City held at QPR as Mario joins Milan
Source: Agencies |
January 31, 2013, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
WITH Mario Balotelli's turbulent Manchester City career drawing to a close, the English Premier League champion lacked the attacking spark to break through a well-organized Queens Park Rangers side on Tuesday.
A four-game league winning run ended with a 0-0 draw against the bottom team, whose goalkeeper, Julio Cesar, repeatedly thwarted the champion in stormy conditions at Loftus Road in London.
The Brazilian denied Gareth Barry and David Silva with fine saves as City failed to close the gap on Manchester United. Instead City (52) is four points behind the leader, which was hosting Southampton.
"We did everything to win this game but we didn't score," City manager Roberto Mancini said. "When you play like this away and you don't win, it's incredible."
The draw came hours after AC Milan said it had reached an agreement with City to buy Balotelli, leaving Mancini with little time to strengthen his strike-force before the transfer window closes today.
"It was difficult because I lost one striker, one important striker ... it's difficult to find a solution for us now," Mancini said.
"We need a defender now because we have one or two injured, but it's difficult."
Italy striker Balotelli, a boyhood Milan fan, first broke through at rival Inter Milan and is returning home for a fee media reports have put at 20 million euros (US$26.92 million) after a largely frustrating 2-1/2 years with City.
"Transfer agreement for Balotelli signed with Manchester City. Medicals tomorrow in Milan, then personal terms until 2017," Milan director Umberto Gandini said on Twitter.
Elsewhere, Aston Villa's season continued to lurch from bad to worse after a 1-2 defeat against fellow struggler Newcastle United dropped the freefalling Midlands club into the relegation zone.
Goals from Papiss Cisse and Yohan Cabaye fired Newcastle into a first-half lead with Christian Benteke's penalty soon after the restart not enough to save Villa from a fourth successive home league defeat.
A four-game league winning run ended with a 0-0 draw against the bottom team, whose goalkeeper, Julio Cesar, repeatedly thwarted the champion in stormy conditions at Loftus Road in London.
The Brazilian denied Gareth Barry and David Silva with fine saves as City failed to close the gap on Manchester United. Instead City (52) is four points behind the leader, which was hosting Southampton.
"We did everything to win this game but we didn't score," City manager Roberto Mancini said. "When you play like this away and you don't win, it's incredible."
The draw came hours after AC Milan said it had reached an agreement with City to buy Balotelli, leaving Mancini with little time to strengthen his strike-force before the transfer window closes today.
"It was difficult because I lost one striker, one important striker ... it's difficult to find a solution for us now," Mancini said.
"We need a defender now because we have one or two injured, but it's difficult."
Italy striker Balotelli, a boyhood Milan fan, first broke through at rival Inter Milan and is returning home for a fee media reports have put at 20 million euros (US$26.92 million) after a largely frustrating 2-1/2 years with City.
"Transfer agreement for Balotelli signed with Manchester City. Medicals tomorrow in Milan, then personal terms until 2017," Milan director Umberto Gandini said on Twitter.
Elsewhere, Aston Villa's season continued to lurch from bad to worse after a 1-2 defeat against fellow struggler Newcastle United dropped the freefalling Midlands club into the relegation zone.
Goals from Papiss Cisse and Yohan Cabaye fired Newcastle into a first-half lead with Christian Benteke's penalty soon after the restart not enough to save Villa from a fourth successive home league defeat.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
