scoring after 19 minutes. The 23-year-old
connected with a bouncing ball outside the area to hit a strong drive past Boaz Myhill in West Brom's goal.
Roman Bednar came close for Roberto Di Matteo's team in the shortly after the goal, racing on to the ball in the area and hooking a shot towards the far corner that City's stand-in keeper Shay Given managed
to keep out.
Given had plenty to do a few minutes later, when Somen Tchoyi crossed for Giles Barnes, whose diving header was kept out by the veteran before he reacted quickly to Tchoyi's two follow-ups, which the City
defence managed to block anyway.
Graham Dorrans made himself space on the right wing and crossed perfectly for Bednar, but the striker's free header from seven yards went wide of the goal.
Two goals in two minutes
While West Brom struggled to score in the first half, the team quickly took charge of proceedings after the break. Defender Gianni Zuiverloon surged forward in the 55th minute, hitting a low shot into
the far corner. The goal was allowed to stand despite City's claims that Zuiverloon fouled Ben Mee.
Two minutes later, it was Simon Cox's turn to score. The English striker made an overlapping run and received a forward header in his stride before cooly finishing to the left of Given, who had been abandoned
by his defensive line.
Mancini introduced James Milner and David Silva to try and get back in the game, but the two recent signings produced only one noteworthy chance, a late shot by Milner that was well-saved by Myhill.
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