Premier League - Round-up: City slump to Chiefs

Eurosport - Sun, 26 Jul 09:39:00 2009

Manchester City ended their South African tour on a low note as they lost 1-0 to Kaizer Chiefs in the Vodacom Challenge final.

2009 Vodacom Challenge Kaizer Chiefs Gareth Barry - 0

City had beaten Chiefs earlier in the week, but were always second best in the encounter at the Loftus Stadium in Pretoria, and Jeffrey Ntuka's goal late in the first half was enough to settle the encounter.

Ntuka converted from close range on 42 minutes after City failed to deal with a corner.

Despite fielding a strong side including new signings Gareth Barry (pictured) and Emmanuel Adebayor, the Premier League side were outfought.

Their best chance came through Adebayor early in the second half, but the Togolese striker scooped his left-foot effort high over the bar.

Mark Hughes's misery was compounded by an injury scare for captain Richard Dunne, who was replaced by Pablo Zabaleta just after the half-hour mark.

Elsewhere, substitute Paul Gallagher netted a last-minute penalty to earn Blackburn a 1-1 draw against Leeds in a pre-season friendly at Elland Road.

Alan Sheehan was adjudged to have fouled Benni McCarthy and Gallagher, who enjoyed a successful loan spell at Plymouth last season, made no mistake.

Leeds should have been ahead in the first half but Fabian Delph's shot hit a post in the eighth minute from 20 yards before Jermaine Beckford flicked a Robert Snodgrass corner onto the crossbar.

Beckford did put Leeds ahead five minutes into the second half, pouncing from close range after Luciano Becchio had nodded on another Snodgrass corner.

Gavin McCann was on target as Bolton began their tour of Germany and Holland with a 1-1 draw against Borussia Monchengladbach.

The 31-year-old midfielder put the Trotters ahead in the 26th minute with a volley from Johan Elmander's knock-down.

But Raul Bobadilla earned the Bundesliga club a share of the spoils 15 minutes from the end, the Argentine producing a neat finish having wriggled free from Danny Shittu.

Two goals in five first-half minutes were enough for Bristol City to see off Premier League new-boys Wolves in a friendly at Ashton Gate.

Danny Haynes broke the deadlock for the Robins after 33 minutes, cutting inside Christophe Berra and slipping the ball past Wayne Hennessey with the outside of his foot.

It was 2-0 to the Championship side five minutes later as Nicky Maynard turned 30 yards out and unleashed a fierce drive into the top corner.

Hennessey kept the scoreline respectable as he pulled off a stunning save to keep out Lewin Nyatanga's point-blank header.

Wolves' new-boy Nenad Milijas impressed, seeing a well-struck shot tipped around the post.

George Boyd scored twice in the last five minutes to earn Peterborough a 3-3 draw against Fulham in a pre-season friendly at London Road.

The Cottagers held a comfortable 3-1 lead before Boyd stabbed home a Dominic Green corner from close range before making no mistake from the penalty spot having been brought down by Chris Smalling.

Clint Dempsey had opened the scoring for Fulham in the 21st minute, playing a one-two with Bobby Zamora before producing a neat finish past Joe Lewis.

Zamora, who is mulling over a move to Barclays Premier League rivals Hull after the clubs agreed a £5 million fee, grabbed his first in the 34th minute following Eric Nevland`s defence-splitting pass before adding a second on the stroke of half-time

Aaron Mclean took advantage of a mistake from Swiss goalkeeper Pascal Zuberbuhler to pull a goal back for Posh 10 minutes into the second half before Boyd's late show.

Hull maintained their unbeaten pre-season form with a goalless draw against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough.

Owls striker Leon Clarke had the best chance of the first half after he was sent clear by Marcus Tudgay, but Matt Duke did well to keep out his powerful effort.

It was the home side who came closest to a winner after the break when Kamil Zayatte cleared a deflected shot from Akpo Sodje off the line with goalkeeper Tony Warner beaten.

Striker Neil Mellor bagged a first-half brace as Preston beat side Stoke 2-1 in a pre-season friendly at Deepdale.

Stoke missed the chance to open the scoring in the ninth minute after being awarded a penalty when Sean St Ledger tripped David Kitson. But North End goalkeeper Andy Lonergen dived to his right to turn Liam Lawrence`s spot-kick around the post.

Visiting goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen made several fine saves to keep his side on level terms but misjudged a corner in the 31st minute and Mellor fired into an empty net.

James Beattie headed wide for Stoke from close range in the 40th minute but Mellor netted his second just before the break, beating two defender and catching Sorensen off guard with a 15-yard effort.

Substitute goalkeeper Wayne Henderson twice denied Matthew Etherington in the second half although City did pull a goal back with 12 minutes left when Richard Cresswell nodded home a trademark long throw-in from Rory Delap.

Sunderland were fortunate to edge past Oldham 2-1 at Boundary Park after having been outplayed for much of the match.

Adam Reed and David Dowson fired the visitors two ahead after 23 minutes but Pawel Abbott's second half spot kick reduced the deficit and made a game of it.

PA Sport / Eurosport

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  1. I discovered how Man C is going to win the Premier­­ League title, FA Cup and League Cup:

    League Cup -­­ Allocated 50 million budget to pay off every referee­­ officiating a Man C game right up to the Finals.­­ Balance of the bidget is to pay off the opposition­ from­ feilding a weakened side and having 3 players­ sent of­ withtin the first 5 mins of the finals.

    FA­ CUP - Same­ budget and strategy as the League Cup

    EPL­ - 100­ million quid allocated budget to pay off the­ referees­ in charge of their games, as well as a­ million dollars­ bonus to teams that loose to Man C.­ Balance of the­ budget to be given to the FA committee­ members who have­ so far, staunchly supported the­ rising price in­ oil.

    Any other games and cups - 100­ million quid to be­ allocated to FIFA, so as to allow­ the footballing­ calender to be in their favour, couple­ with not having­ their star players absent during the­ season. It also­ helps to buy votes when it comes to­ any form of­ committee elections.

    If all else fails­ and City do not­ get what they wished for, 2 outcomes,­ they'll­ combine with Pompey and rename the team -­ Oils and­ Camels Football Club and hire the coach of­ Orlando­ Pirates from South Africa, where Mark hughes­ will be­ given a retirement package of 10 camels and 1o­ barrels­ of crude oil.

    The last outcome, is to raise­ the prices­ of crude oil to above US500/barrel - to­ teach the rest­ of the world a lesson for not letting­ Man C win­ anything and also to recoup the loses that­ were­ investing in buying players with no winnings to­ show­ for. Matchday tickets to be sold at 200­ quid.

    Man C?­ Huh? Is there such a team?

    From Sick of it all, on Mon 27 Jul 10:45AM

  2. Guy, #192, yeah, u're right, 2 years ago, whenever­ Man C beat Man U, it was great, because back then, MAN­ C didn't have the capacity to spend millions and­ millions of consumers' oil money, as compared to­ Thaksin's government frozen assets, so it was a­ good result if City did beat Utd (only when and IF they­ did), but now, with star names, with talent and endless­ flow of oil money that comes from the sales of inflated­ oil prices which the consumers have to bear to even out­ the loses, its fun to stick it to the blue side of Man­ C. Man C boast of winning a lot of things since last­ year, or even the year before, but up to now, not even­ a League Cup medal or at the very worst, the Community­ Shields medal... THATS what you get for boasting to win­ and end up with nothing...

    Even if Man C won the­ League this coming season, its because they bought it­ with other team's players, not based on the talents­ of the manager and his ability... u'll be lucky if­ Man C smell the fart of Europa League next season...

    From GayBlueOfManchester, on Sun 26 Jul 3:25PM

  3. A lot of Millions, not many goals!!!

    From Michel, on Sun 26 Jul 12:18PM

  4. I love the way Unt fans are laughing at City for losing­ to the Chiefs, two years ago they beat utd in the same­ Friendly competion! Funny the way a Utd fan's­ memeory works isn't it?

    From guy, on Sun 26 Jul 10:45AM

  5. badger good morning :-) did you sleep well? i shouldnt­ be at all surprised coz manchester is full of­ gays...
    jenny (air hostess) flies again­ machester-london and back :-))) have a nice day badger,­ see ya later...

    From Steven, on Sun 26 Jul 9:29AM

  6. HA HA HA HA HA...thats Arsenal laughing to the bank.

    From shane, on Sun 26 Jul 9:16AM

  7. Although this grieves me, I have to concur with the­ posting from 'Mambles' regarding Mark Hughes.­ Recently, I posted a comment myself regarding the Man.­ City manager. I do think there is some worrying­ evidence that Hughes new found mega-spending power has­ eclipsed his own abilities in the new order at The­ Club.

    Hughes is a sound guy, whose transition from top­ player to management has gone better than for others,­ but I fear he may find himself out of his depth from­ the first kick of the season. Pre-season friendlies or­ not, City should be winning all these­ 'exhibition' games comfortably, even with the­ new crop.

    From Rob, on Sun 26 Jul 9:11AM

  8. To think that Gerrard has now proved himself to be­ lower life than Barton.At least the latter did his time­ instead of hiding behind a crooked barrister!

    From Perry Neeham, on Sun 26 Jul 9:06AM

  9. HAHAHA!!!! Man City??? Whos that??? or was it­­ MISS-A-LOT-OF-GOALS City?!?!?! Can't beat a team­ of­ Championship standard with the star players bought­ and­ played, and still dream of making it to the CL???­ Once­ again... MAN C WHO????? THE TEAM THAT SPENT 70­ MILLION­ QUID TO LOOSE TO A SOUTH AFRICAN TEAM!!!!!

    A­ game is a­ game, regardless of nature, and a lost is a­ lost,­ regardless of excuses !!!!

    From GayBlueOfManchester, on Sun 26 Jul 8:49AM

  10. Mancity should not be juged on this first game as it­ will take time for this new crop of players to­ blend.
    Arsenal fans should leave Adebayor alone.

    From Adefemi, on Sun 26 Jul 8:43AM

  11. HAHAHA!!!! Man City??? Whos that??? or was it­­ MISS-A-LOT-OF-GOALS City?!?!?! Can't beat a team­ of­ Championship standard with the star players bought­ and­ played, and still dream of making it to the CL???­ Once­ again... MAN C WHO????? THE TEAM THAT SPENT 70­ MILLION­ QUID TO LOOSE TO A SOUTH AFRICAN TEAM!!!!!

    A­ game is a­ game, regardless of nature, and a lost is a­ lost,­ regardless of excuses !!!!

    From GayBlueOfManchester, on Sun 26 Jul 8:41AM

  12. This was a PRE SEASON FRIENDLY people. The results­ don't matter. Man City beat Barcelona acouple of­ years ago - what did that prove?

    From steve c, on Sun 26 Jul 8:11AM

  13. adebayor is waste of money, i'm glad chelsea­ didn't buy him

    From Achiko, on Sun 26 Jul 7:56AM

  14. Just goes to show that Adebayor is a loser. How can a­ so called top professional really miss from 6 yards?­ especially against a so callled lesser club. this­ theoretically should have been a walk in the park. this­ surely does not justify the ridiculous money spent by­ city on players and their wages. i'm pretty sure­ leyton orient would have given them more of a challenge­ than man city.

    From oli f, on Sun 26 Jul 7:43AM

  15. lol man city are nothing but losers, money alone is not­ gonna take you to top 6, all the buys they made were­ very stupid, 5 new strikers in 2 seasons just shows­ there is no sense direction in the club, which makes­ man city stupid-rich

    From lanre a, on Sun 26 Jul 6:48AM

  16. I love it when the lose, let them play that injured­ Tevez if the have to score! they lack capacity to win a­ trophy not even on african soil!!!! Manuu for life.­ Juma Kenya

    From Jumaboy, on Sun 26 Jul 5:58AM

  17. I just left this post on the F1 Mazza board:

    431.IF­ YOU LOVE FOOTBALL, BOO ME WHEN I GET THE BALL NEXT­­ SEASON.

    BECAUSE OF ME, YOU’RE ALL LESS SAFE.

    I'D­­ WISH YOU WELL FELIPE, BUT I'D PROBABLY PUNCH YOU­ IN­ THE HEAD AND MAKE THINGS WORSE.

    They didn't­ like it much.

    From Ronaldo in ten years time, on Sun 26 Jul 5:32AM

  18. I don't find what Gerrard did surprising; it's­ no less than we'd expect from someone with his­ background. What I do find disgraceful, is that­ he's been let off and not recognised for the­ low-life he and others of his kind are. With this kind­ of verdict, the kids who look up to this scum simply­ don't stand a chance.

    From mambles, on Sun 26 Jul 5:32AM

  19. How long before Hughes get the 'vote of­ confidence' from the board?

    He's a genuine 2nd­ rater being asked to manage players who can play way­ beyond his experience.

    From mambles, on Sun 26 Jul 5:18AM

  20. Sshhh badger, it's bedtime. Cristiano might get­ jealous. I didn't like your music. It made me­ kinda mad. I felt like punching someone up so I went to­ find an innocent member of the public.

    From Ronaldo in ten years time, on Sun 26 Jul 5:11AM
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