Man City avoids opening game shocker at Etihad stadium

Manchester City avoided what cold have been the biggest shock of the weekend when they came from 2-1 down to beat Southampton FC at the Etihad stadium. It was the Saints first appearance in the English Premiership after a two year absence.

Jack Rodwell's mistake almost cost his team three points.

Jack Rodwell and Yaya Toure were included in the starting line up by Roberto Mancini and the two players started the game in the midfield positions. Guly do Prado and James Ward Prowse started in the attack for the visitors while Lambert was left on the bench despite finishing last season as the club's top scorer. Argentine forward, Sergio Aguero sustained an injury in the opening minutes of the game after being at the receiving end of a sliding tackle by Nathaniel Clyne. Edn Dzeko was introduced into the match as a replacement for Aguero who left the pitch on a stretcher amidst cheers from the City fans.

Penalty saga
Carlos Tevez was fouled by Jos Hooiveld and Howard Webb had no option than to award a penalty to the defending league champions. David Silva stepped to play a woeful spot kick that was easily saved by the Saints goalkeeper. Dzeko was well marked by the visitors. He found it difficult to get to the end of crosses by Gael Clichy and Pablo Zabaleta.

Meanwhile, Samir Nasri was able to find Tevez in the penalty box after 40 minutes of action. The Argentine attacking maestro fired his team into the lead with a well-taken shot. After the restart, Rickie Lambert gave the visitors something spectacular. He came off the bench and scored the equaliser. His initial effort was cleared back to him by Lescott and he was able to beat Joe Hart in the City goal.

Steven Davis made it 2-1 to the visitors when he got to the end of a pass by Adam Lallana. Jack Rodwell's back pass in the Southampton area sparked off a counter attack that resulted in that goal.

Turn Around
Vincent Kompany played the ball into the penalty area from a corner that was taken by Nasri. Dzeko tapped the ball home to bring scores to 2-2. Samir Nasri scored the winning goal to save the Citizens from getting an embarrassing one point. The Frenchman picked his angle before firing the ball past Davies who was in goal for the visitors. Edin Dzeko was credited with the assist. 

City wins first silverware of the season.

Roberto Mancini led Manchester City to a pulsating 3-2 victory over Chelsea in Sunday's Community shield match that was played at Villa Park. The venue of the match was shifted from the Wembley Stadium in London due to the London 2012 Olympics that came to an end on the same day. Joe Hart missed the clash due t an injury he sustained in one of his club's friendlies and a reserve keeper had to be included in the team sheet. Victor Moses was listed for the match because the new Chelsea player had his medical on Sunday following his £9m move from Wigan Athletic.

Fernando Torres scored the first goal of the match after about 35 minutes of action at the Villa Park. John Terry was very poor in his defensive role, but David Luiz prevented Sergio Aguero from wrecking havoc in the Blues defence before the Spaniard put Roberto Di Matteo's men in front after a good work from Ramires. Eden Hazard was an unnoticed figure for a larger part of the first half while John Mikel was over-shadowed by Nigel de Jong in the midfield. The Citizens were undeterred as they continued to pile the pressure on the FA Cup champions. Branislav Ivanovic was sent off for a reckless tackle on Alexander Kolarov in the 42nd minute of play. After the restart, Roberto Mancini's men took total control of the match and Yaya Toure made their dominance more releveant in the 53rd minute. He got to the end of a pass on the edge of the box before firing a shot thsat beat Petr Cech. Six minutes later, Carlos Tevez released a thunderous shot that left Cech helpless in the Blues goal. City enjoyed much of the possession  in the second half. After 65 minutes of hostilities between the big spending clubs, Sami Nasri made it 3-1 for the Premier League holders as Chelsea were pinned in their own half. Ryan Betrand's 78th minute goal was not enough to deny Mancini's men their first silverware of the season and underlined their credentials as the best team in England.

City cuts United's lead to just three points.

Manchester City are now three points behind Manchester United ahead of next week's clash at the Etihad Stadium. Manchester United threw away a 4-2 lead to settle for a 4-4 draw against Everton at the Old Trafford Stadium in Sunday's early English Premiership kick off. Everton took the lead through Jelavic in the 34th minute before Wayne Rooney equalised for the hosts seven minutes later. Rooney's 25th EPL goal came off a header in the 41st minute.
After the restart Danny Welback made it 2-1 with a shot that kept Tim Howard rooted to a spot after the Everton defence went to sleep. In the 61st minute, Nani  scored the third goal to make it 3-1. But with less than 30 minutes to play, Everton began their comeback with a beautiful goal from Fellaini. In the 69th minute( two minutes later), Rooney grabbed his 26th league goal to make it 4-2.
Jelavic and Steven Pienaar scored the last two goals for the visitors in the 83rd and 85th minute respectively to make it 4-4.
Meanwhile, Manchester City defeated Wolves 2-0 at the Molineaux. Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri were the goal scorers for the Citizens that are now on 80 points and six goals better than United who they face next week in the title decider.