- Oct 1, 2003
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My "tabloid" title - sorry couldn't resist :twisted:
Vodacom Challenge: Orlando Pirates Two Good For Manchester City
Orlando Pirates 2–0 Manchester City
Source: Goal.com 18 Jul (excerpts)
Orlando Pirates locked horns with Manchester City in the opening game of the Vodacom Challenge today at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.
Starting Lineup: MANCHESTER CITY: Taylor, Zabaleta, Ben-Haim, Mee, Garrido, Weiss, Ireland, Johnson, Bojinov, Petrov, Bellamy.
1st Half
Taylor looked solid in the City goal, but Pirates were not able to get to the former Arsenal keeper as much as they would have liked. In the 26th minute a mazy run down the left wing caused problems for the City defence, but before he could do anything useful with his attack, Ben Haim did well to poke the ball to safety. Captain Stephen Ireland worked tirelessly in the midfield, leading by example and launching a few dangerous attacks for Manchester City. After end-to-end stuff in the early stages, neither side could find a shot on goal around the half hour mark.
In the 35th minute Pirates took the lead, as the Bucs were awarded a penalty following a foul from Ben Mee on Frank Olivier, and defender Lucas Thwala coolly slotted past Taylor in the Citizens goal. The fans reacted to the goal with celebrations, as the singing and dancing in the stands continued to inspire the Pirates players. City’s reply was a fantastic strike from Bojinov five minutes later, as the striker forced Josephs into a fine diving save to deny the Citizens from scoring.
In typical Bellamy style, the Welshman received a yellow card shortly before the break after constant complaints towards the ref received an official reply. After a few seconds of injury time, both sides went into the break with Pirates in the lead.
2nd Half
In the second half of the game, Benjani and Vidal came onto the pitch for Manchester City.
Manchester City moved slowly in the midfield, looking as though they were waiting for something to happen, rather than making it happen themselves. Pirates coach Ruud Krol sat on the bench, watching closely and quietly, as Mark Hughes looked disappointed with his charges.
In the 55th minute, substitute Mongale unleashed a fantastically precise shot from the left wing, as his effort floated over Taylor and into the City goal of the post for Pirates’ second of the encounter. A few minutes later Pirates were once again on the attack, but Taylor did well to come off his line and deny the Bucs a third goal. The South African team grew in confidence as time went on, and Manchester City seemed to resign to a loss, with little effort being made in attack.
With twenty minutes remaining, Hughes put Nigel De Jong and Felipe Caicedo onto the pitch in an effort to change the flow of the game and get back into it, and it had an immediate affect, with City looking more threatening up front, and the fresh legs helping to dominate possession for the first time in the game.
Pirates did well to regain possession, and pass the ball around in a manner that frustrated the tired Manchester City players. Rather than moving forward, the Bucs held possession in midfield, knowing that holding onto a 2-0 lead was not an impossible task. Despite that manner of thinking, the Soweto side managed to hit the post in the 85th minute thanks to a scramble in the City box and fine work by the Pirates attacking players.
Definitely top four challengers when their highly paid stars play :think:
(providing they're not too occupied in worrying about UK tax rates)
Just to remind you what happened two years ago:-
PIRATES 0, SPURS 3
The Vodacom Challenge trophy leaves Africa for the first time tonight after Orlando Pirates were put to the sword in a scintillating first half display at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium.Three goals in 21 opening half minutes effectively finished the game as a contest, with Darren Bent netting two of them to make it four goals in as many pre-season starts. His partner in attack Dimitar Berbatov netted the other with a direct assist from our striking signing.
Vodacom Challenge: Orlando Pirates Two Good For Manchester City
Orlando Pirates 2–0 Manchester City
Source: Goal.com 18 Jul (excerpts)
Orlando Pirates locked horns with Manchester City in the opening game of the Vodacom Challenge today at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.
Starting Lineup: MANCHESTER CITY: Taylor, Zabaleta, Ben-Haim, Mee, Garrido, Weiss, Ireland, Johnson, Bojinov, Petrov, Bellamy.
1st Half
Taylor looked solid in the City goal, but Pirates were not able to get to the former Arsenal keeper as much as they would have liked. In the 26th minute a mazy run down the left wing caused problems for the City defence, but before he could do anything useful with his attack, Ben Haim did well to poke the ball to safety. Captain Stephen Ireland worked tirelessly in the midfield, leading by example and launching a few dangerous attacks for Manchester City. After end-to-end stuff in the early stages, neither side could find a shot on goal around the half hour mark.
In the 35th minute Pirates took the lead, as the Bucs were awarded a penalty following a foul from Ben Mee on Frank Olivier, and defender Lucas Thwala coolly slotted past Taylor in the Citizens goal. The fans reacted to the goal with celebrations, as the singing and dancing in the stands continued to inspire the Pirates players. City’s reply was a fantastic strike from Bojinov five minutes later, as the striker forced Josephs into a fine diving save to deny the Citizens from scoring.
In typical Bellamy style, the Welshman received a yellow card shortly before the break after constant complaints towards the ref received an official reply. After a few seconds of injury time, both sides went into the break with Pirates in the lead.
2nd Half
In the second half of the game, Benjani and Vidal came onto the pitch for Manchester City.
Manchester City moved slowly in the midfield, looking as though they were waiting for something to happen, rather than making it happen themselves. Pirates coach Ruud Krol sat on the bench, watching closely and quietly, as Mark Hughes looked disappointed with his charges.
In the 55th minute, substitute Mongale unleashed a fantastically precise shot from the left wing, as his effort floated over Taylor and into the City goal of the post for Pirates’ second of the encounter. A few minutes later Pirates were once again on the attack, but Taylor did well to come off his line and deny the Bucs a third goal. The South African team grew in confidence as time went on, and Manchester City seemed to resign to a loss, with little effort being made in attack.
With twenty minutes remaining, Hughes put Nigel De Jong and Felipe Caicedo onto the pitch in an effort to change the flow of the game and get back into it, and it had an immediate affect, with City looking more threatening up front, and the fresh legs helping to dominate possession for the first time in the game.
Pirates did well to regain possession, and pass the ball around in a manner that frustrated the tired Manchester City players. Rather than moving forward, the Bucs held possession in midfield, knowing that holding onto a 2-0 lead was not an impossible task. Despite that manner of thinking, the Soweto side managed to hit the post in the 85th minute thanks to a scramble in the City box and fine work by the Pirates attacking players.
Definitely top four challengers when their highly paid stars play :think:
(providing they're not too occupied in worrying about UK tax rates)
Just to remind you what happened two years ago:-
PIRATES 0, SPURS 3
The Vodacom Challenge trophy leaves Africa for the first time tonight after Orlando Pirates were put to the sword in a scintillating first half display at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium.Three goals in 21 opening half minutes effectively finished the game as a contest, with Darren Bent netting two of them to make it four goals in as many pre-season starts. His partner in attack Dimitar Berbatov netted the other with a direct assist from our striking signing.
