An early Edin Dzeko brace was more than enough to see City power past their Greek Super League opponents Aris Salonika to make the last sixteen of the Europa League. They were joined buy Liverpool, who earned a 1-0 second leg victory over Sparta Prague at Anfield, thanks to a late Dirk Kuyt header. Here’s the notes from another night in Europe…
Roberto Mancini flexed the muscles of his squad by fielding all of his expensive forward line, combining Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli and Carlos Tevez in attack, in a 4-3-3 formation which also included David Silva in midfield. With Aleksandar Kolarov shifting to left-back, it was a supremely attacking setup from Mancini; the City boss acknowledged that it wasn’t a tactic that he could look to maintain.
“The first half they worked together well with the ball. The second half we were tired. They need to play more games together, to get used to each other. I think they can play together sometimes….The problem comes when we don’t have the ball. If we don’t close down every situation, it could be difficult for us…We can play this formation, but not often, unless we improve.”
It seems unlikely that we will see the same lineup against Fulham at Eastlands on Sunday, with Balotelli perhaps the most likely to drop to the bench. The likes of Kolo Toure and Pablo Zabaleta could well be recalled to the defence, but it’s in midfield that Mancini has problems. Doubts over the fitness of James Milner and Nigel De Jong remain, so we may see Kolarov shifting to a left-flank role once again with Silva keeping Yaya Toure and Gareth Barry company in the middle of the park. Dzeko may well have done enough to warrant another Premier League start with last night’s brace.
City lost the imperious Vincent Kompany to a first-half hip injury. Details on the severity of the knock are scarce, but Mancini remains hopeful that his key defender will be fit to make a return on Sunday.
“We won’t know what has happened until Friday when we see what the situation is. We have a lot of injuries at the moment, so I hope it is not serious and he will be available for Sundayâ€
Robbed of the services of Steven Gerrard through a groin injury and Glen Johnson with an achilles problem, Kenny Dalglish included Joe Cole in a starting XI for the first time as freshened up his lineup against Sparta. Danny Wilson and Dan Agger came into the defence and, with Luis Suarez ineligible, David Ngog again led the Liverpool attack.
Martin Kelly’s attacking contribution from right-back was impressive once more – his surging runs were often accompanied by an end product, presenting several opportunities for team-mates. Kelly did however, pick up a knock in the first-half and was forced off at the break. Dan Agger and Sotorios Kyrgiakos also sustained what appeared to be minor injuries on the night; Dalglish offered this summary post-match…
“Obviously we picked up one or two knocks in the match. Martin Kelly felt a wee twinge at the top of his leg so he had to come off at half-time. Then Daniel Agger had to come off and Soto split his eye.â€
With Glen Johnson a doubt for the trip to West Ham on Sunday, Kelly’s withdrawal may well have been a precaution and his Fantasy owners will be hopeful that he’ll make the starting lineup at Upton Park. Dalglish will of course have Luis Suarez back for that game, although he appeared less certain on the chances of both Gerrard and Johnson making returns….
“Glen just felt his achilles a wee bit so we left him out. It shouldn’t be too bad. We’ll just have to see. Steven is very close but we don’t know if he will be ready for Sunday. We will at least have Luis Suarez back.”
Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel, both used from the bench last night, will be expected to come back into to the back four, while Cole could well be benched once again with Maxi in line for a return if Gerrard fails to make it.
