Manchester City hosted Italian side Roma today in their second game of group play in the Champions League. City needed the three points as they came off a 1-0 loss to Bayern Munich and Roma beat CSKA Moscow 5-1. Eliaquim Mangala was omitted from City’s starting lineup as he did not impress against Hull City this pass weekend having given up a sloppy penalty and on own goal to give up a two goal lead.
First Half
City stared off the match on all pistons attacking right from the get-go. In the 4th minute, David Silva put a ball over the top of Roma’s back four and it seemed to be falling perfectly to Sergio Aguero, but Maicon Sisenado pulled Aguero from the shoulder to give City a deserved penalty kick which Aguero calmly put behind keeper Lukasz Skourupski.
Maicon was almost able to make up for his mistake less than a minute later. Fancesco Totti’s chip pass landed at Maicions feet, put his smashing effort was denied by Joe Harts cross bar. Both sides played very well throughout the first half passing skillfully, creating chances and attacking in numbers.
It would not be long until Roma could find the equalizer. Totti found himself space behind Vincent Kompany and was held onside by Martin Demichelis. Radja Nainggolan saw Tottis run and put it ahead of him and Totti was able to pass the ball into the opposite corner. Totti became the oldest goal scorer in Champions League history at 38 years and 3 days.
Second Half
Momentum continued into the second half as the game swayed back and forth with Roma able to create just a few more chances. The middle of this half saw both sides attack and defending endlessly surly; nails were bitten to their bases on the fingers of spectators.
Although both teams fought valiantly for the winning goal, none was found. City will be disappointed that they could not take the 3 points, but they should also be relieved that they came away with 1. Roma now has 4 points, 2 behind Bayern Munich, who beat CSKA Moscow with a penalty from Thomas Mueller, and City has just 1. There are still 4 games in group stages to be played and everyone is still in the race.
Final:
Manchester City 1 – 1 Roma
City’s momentum from the premier league passed through the Champions League as they played beautiful soccer much of the time throughout the match, but their efforts were equally matched by the. Yaya Toure, Fernandinhio Roza and David Silva played well and are a force to be reckoned with. Their addition from Chelsea, Frank Lampard, adds great depth to their midfield and has been hot the past few matches. City wil face Aston Villa this weekend as they aim to gain 3 points. The defending title holders currently sit 3rd in the Premier League behind Southampton and Chelsea.
Roma fought well and displayed that they are contenders to pass to the round of 16. They will have to fight off Manchester City in order to move on and, so far, they are doing just fine. Roma will face Juventus this weekend and will fight for the top spot as both teams are tied at 15 points in the Serie A.
Photo Credit: Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images
