MANCHESTER, England -- Its taken three frustrating seasons but Manchester City has finally reached the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first
time -- and the English team achieved it in style on Tuesday.
Custom Florida Panthers Jersey . Alvaro Negredo scored a hat trick and strike partner Sergio Aguero grabbed the other
two goals as City crushed CSKA Moscow 5-2 to guarantee a top-two finish in Group
D. After splashing out hundreds of millions of pounds on big-name players over
the past five years, City was desperate to transfer its recent domestic success
to the European stage and make a dent in the Champions League. Roberto Mancini
failed to get City out of its group in the past two seasons, though, and was
fired. His successor, Manuel Pellegrini, has succeeded at the first time of
asking. "The minimum target was to qualify for the next round but its not the
only target," Pellegrini said. "Im sure the team we play (in the last 16) will
not be very happy to play against us." Not with Negredo and Aguero in this kind
of form. A debate is raging in England about the Premier Leagues top strike
partnership. Most plump for Luis Suarez-Daniel Sturridge at Liverpool or Robin
van Persie-Wayne Rooney at Manchester United, but the Negredo-Aguero combination
is giving them a run for their money. In putting City 2-0 up after a
third-minute penalty and a sumptuous turn and shot in the 20th, Aguero became
Citys leading European scorer with 13 goals and has now scored in six straight
games. Negredo made it 3-0 in the 30th minute after tapping in Agueros teasing
cross, slotted home from Samir Nasris deft lay-off in the 51st for 4-1 and then
rounded off a satisfying night for the hosts with a headed goal off the last
touch of the game. "Aguero is in a great moment, not only because hes scoring
but because the whole team is playing offensive football and thats important,"
said Pellegrini, whose side came into the game off a 7-0 thrashing of Norwich in
the Premier League on Saturday. Such was Citys swashbuckling attacking play,
admittedly up against a feeble CSKA defence, that it almost took the attention
away from what was going on in the crowd. Almost. The behaviour of CSKA fans was
under heavy scrutiny in the wake of the first meeting between the sides, a 2-1
win for City two weeks ago that was overshadowed by racist chanting by home
supporters that earned the Russian club a partial stadium ban. A small
contingent of CSKA fans travelled to Manchester for the return game and, flanked
by a mass of stewards, were constantly barracked by City counterparts over what
happened in Moscow. Things didnt boil over -- local police said there were no
arrests made and no reports of racism -- although officers intervened at one
stage and appeared to remove at least one fan, while a smoke bomb appeared to go
off during the second half. "We must say thank you to the fans today, they
showed the fans of CSKA how to support a team," said City captain Yaya Toure,
one of the targets of the racist abuse in Moscow. As the teams emerged from the
tunnel for kickoff, stewards also moved quickly to remove a banner put up by
City fans that read "Free Pussy Riot" in reference to a Russian punk band, two
members of which are serving prison sentences for an irreverent protest against
the countrys president, Vladimir Putin. Back on the pitch, City took charge from
the first whistle and Aguero was allowed to continue his free-scoring form after
David Silva had his heels clipped. Aguero slotted the penalty high into the
right-hand corner and was then at his brilliant best for his second, spinning
marker Aleksei Berezutski with his first touch after receiving a pass from Nasri
before giving himself space to curl low into the bottom corner. It got worse for
CSKA, whose failure to press Citys midfield was the source of most of the
problems. In the 30th, Aguero was given far too much time and space to thread a
cross into the box between goalkeeper and defenders, allowing Negredo an easy
tap-in at the far post. However, if there was a blot on the evening, it was the
goals Citys defence, which has been vulnerable all season, conceded. Lax
defending in first-half injury time saw Pontus Wernbloom feed Seydou Doumbia,
who rounded Costel Pantilimon -- again preferred to Joe Hart in goal -- and
tapped into an empty net. After Negredo scored his second goal, Doumbia became
the third player to grab a brace when he sent Pantilimon the wrong way from the
spot in the 71st after being bundled over by Gael Clichy. Negredo had the final
say, though, heading in James Milners cross with the games last act. "Its
amazing, its history for the club," Toure said. All that remains now is the
prize of winning Group D, in which Bayern Munich currently has a three-point
lead over City. The pair meet on the final matchday.
Dave Bolland Jersey . Byfuglien, who was moved to forward from defence earlier this month but sometimes plays both
positions in a game, scored the winner in a 5-4 overtime victory against the
Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday.
Nick Bjugstad Panthers Jersey . That battle continues on Wednesday on TSN2 and TSN.ca with four matches all beginning at
2:45pm et/11:45am pt. On TSN2, David Moyess current club hosts his old one as
defending champions Manchester United - unbeaten in 12 matches in all
competitions - welcome Romelu Lukaku and surprising Everton.TORONTO – Randy
Carlyle knew the challenge wouldnt work itself out over night. After his home
debut on Tuesday night, its clear the new head coach will have plenty of work to
do. The Leafs allowed four goals against in a muddy second period, dropping a
5-4 decision to the Bruins at the ACC, their fifth loss in five meetings with
Boston this season. A concern and top priority since his takeover from Ron
Wilson just days earlier, team defence struck a chord for Carlyle in the loss,
which also saw Joffrey Lupul and Colby Armstrong depart with injuries. “Weve got
enough goals to win the hockey game,” Carlyle said simply. “Its the defensive
aspect that needs to be improved upon.” Lost puck battles in front of the net
and in the corners, missed assignments in dangerous scoring areas and a slew of
leaks defensively in the middle frame ultimately cost the Leafs their sixth
consecutive loss at home. The same troubles which plagued the hockey club in its
final weeks under Wilson emerged in Carlyles second game behind the bench.
Tuesday marked the 10th time in the last 12 games that the Leafs have yielded
three or more against, a definite recipe for failure with postseason aspirations
slipping away. “I think we deteriorated in some defensive situations where we
were there, but we werent strong enough on the puck,” Carlyle said. “If you look
where the goals were scored from, those werent tough enough areas from a
defending standpoint from our hockey club.” “We scored enough goals to win the
game,” Dion Phaneuf stated, echoing the words of Carlyle. “Weve just got to
tighten up in our end.” With the loss the Leafs remain entrenched in 12th in the
Eastern Conference – with a date in Pittsburgh on Wednesday night – five points
behind the Jets with three teams standing in the way. “Its frustrating when you
score four goals and you lose a hockey game,” Carlyle concluded. “Thats as
simple as I can put it.” Five Points 1. Potentially worrisome in the loss were
injuries to Armstrong and Lupul, the latter presenting a real source of trouble
if significant. Armstrong departed following a fight with Dennis Seidenberg in
the second during which the Bruins defenceman managed to land at least one good
shot to the nose, bloodying the Leafs oft-injured winger. The 29-year-old
Armstrong is just over a month returned from a concussion which sidelined him
for 18 games, not to mention the 23 games missed prior to that because of a
right ankle sprain. Lupul meanwhile, took a hit from David Krejci in behind the
Boston net and left favouring his right hand. Losing the 28-year-old and second
leading scorer would present a major hole up front if he were to miss any length
of time in the final days of the season. Neither player is expected to play in
Pittsburgh on Wednesday night. 2. With a pair of lengthy practices following his
Leaf debut on Saturday, Carlyle is looking to implement change on the defensive
front. Without divulging too much in the way of details, Cody Franson offered a
glimpse into the adjustments. “I think the main basis of it is just be a little
bit more patiennt and kind of protect ourselves from those danger areas that we
havent necessarily been protecting that well as of late,” he told TSN.
Jonathan Huberdeau Panthers Jersey. ca prior to the game. “We went into that skid and there was always something that bit us.
It was a little bit different each game, but the one common thing was we werent
protecting our own house well enough. We werent protecting our slot area that
well. We were kind of cheating with things. Were going to try to be a little
smarter in that area.” 3. Carlyle lamented the one-on-one battles his team lost
to the defending Stanley Cup champions. “Winning your fair share of one-on-one
battles is a skill-set and it has to be developed with this hockey club,” he
said. “Expectations are that weve got to win more of our 50/50 battles or the
one-on-one battles for the puck.” “Youve got to read the play and try to be
first to the puck,” Carl Gunnarsson noted. “We know we can do it. We did it for
40 minutes – first and third period – its just a matter of doing it for 60. We
know how to do it. Its just a matter of executing.” Having coached the likes of
Scott Niedermayer and Chris Pronger in Anaheim, Carlyle explained why skill is
involved in coming up with pucks in one-on-one situations. “Theres a skill-set
thats involved with it,” he said. “If you look at the great players in the game
they have a good stick. Some players dont have to use their body. Like a Nik
Lidstrom and Scott Niedermayer, Pronger, the elite-level defencemen that have
played the game for a number of years had the ability to strip people of the
puck with their stick. Thats a select group. Other guys that played numbers of
years ago had to use their body, get inside on people, use their skill-set that
way.” 4. Mikhail Grabovski added his 21st goal of the year in defeat, hours
after a five-year contract extension worth $27.5 million was announced. “For
sure, its nice feeling,” he said before the game. “When you protect your life in
five years, right now you can concentrate on hockey. For sure inside you feel
much better than [if] you dont have contract.” The 28-year-old had no interest
in leaving Toronto, happy with partner Kate and their two childen. Grabovski
made a quick impression on Carlyle with a three-point performance in Montreal
three days prior. “Players like Grabovski demonstrate the will and the compete
thats going to be required for this hockey club to continue to have success,” he
said. 5. Typically one of the final players to exit the ice after practice,
teammates offered one common thought on Grabovski. “His biggest attribute is his
work ethic I think,” Franson said. “Hes always out there working on certain
areas that hes feeling needs a little bit more work I guess. Its guys like that
are always pushing to be that much better that stay playing at a high level. Hes
not really letting himself get comfortable. Its what you want to see in a guy
like that…Ive played with some skill guys, but not skill guys that stay out for
an hour after practice like that. Hes pretty unique like that.”
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