Sergio Aguero and Yaya Toure steer City to victory in Wolfsburg. Frank Lampard notches for Chelsea but the Blues are beaten for the third game in a row. Mladen Petric scores for Fulham yet again, Peter Odemwingie grabs his first for West Brom under new boss Steve Clarke, while Shaun Wright-Phillips nets his third in four games to maintain QPR’s unbeaten pre-season run:
Wolfsburg 0 Man City 2
The Premier League champions approach next Sunday’s Community Shield in irresistible form. Sergio Aguero opened the scoring after collecting an Alexander Kolarov pass and slotting home on 39 minutes, before Yaya Toured added a second, with Carlos Tevez providing the assist. The City trio are in strong form ahead of the showdown with Chelsea – Aguero has scored in three of the last four, Toure has two goals and an assist in the last three, while Tevez has a goal and assist in the last two. Kolarov continues to impress on the left of a midfield five, too, having produced a couple of assists in pre-season so far – factor in four clean sheets in the last five and Roberto Mancini’s men are offering Fantasy managers options from every angle right now.
The 3-5-2 formation appears to remain in the equation and it will be intriguing if this is in place when City face Chelsea next weekend. There’s little doubt that, should Mancini adopt this strategy on a regular basis, we’ll see Yaya Toure’s attacking potential improved, while Kolarov suddenly becomes a prospect. The pursuit of Liverpool’s Dan Agger certainly suggests that Mancini is looking for reinforcements in central defence, perhaps a strong hint that he’ll look to utilise three full-time centre-backs.
Man City Starting XI: Hart; Zabaleta, Savic, K Toure; Johnson (Suarez 81), De Jong (Dzeko 75), Y Toure, Razak, Kolarov; Aguero (Santa Cruz 79), Tevez
Brighton 3 Chelsea 1
Roberto Di Matteo changed formation for yesterday’s game, moving from 4-2-3-1 to the more familiar 4-3-3. Gary Cahill got the nod alongside John Terry at the back, while Ramires featured on the right of the front three. Frank Lampard notched the opener and looked lively throughout – he also had a shot blocked on the line and his delivery from a corner almost gave Cahill the chance to register. Intriguingly, David Luiz appears to have a share of free-kicks. Having replaced Terry on the hour-mark, the Brazilian stepped up later on to fire an effort into the wall, despite Lampard and Eden Hazard both being on the pitch. The 3-1 loss means the Blues have tasted defeat three times on the trot now – hardly filling Fantasy managers full of confidence ahead of their double Gameweek in a fortnight’s time.
Hazard took up an attacking role on the left of the attacking three but failed to make an impact in his domestic debut. Di Matteo again stressed that the Belgian would need time to adjust…
Hazard played on the left, we want him to be incisive, he had good spells but we need to be patient, he’s a young man coming from a different league and it takes time to adapt.
The Chelsea boss stated that, although changes were likely due to returning players, a major shift in style was not expected. He then left us with this, rather obvious synopsis of his tactical outlook…
There aren’t going to be radical changes, but with the integration of new players inevitably we will change a bit. The way we want to play is to win many games and score goals.
Chelsea Starting XI: Cech (Turnbull 64); Ivanovic, Cahill, Terry, (Luiz 60), Cole; Meireles (Mikel 45), Essien, Lampard; Ramires, Torres (Lukaku 78), Hazard.
Nottingham Forest 3 Aston Villa 1
Paul Lambert made nine changes from Villa’s previous game, with only Charles N’Zogbia and Stephen Ireland retaining their place. Ron Vlaar made his debut alongside Ciaran Clark in the heart of defence and impressed, despite a lack of match fitness – Clark had the ball in the net but was adjudged to have fouled a defender in the build-up. Darren Bent returned to action after the break as he recovers from a thigh problem, while captain for the day Barry Bannan appears to be on set-pieces; he fired home a superb 25-yard effort for Villa’s only goal as Lambert tasted defeat for the first time since moving to the midlands from Norwich.
Villa Starting XI: Guzan; Lowton, Vlaar, Clark, Warnock; El Ahmadi, Bannan, Ireland, Holman, Delfouneso (Bent46), N’Zogbia.
Den Haag 0 Newcastle 0
Alan Pardew once again rolled out a 4-4-2, with Demba Ba and Papiss Cisse leading the line. Ryan Taylor began at right-back with Davide Santon on the opposite flank, while Steven Taylor returned to start in the heart of defence. Ba and Cisse had a chance apiece before the latter saw an effort cleared off the line after a Ryan Taylor corner, while Gabriel Obertan impressed on the right wing for the Magpies. Sub Shola Ameobi had an effort ruled out for offside but Newcastle were rarely troubled as they demonstrated the defensive resilience that harvested 15 clean sheets in the campaign gone by.
Newcastle Starting XI: Krul; R Taylor (Perch 71), S Taylor (Williamson 64), Coloccini, Santon (Simpson 82); Obertan (Shola Ameobi 71), Tiote (Bigirimana 71), Vuckic ( Gosling 64), Gutierrez; Cisse, Ba (Amalfitano 82)
Bournemouth 2 Reading 2
Adrian Mariappa opened his account in the draw at Bournemouth yesterday. The summer signing from Watford demonstrated his versatility by moving to right-back on the hour mark, as Brian McDermott rang the changes, and racked up 85 minutes – more than any Royals player. Mariappa’s goal came from a Nicky Shorey free-kick, with Ian Harte on the bench – intriguingly, both Harte and Pavel Pogrebnyak were on the pitch when Reading were awarded a penalty but it was Hal Robson-Kanu who slotted home from the spot for his side’s second.
Reading Starting XI: Federici; Cummings (Gorkss 60), Mariappa (Keown 85) Morrison (Pearce 60), Shorey (Harte 60); McCleary ( Robson-Kanu 60), Leigertwood (Guthrie 60), Tabb (Karacan 70) McAnuff (Obita 60); Church (Le Fondre 60), Hunt (Pogrebnyak 60)
Southampton 2 Wolves 0
With Rickie Lambert ruled out due to a knock, Billy Sharp was handed the chance to lead the line as Nigel Adkins maintained his recent lone striker system. Adam Lallana continued in his deeper, central role but provided the assist for Sharp’s opener and created two chances for Guly Do Prado and one for Richard Chaplow – a suggestion that Lallana’s creativity may not be dampened by his current new role. Nathaniel Clyne’s marauding right flank raids were a feature of Saints’ play, while Jason Puncheon continued to offer a strong goal threat by firing home his second goal in three games.
Post-match, the Southampton assistant boss Andy Crosby spoke of Lallana’s new position and the team’s change in tactics, hinting that the side will continue to move away front a front pairing next season:
People will have seen a change in role for Adam Lallana, we know what he can do wide left but we are trying to find a different role for him if we do play this way. It is still very fluid. It’s not a rigid 4-1-4-1 or 4-3-3 or whatever you want to call it. It is about the players rather than the formation and the players are getting better all the time.
Southampton Starting XI: Gazzaniga; Clyne (Richardson 60), Hooiveld (Seaborne 80), Stephens (Fonte 60), Fox; Guly (De Ridder 75), Chaplow (S. Davis 70), Hammond (Chambers 80), Lallana (Ward-Prowse 70), Puncheon (Rodriguez 75); Sharp.
Sheffield Wednesday 1 West Brom 1
Steve Clarke rolled out a 4-3-3 with Peter Odemwingie handed a role on the right flank, while in defence, Gonzalo Jara started at right-back after Steven Reid picked up a knock in training. The Baggies had the majority of possession and Graham Dorrans came in for particular praise in central midfield – the Scot’s set-pieces and shooting from deep threatened the hosts time and again. Shane Long, Zoltan Gera and Odemwingie all had chances to square the match after West Brom went behind and just as the match looked beyond them, the Nigerian popped up to lash home a superb 25-yard effort for his first of pre-season.
West Brom Starting XI: Foster; Jara (Jones 79), McAuley, Olsson, Ridgewell; Mulumbu, Morrison (Yacob 65), Dorrans (Cox 79); Odemwingie, Long (Fortune 79), Gera (Thomas 65).
Ipswich 3 West Ham 1
Sam Allardyce tried a 4-4-2 formation for yesterday’s trip to Portman Road. Modibo Maiga partnered Carlton Cole up front, with Ricardo Vaz Te on the right flank while in defence, James Collins made his first start since re-joining the club and Dan Potts featured at left-back after George McCartney picked up a back problem in training. The Hammers reverted to 4-3-3 after the break after finishing the first-half 2-0 down, with Maiga moving out wide and Cole remaining through the middle. Matt Taylor served a reminder of his capabilities by lashing home a superb long range effort, Guy Demel impressed with a couple of forward forays but Collins had a debut to forget as Allardyce’s men lost for the fourth time this pre-season.
West Ham Starting XI: Jaaskelainen (Hnederson 79); Demel, Reid, Collins, Potts; Vaz Te, O’Neil (Moncur 77), Noble, Taylor; Maiga (Maynard 61), Cole (Fanimo 74)
Trabzonspor 1 QPR
Junior Hoilett lined up as a left winger for his QPR debut yesterday, as Mark Hughes rolled out a 4-4-1-1 with Bobby Zamora as the lone forward. Fabio and Armand Traore – who both started as wingers in the previous game – returned to the full-back positions, while Kieran Dyer was afforded a start in central midfield. Hughes made plenty of changes at the break, which saw Adel Taarabt once again feature in “the hole”, while Andy Johnson was utilised as a right winger. Djibril Cisse, on as a sub for Zamora, had a couple of efforts but it was Shaun Wright-Phillips who scored his side’s only goal to ensure they remain unbeaten in pre-season – he has now notched three times in the last four games.
QPR Starting XI: Green; Fabio (Harriman 46), Ferdinand, Onuoha(Connolly 46) Traore (Ehmer 46); Mackie (Doughty 62) , Park (Wright-Phillips 62), Derry (Ephraim 46), Dyer (Taarabt 46), Hoilett (Johnson 46); Zamora (Cisse 46).
Helsingborgs 2 Sunderland 0
Carlos Cuellar recovered from a recent thigh problem to take his place at centre-half alongside Titus Bramble, with John O’Shea utilised at right-back. Craig Gardner started in “the hole” as Sunderland shaped up in a 4-4-1-1, with Fraizer Campbell leading the line. Seb Larsson was eased back into action after Euro 2012 duties, while Simon Mignolet took his place between the posts in the second 45 after a recent spell on the sidelines due to a groin problem. Martin O’Neill’s side are in desperate need of some attacking reinforcements, though; the Black Cats have scored in just one of their four pre-season games, with this their third loss to date.
Sunderland Starting XI: Westwood (Mignolet, 46), O’Shea (Laing, 69), Cuellar, Bramble, Richardson (Knott, 69); Larsson (Kilgallon, 46), Cattermole (Reed, 78), Colback (Wickham, 45), McClean (Lynch, 78); Gardner; Campbell (Noble, 69)
Nice 0 Fulham 4
Mladen Petric’s outstanding pre-season form continued with a fifth goal of the summer – a spectacular scissor kick that opened the scoring in Fulham’s 4-0 rout. Alex Kacaniklic provided the assist for the opener before adding a second himself; Mahamadou Diarra, and teenage prospect, Mesca, completed the scoring as Martin Jol’s side rolled over the French side with ease.
Petric has fired those five goals in just four games and also came out of last night’s game with the assists for Kacaniklic’s and Diarra’s strikes.
The Cottagers put out a strong side, with the lineup perhaps getting close to the one that will start the season. Certainly the signs are that new signing Sascha Riether is favoured at right-back, while Bryan Ruiz appears to be getting run-outs in the support role behind Petric. The uncertainty surrounding Clint Dempsey’s future, absent from pre-season so far due to lack of fitness according to the club, is, of course, still a major factor. Hugo Rodallega featured in Friday’s low-key friendly at Staines Town and could push for inclusion in Jol’s plans against MK Dons on Tuesday night.
Fulham Starting XI: Schwarzer; Riether (Kelly 58), Hughes, Hangeland, Riise; Duff (Mesca 77), Diarra (Sidwell 71), Dembele (Baird 71), Kacaniklic (Frei 58); Ruiz (Davies 71), Petric.
