Toure fires City to dash United's bid for a treble
Source: Agencies |
April 18, 2011, Monday
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MANCHESTER City moved closer to giving its owner Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi a return on his massive investment when it beat Manchester United 1-0 to reach the FA Cup final for the first time in 30 years on Saturday,
At the same time, City killed off United's dream of repeating its UEFA Champions League, English Premier League and FA Cup treble of 1999 after Yaya Toure struck a 53rd-minute winner at Wembley.
Favorite United began positively and dominated the opening half-hour but it was then out-muscled by a City team famously dismissed by manager Alex Ferguson as "noisy neighbors".
United's misery was complete when midfielder Paul Scholes was red-carded 18 minutes from time for a lunge on City defender Pablo Zabaleta and its players ended up pushing and shoving opponents and a TV cameraman in a melee after the final whistle.
In the end the night belonged to City and it will return to Wembley for the May 14 final exactly 30 years to the day since it lost to Tottenham Hotspur in a replay.
Its opponents will be Stoke City or Bolton Wanderers who were meeting in their semifinal yesterday.
City's victory, totally deserved after it recovered from a sluggish start, gives it the chance of a first major honor for 35 years to repay the super-rich sheikh who bought the club in 2008 and has since invested a fortune on players.
The result went against the form book with United having won its last seven matches in all competitions, including home and away wins in the Champions League quarterfinals over Chelsea in the last 10 days, while City slumped at Liverpool last Monday.
United did have to cope without in-form striker Wayne Rooney, who was suspended, but City was also weakened by the loss of its captain and most dangerous player Carlos Tevez who pulled a hamstring in the 0-3 league defeat at Anfield.
City coach Roberto Mancini was thrilled with the victory over United but warned against taking anything for granted.
"I'm very happy for our supporters because they have waited a long time for a day like this," he said. "But for us it's very important that we don't forget we have another game. We only won a semifinal today."
When he bought the club 2-1/2 years ago Sheikh Mansour vowed to turn City into one of the world's top clubs, but it has yet to qualify for the Champions League or win a trophy.
With six games left, United is still seven points clear of Arsenal in the chase for the league title and faces Schalke in a two-leg Champions League semifinal starting later this month.
On Saturday, Chelsea recovered from 0-1 down at West Bromwich Albion, with goals from Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Frank Lampard moving the defending champion to within eight points of United. Arsenal was hosting Liverpool yesterday.
Elsewhere in the league, it was: Everton 2, Blackburn Rovers 0; Birmingham City 2, Sunderland 0; West Ham United 1, Aston Villa 2; and Blackpool 1, Wigan Athletic 3.
At the same time, City killed off United's dream of repeating its UEFA Champions League, English Premier League and FA Cup treble of 1999 after Yaya Toure struck a 53rd-minute winner at Wembley.
Favorite United began positively and dominated the opening half-hour but it was then out-muscled by a City team famously dismissed by manager Alex Ferguson as "noisy neighbors".
United's misery was complete when midfielder Paul Scholes was red-carded 18 minutes from time for a lunge on City defender Pablo Zabaleta and its players ended up pushing and shoving opponents and a TV cameraman in a melee after the final whistle.
In the end the night belonged to City and it will return to Wembley for the May 14 final exactly 30 years to the day since it lost to Tottenham Hotspur in a replay.
Its opponents will be Stoke City or Bolton Wanderers who were meeting in their semifinal yesterday.
City's victory, totally deserved after it recovered from a sluggish start, gives it the chance of a first major honor for 35 years to repay the super-rich sheikh who bought the club in 2008 and has since invested a fortune on players.
The result went against the form book with United having won its last seven matches in all competitions, including home and away wins in the Champions League quarterfinals over Chelsea in the last 10 days, while City slumped at Liverpool last Monday.
United did have to cope without in-form striker Wayne Rooney, who was suspended, but City was also weakened by the loss of its captain and most dangerous player Carlos Tevez who pulled a hamstring in the 0-3 league defeat at Anfield.
City coach Roberto Mancini was thrilled with the victory over United but warned against taking anything for granted.
"I'm very happy for our supporters because they have waited a long time for a day like this," he said. "But for us it's very important that we don't forget we have another game. We only won a semifinal today."
When he bought the club 2-1/2 years ago Sheikh Mansour vowed to turn City into one of the world's top clubs, but it has yet to qualify for the Champions League or win a trophy.
With six games left, United is still seven points clear of Arsenal in the chase for the league title and faces Schalke in a two-leg Champions League semifinal starting later this month.
On Saturday, Chelsea recovered from 0-1 down at West Bromwich Albion, with goals from Didier Drogba, Salomon Kalou and Frank Lampard moving the defending champion to within eight points of United. Arsenal was hosting Liverpool yesterday.
Elsewhere in the league, it was: Everton 2, Blackburn Rovers 0; Birmingham City 2, Sunderland 0; West Ham United 1, Aston Villa 2; and Blackpool 1, Wigan Athletic 3.
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