QPR open their pre-season schedule with a 5-0 thrashing of a local XI in Asia, with Djibril Cisse the main protagonist. Man City scrape a goalless draw in Germany and have yet to find the net over their first couple of matches, while West Ham’s less than impressive form continues, as the Hammers slip to defeat at Oxford United:
Sabah Select XI 0 QPR 5
Mark Hughes’ side began their pre-season tour of Asia in emphatic style yesterday afternoon. The QPR boss handed three of his summer signings their debut, with Ji-Sung Park, Andrew Johnson and Fabio all featuring in the 5-0 win. The London outfit fielded a different XI in each half and went in 1-0 ahead at the break, thanks to a Bobby Zamora goal, though Johnson was highly praised in the match reports for an industrious performance up front alongside his former Fulham team mate. The second half saw QPR run rampant, with Fabio – 4.5 in FPL and 4.3 in the Sky Sports game – offering plenty threat from the right-back area throughout and resultantly picking up an assist towards the end. Hughes will be more than happy to see his frontmen all in strong form; Jay Bothroyd and Heidar Helguson both found the net, though Djibril Cisse was the stand-out performer. The Frenchman produced two goals and an assist, in a continuation of the form that brought six goals in seven starts in the second half of last season; at 6.5 in FPL and 7.5 in the Sky Sports game respectively, he could well be one to watch as a mid-price option next term.
QPR (first half): Murphy, Harriman, Ferdinand, Hill, Ehmer, Wright-Phillips, Diakite, Park, Doughty, Zamora, Johnson.
QPR (second half): Cerny, Fabio, Onuoha, Connolly, Traore, Mackie, Taarabt, Ephraim, Bothroyd, Cisse, Helguson.
Dynamo Dresden 0 Man City 0
Two games down and the champions have yet to score in pre-season following a goalless draw in Germany yesterday evening. Despite missing their Euro 2012 contingent, City still fielded a strong team, with Argentine duo Sergio Aguero and Carlos Tevez named up front in a 4-4-2. The latter looked the livelier of the two and came close to making the difference a couple of times, while Aguero – in his first appearance of the summer – made way at the break. Roberto Mancini made several changes as the match progressed but City, despite the promptings of Yaya Toure, were simply unable to produce the breakthrough and had to settle for a drab stalemate in the end. According to the City website, Mancini fielded all fit and available senior players for the match – Edin Dzeko, Adam Johnson and Nigel De Jong all sat in the stands, suggesting the trio were carrying knocks. Vincent Kompany also limped off with what appeared to be a hamstring issue, though bearing in mind the City site failed to mention it, the problem is likely to be minimal.
City Starting XI: Pantilimon (Johansen 74mins), Zabaleta (Elabdellaoui 74), Kolo Toure (Boyata 86), Savic (Mancini 86), Kompany (Rekik 68) Biton (Evans 86), Yaya Toure (Razak 70), Lopes (Weiss 62), Kolarov (Helan 74), Tevez (Scapuzzi 74) and Aguero (Jelavic 46, Bunn 86)
Oxford United 1 West Ham 0
Sam Allardyce fielded a strong team for last night’s trip to Oxford but watched on as his side spurned several opportunities in the 1-0 defeat. The likes of Mark Noble, Kevin Nolan and Ravel Morrison started in midfield, while Carlton Cole and Ricardo Vaz Te led the line in a 4-4-2 for the visitors. The Hammers ensured Morrison saw plenty of the ball and the former United man sparkled without producing any end product, while Vaz Te was the most culpable and missed plenty of chances to find the net. Allardyce watched his side go behind on 38 minutes and, after making a couple of substitutions at half-time, then proceeded to hand many of his Development Squad youngsters a run out just after the hour mark but the alterations failed to make any difference. The Hammers are being pencilled in for investment by Fantasy managers due to their strong opening schedule but their form so far has been anything but impressive; they have now tasted victory in just one of their four friendlies thus far.
West Ham Starting XI: Henderson, Demel (Nasha 61), Spence, Reid (Wearen 61), McCartney (Taylor 46), Noble (Moncur 61), Nolan (Ruddock 61), O’Neil (Porritt 61), Morrison (Turgott 61), Cole (Maynard 46), Vaz Te (Hall 61)
