Football Live

Sunday April 20, 2008 Finished City of Manchester Stadium

Logo 3 - Logo 1

Manchester City

  • Vassell 10’
  • Petrov 13’
  • Benjani 74’

Portsmouth

  • Utaka 24’

  • Live Commentary

    Time:90'
    • Manchester City
    • Portsmouth
    • 90+3' The final whistle brings down the curtain on a strange match this afternoon that was quite enjoyable.
    • 90+2' Distin fouls Caicedo and Petrov strikes the kick into the wall from 25 yards out.
    • 90' City change: Elano is injured and comes off, with Felipe Caicedo replacing him.
    • 88' Davis makes an instant impact for Portsmouth by forcing Hart into a stunning save at full-stretch.
    • 87' Elano smashes a shot over the bar with three minutes left to play.
    • 84' Pompey change: Niko Kranjcar replaced by Sean Davis.
    • 81' Baros brings the ball down and is one-on-one with Hart... an excellent block from the goalie to keep him out. That is Pompey's last chance of getting back in the game, you feel.
    • 81' Man City keeping the ball well, to cheers from the home fans. That infernal bell still rings from the away end though - I was once sat in front of the bloke who rings it at Villa Park. It's a miracle I'm not deaf.
    • 78' Johnson hits a shot from 25 yards out that is wide of the post.
    • 75' Portsmouth change: Utaka replaced by Milan Baros and Bouba Diop replaced by Lucien Aubey. Man City change: Ireland replaced by Geovanni.
    • 74' The Zimbabwean made a clever run to get on the end of a reverse pass from Ireland and he made space before firing inside the near post. James left the gap - and he found it in style from just outside the penalty area.
    • 74' A THIRD GOAL FOR MANCHESTER CITY!!! Benjani strikes against his former club for 3-1!!
    • 73' A strong run by Defoe ended by a late sliding tackle from Williamson.
    • 72' Benjani blazes a shot wide of the near post, his fifth effort of the game. Only two have been on target.
    • 70' Lauren with a worse challenge on Williamson than the one the recipient executed on Utaka - and the City bench look on calmly instead of getting all moany. That was a horrible tackle and he deserves a yellow card.
    • 68' The City fans giving Distin, also facing an old club, some grief on his return. They begin to get behind their players, urging them on to the win.
    • 65' Williamson booked for a wild tackle and the Portsmouth bench don't like it. Harry Redknapp comes right to the edge of his technical area to throw his arms about and get all red faced.
    • 62' Bouba Diop fires a strike over the bar at the other end. The match has sparked into life.
    • 62' City come back again with James forced to punch clear well away from his goal. The ball falls to Johnson, whose bullet strike is blocked with Jamo scrambling back. The offside flag is raised against Benjani.
    • 59' Vassell cracks a poor shot into the side-netting under no pressure.
    • 57' James signals that he needs attention on a leg injury. He is granted it by the ref.
    • 55' Muntari on the left, teasing his marker... he hits a shot THAT COMES BACK OFF THE POST!! The ball ricochets away and Utaka on the other side of the area smacks it off the base of the other upright and out for a goal-kick!! Hart got a hand to the initial strike, great save.
    • 55' Benjani brings the ball around on the turn and volleys over the top!! After such a sublime piece of skill controlling the looping ball, he contrived to place it over! Brilliant and frustrating by turns!
    • 54' City change: Sam Williamson on for Dunne.
    • 51' Defoe rises to try and head a bent cross from the right from Utaka. It is just too high. Portsmouth with the upper hand at present.
    • 49' The ball comes in from the left for Defoe to meet - the little man goes down under the challenge of Richard Dunne, who does not get anything on the ball... no penalty, says referee Andre Marriner.
    • 48' The first half was largely laid-back and uninteresting, yet interspersed with goals and goalmouth action. A bit weird really.
    • 46' The second half starts in Manchester, City now kicking from left to right.
    • 45+3' The whistle sounds to bring the half to a close.
    • 45+1' As we enter injury-time Vassell receives the ball from Ireland on the corner of the box and curls a delightful shot that is dipping into the far top corner... James pulls out a masterful fingertip save though to deny him!!
    • 44' Vassell with space inside the area yet cannot bring the ball down and he loses control.
    • 42' A wicked cross from Petrov on the left is headed from the clutches of James by Campbell, the right decision with Man City men arriving.
    • 41' The free-kick from Elano is into the wall.
    • 40' Vassell would have got to the ball ahead of James and therefore it was a scoring opportunity.
    • 40' HREIDARSSON SENT OFF FOR FOULING VASSELL!! The little front man was hauling ass through the Pompey back-line and the Icelander threw out an arm to hold him back.
    • 40' Benjani almost controls in and around the box but the ball runs away from him.
    • 38' Ireland piling forward on the right as Petrov brings the ball into central midfield. He halts his run to avoid going offside - and that is when the ball comes from the winger. I've given the game the kiss of death, it's suddenly turgid.
    • 36' Elano with a cushion back to Hart under pressure. It most surely is strange to see him back there clearing up.
    • 34' You get the feeling watching this that there could be a goal at any moment, due in part to the sloppy defending, true, but at least more interesting than the majority of defensive encounters.
    • 32' Portsmouth keener to get forward with their powerful attacking midfield men, the tiny Defoe now all over the place making runs and looking to latch on to balls forward.
    • 29' Benjani heads a glorious chance into the arms of James after a superb diagonal ball from Elano that split the away defence. The little Brazilian is a threat from anywhere!!
    • 27' James out quickly to deny Vassell as City break. The game could go either way, with City a little more cautious before that and Portsmouth keen to score again.
    • 24' Lassana Diarra's corner was headed back out to him after Hreidarsson got a head to the ball. He fed the next one to Jermain Defoe 18 yards out, whose own header allowed Utaka to spring the offside trap and finish.
    • 24' GOAL FOR PORTSMOUTH!! John Utaka stabs home for 2-1!!
    • 23' Sulley Muntari turns on a sixpence to shoot from 20 yards, blocked for a corner.
    • 21' Petrov playing one-touch one-twos with Gelson Fernandes and Benjani. Ireland lays it on for Benjani... he attacks the left-hand side and clips a cross that a sliding Campbell diverts for a corner with his arm!! That could have been a penalty.
    • 19' Sorry to any Pompey fans reading this - I jinxed James with my comment about flapping. Although technially he didn't flap at the second one, just plain got it wrong. Campbell or he should have belted it into touch.
    • 17' Hermann Hreidarsson near the left-hand by-line stands up a lovely cross to the far post for the onrushing Bouba Diop... his header is over the bar. To rub salt in, he is hurt after landing awkwardly.
    • 15' Where did that come from? The game springs into life and even Sven-Goran Eriksson is jumping about a bit.
    • 13' Elano crossed low from the right and the ball ran all the way across to the Bulgarian, who jockeyed with the ball for a few seconds before poking at goal with his right toe - and it came off the inside of Campbell's leg to wrongfoot James completely.
    • 13' A SECOND GOAL FOR MAN CITY!!! Petrov!!
    • 10' James came rushing out to the corner of the box where Sol Campbell left it for him - but Benjani was there to nick the ball away and pass inside to Stephen Ireland. He shot and as the ball ran across goal Vassell gambled to arrive at the back stick and tap home.
    • 10' MANCHESTER CITY HAVE THE LEAD!! Darius Vassell is the scorer after a mistake by James!!
    • 10' City move up a gear: first Michael Johnson is unlucky as he seeks to thread a pass out wide then Martin Petrov's cross from a tight angle goes out for a goal-kick.
    • 7' David James gets his customary flap out of the way early on, although he deals with it well enough near the edge of the box and there is not any real danger to the Portsmouth goal.
    • 5' Benjani is facing his old club following his protracted 'deadline day' move. What money on him bagging a goal?
    • 3' Sylvain Distin arrives at the near post to head down and the ball bounces back up and over the bar!! Early pressure from Harry Redknapp's men.
    • 2' Papa Bouba Diop unleashes hell and fury from 35 yards out, beaten away by Joe Hart for a Pompey corner.
    • 2' Apparently Elano has played for Brazil at right-back in the Copa America - why would you do that? Just why?
    • 1' We are underway in Manchester, City in traditional light blue kicking from right to left. Pompey in all black.
    • - A win for Man City would see them climb to within two points of Pompey as they both chase Aston Villa and the Intertoto Cup place - sixth.
    • - The strangest news of the season is that after City defender Sun Jihai was taken ill attacking playmaker Elano will play at right-back!!
    • - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE text coverage of Manchester City versus Portsmouth from Eastlands.

  • Team Stats

    Manchester City Stats Portsmouth
    59% Possession 40%
    19 Shots 14
    6 Shots on target 5
    3 Saves 2
    6 Corners 3
    6 Fouls 7
    5 Offsides 2
    1 Yellow cards 1
    0 Red cards 1
    22 Tackles 14
    460 Accurate passes 283
    97 Bad passes 30

  • Player Stats

    G =
    Goals
    S =
    Shots
    SoT =
    Shot on Target
    F =
    Fouls
    FW =
    Fouls Won
    O =
    Offsides
    A =
    Assists
    AP =
    Accurate Passes
    BP =
    Bad Passes
    T =
    Tackles
    • Manchester City
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      25 Joe Hart 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 0
      22 Richard Dunne 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 36 4 0
      3 Michael Ball 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 35 13 2
      16 Vedran Corluka 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 43 4 0
      28 Gelson Fernandes 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 54 9 5
      15 Martin Petrov 1 4 1 1 0 0 0 51 16 0
      6 Michael Johnson 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 61 14 6
      7 Stephen Ireland 0 1 0 1 0 0 2 40 10 3
      11 Blumer Elano 0 2 0 0 0 0 1 40 2 1
      27 Benjamin Mwaruwari 1 7 3 1 0 5 0 22 3 1
      12 Darius Vassell 1 3 2 1 1 0 0 27 4 1
      20 Felipe Caicedo 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
      8 Marcio Geovanni 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 19 7 1
      1 Andreas Isaksson 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      34 Sam Williamson 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 26 11 2
      30 Nery Castillo 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    • Portsmouth
      G S SoT F FW O A AP BP T
      1 David James 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 1 0
      23 Sol Campbell 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 0 0
      7 Hermann Hreidarsson 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7 3 0
      4 Bisan Lauren 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 38 1 3
      15 Sylvain Distin 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 24 2 0
      11 Sulley Ali Muntari 0 2 1 1 0 0 0 35 5 2
      6 Lassana Diarra 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 32 4 4
      17 John Utaka 1 2 1 0 1 0 0 22 1 3
      8 Papa Bouba Diop 0 4 1 0 1 0 0 32 1 0
      19 Niko Kranjcar 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 29 7 2
      14 Jermain Defoe 0 1 0 1 0 2 1 19 5 0
      10 David Nugent 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      9 Milan Baros 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 0
      3 Lucien Aubey 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0 0
      31 Asmir Begovic 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
      28 Sean Davis 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 7 0 0

  • Summary

    • 88' Davis makes an instant impact for Portsmouth by forcing Hart into a stunning save at full-stretch.
    • 81' Baros brings the ball down and is one-on-one with Hart... an excellent block from the goalie to keep him out. That is Pompey's last chance of getting back in the game, you feel.
    • 74' The Zimbabwean made a clever run to get on the end of a reverse pass from Ireland and he made space before firing inside the near post. James left the gap - and he found it in style from just outside the penalty area.
    • 74' A THIRD GOAL FOR MANCHESTER CITY!!! Benjani strikes against his former club for 3-1!!
    • 55' Muntari on the left, teasing his marker... he hits a shot THAT COMES BACK OFF THE POST!! The ball ricochets away and Utaka on the other side of the area smacks it off the base of the other upright and out for a goal-kick!! Hart got a hand to the initial strike, great save.
    • 55' Benjani brings the ball around on the turn and volleys over the top!! After such a sublime piece of skill controlling the looping ball, he contrived to place it over! Brilliant and frustrating by turns!
    • 49' The ball comes in from the left for Defoe to meet - the little man goes down under the challenge of Richard Dunne, who does not get anything on the ball... no penalty, says referee Andre Marriner.
    • 45+1' As we enter injury-time Vassell receives the ball from Ireland on the corner of the box and curls a delightful shot that is dipping into the far top corner... James pulls out a masterful fingertip save though to deny him!!
    • 40' HREIDARSSON SENT OFF FOR FOULING VASSELL!! The little front man was hauling ass through the Pompey back-line and the Icelander threw out an arm to hold him back.
    • 29' Benjani heads a glorious chance into the arms of James after a superb diagonal ball from Elano that split the away defence. The little Brazilian is a threat from anywhere!!
    • 24' Lassana Diarra's corner was headed back out to him after Hreidarsson got a head to the ball. He fed the next one to Jermain Defoe 18 yards out, whose own header allowed Utaka to spring the offside trap and finish.
    • 24' GOAL FOR PORTSMOUTH!! John Utaka stabs home for 2-1!!
    • 21' Petrov playing one-touch one-twos with Gelson Fernandes and Benjani. Ireland lays it on for Benjani... he attacks the left-hand side and clips a cross that a sliding Campbell diverts for a corner with his arm!! That could have been a penalty.
    • 13' A SECOND GOAL FOR MAN CITY!!! Petrov!!
    • 10' James came rushing out to the corner of the box where Sol Campbell left it for him - but Benjani was there to nick the ball away and pass inside to Stephen Ireland. He shot and as the ball ran across goal Vassell gambled to arrive at the back stick and tap home.
    • 10' MANCHESTER CITY HAVE THE LEAD!! Darius Vassell is the scorer after a mistake by James!!
    • 2' Papa Bouba Diop unleashes hell and fury from 35 yards out, beaten away by Joe Hart for a Pompey corner.
    • - Welcome to eurosport.yahoo.com's LIVE text coverage of Manchester City versus Portsmouth from Eastlands.

Live Team Line-Up

  • Referee: Andre Marriner

  • Manchester City

    Manager: Sven-Göran Eriksson

    Captain: Richard Dunne

    On the Field

    • Hart
    • Elano Substitution Out (90′)
    • Dunne Substitution Out (54′)
    • Corluka
    • Ball
    • Ireland Substitution Out (75′)
    • Johnson
    • Gelson
    • Petrov Goal
    • Vassell Goal
    • Benjani Goal

    Subs

    • Isaksson
    • Geovanni Substitution In75′
    • Castillo
    • Onuoha
    • Felipe Caicedo Substitution In90′
    • Williamson Substitution In54′ Yellow Card

    Injured

    • Sun
    • Richards

    Suspended

    None

  • Portsmouth

    Manager: Harry Redknapp

    On the Field

    • James
    • Lauren Yellow Card
    • Distin
    • Campbell
    • Hreidarsson Red Card
    • Muntari
    • Bouba Diop Substitution Out (75′)
    • Diarra
    • Kranjcar Substitution Out (84′)
    • Utaka Goal Substitution Out (75′)
    • Defoe

    Subs

    • Davis Substitution In84′
    • Baros Substitution In75′
    • Aubey Substitution In75′
    • Nugent
    • Begovic

    Injured

    • Pamarot
    • Primus
    • Ashdown

    Suspended

    None