Saturday 15 February 2014

MANCHESTER CITY 0vs0 CHELSEA FC

LIVE: Man City 1-0 Chelsea

16′
Goal Stevan Jovetic
JOVETIC GIVES MAN CITY THE LEAD! Dzeko is the architect as his perfectly-weighted pass picks out Jovetic on the right. The Serbian opts to shoot first time and his well-placed finish goes across Cech and into the bottom corner. Where was Azpilicueta?
15′
LET-OFF FOR CECH! Yaya Toure shows his power as he bursts beyond Matic and his powerful effort is spilled by Cech who is relieved to see Jovetic put the rebound against the top of the bar.
13′
Manchester City have started the brighter of the two sides here and they are not allowing Chelsea to settle to ball. Hazard has been particularly quiet in the opening 13 minutes.
11′
It's not been the greatest 11 minutes of FA Cup action this season and Yaya Toure miscontrols Milner's low cross inside the Chelsea box. I'm sure Mourinho will have a lot to say if he ends up being the matchwinner today.
9′
Silva has looked sharp in the opening stages and it is Manchester City who are shading the possession here. Neither goalkeeper has been tested so far.
7′
Gael Clichy gets into a good position down the left but Dzeko does not anticipate his low cross into the middle and a promising opportunity breaks down. Manchester City fans are no doubt anxious for Sergio Aguero's return ahead of the big Champions League clash with Barcelona on Tuesday.
5′
David Luiz was at fault for Anichebe's late equaliser in the week and his raking diagonal pass just fails to pick out Ramires' clever run. The Chelsea fans are making their presence known with a loud rendition of their manager's name.
3′
A slow start at the Etihad Stadium with both sides feeling their way into the contest. Manchester City work the ball out to Milner excellently but his low cross into the box is easily blocked by Cahill.
1′
Phil Dowd blows his whistle and Manchester City get the game underway. Can they avenge their Premier League defeat from 12 days ago?
 
Phil Dowd appears to have recovered from his collision with Kolo Toure in Liverpool's midweek win over Fulham and he is today's referee. There will be a minute's silence for former England international Sir Tom Finney who sadly passed away yesterday.
 
Captains Vincent Kompany and Petr Cech lead out the respective sides to a huge roar from both sets of fans. Who will earn the place in the hat for the quarter-final draw? Kick-off is moments away...
 
These two sides met in the FA Cup semi-final last season when late goals from Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri handed Manchester City a 2-1 win which took them to Wembley where they were suffered a shock defeat to Wigan. The Latics are already in the hat for the quarter-finals after they knocked out Cardiff City while Sunderland continued their great cup form by beating Southampton 1-0.
 
Yaya Toure was the inspiration behind Manchester City's FA Cup final triumph in 2011 and he can consider himself fortuntate to be starting this afternoon after the FA cleared him of charges after his kick on Norwich's Ricky Van Wolfswinkel. Costel Pantilimon replaces Jo Hart between the sticks while Joleon Lescott, James Milner and Stevan Jovetic are also given the opportunity to impress.
 
Branislav Ivanovic was the difference when these two sides met 12 days ago and he takes his place in a strong Chelsea line-up. Jose Mourinho makes only one change to the side which drew 1-1 with West Brom in midweek as John Obi Mikel comes in for Oscar. John Terry remains sidelined through injury.
 
CHELSEA (4-3-3): Cech; Ivanovic, Cahill, David Luiz, Azpilicueta; Mikel, Matic, Ramires; Willian, Hazard, Eto'o.
 
MANCHESTER CITY (4-4-2): Pantilimon; Zabaleta, Kompany, Lescott, Clichy; Milner, Garcia, Toure, Silva; Jovetic, Dzeko.
 
Without further ado, here are today's lineups...
 
Manchester City will be seeking revenge after Chelsea ended their 100% home league run just over a fortnight ago. In fact, Manuel Pellegrini's side have experienced a recent blip as their free-scoring attack has failed to find the back of the net in their last two matches. Can they rediscover their scoring touch today?
 
Greetings everyone, and welcome to what is certain to be an epic FA Cup tie, as Manchester City host Chelsea at the Etihad Stadium in the fifth round. We've got the lineups and all the buildup coming your way before kickoff, so stay tuned

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