Goals from Edin Dzeko, Yaya Toure and Sergio Aguero gave
the Premier League giants the perfect start to their European campaign in the
Czech Republic on Tuesday night.
Manchester City romped to a 3-0 win at Viktoria Plzen in
their opening Champions League game of 2013-14 on Tuesday night.
Edin Dzeko opened the scoring and Yaya Toure's stunning
strike doubled City's lead before Sergio Aguero stunned the Czech champions
with a third soon after.
City have failed to progress from the group stage in the
last two seasons but a convincing victory at the Doosan Arena will give them
high hopes of an extended run this time around.
"City improved on a sluggish first-half display
after half-time in the Czech Republic to breeze past Viktoria Plzen.
"Edin Dzeko wasted a gilt-edged opportunity to put
the visitors ahead when he headed straight at Matus Kozacik from six-yards in
the first half - but he redeemed himself by opening the scoring soon after the
break.
"Yaya Toure then added a sumptuous second before
Sergio Aguero made sure of the points with a low drive from just inside the
box." Captain Vincent Kompany was passed fit to return from a groin injury
sustained during City's Premier League opener against Newcastle United and
manager Manuel Pellegrini also recalled Fernandinho, Jesus Navas, Dzeko and
Aguero for the Group D encounter.
Plzen were unable to call on defensive duo Marian
Cisovsky and Radim Reznik, however, as both were ruled out due to injury.
And to make matters worse for the home side, Pellegrini's
men were rampant from the off. Plzen goalkeeper Matus Kozacik was called into
action after just six minutes to tip Spain winger Navas’ right-foot strike from
20 yards out over the crossbar.
But City faced a scare when Aleksandar Kolarov was shown
a yellow card for handball 16 minutes in and the defender then took a risk when
he fouled Milan Petrzela three minutes later, although referee Paolo
Tagliavento was happy just to give a free-kick.
Joe Hart fisted away the resulting set-piece from skipper
Pavel Horvath - but City responded and Dzeko should have scored when he headed
straight at Kozacik after being picked out by Kolarov.
The Premier League side continued to probe as Aguero
rattled the post with a shot from outside the penalty area and Kolarov fired
the rebound straight at the keeper. Indeed, the visitors were unable to break
the deadlock before the break.
But City were in front just two minutes into the second
half and Aguero was the architect, sliding a pass into the path of striker
partner Dzeko, who found the bottom-right corner with a measured left-foot
finish.
Dzeko fired over the bar a few minutes later but City
doubled their lead after 52 minutes in spectacular fashion when Toure bent a
stunning right-foot strike into the top-right corner of the net from 25 yards
out.
City were rampant and they were out of sight when Aguero
turned sharply just inside the penalty area and fired home with a clinical
left-foot finish.
From then on, there was no looking back as Pellegrini's
side completed a very comfortable European night to give them a much-needed
three points. Based on tonight's performance, City fans will expect more of the
same.
0 comments:
Post a Comment