It's been a tough UEFA Champions League group stage for Manchester City, and it didn't get any better on Tuesday. They threw away a two-goal lead at CSKA Moscow, eventually drawing, 2-2.
3 things we learned from Manchester City’s collapse against CSKA Moscow
Manchester City fell apart in the second half against CSKA Moscow, stumbling to a 2-2 draw.
Shaun Botterill
CSKA Moscow started well -- Zoran Tosic shot just wide at the end of a nice move in the 10th minute and Eliaquim Mangala had to make a desperate tackle on Ahmed Musa in the six-yard box another 13 minutes after that -- but City were well in control shortly after that. From the 25th minute on, they were dominant and went into halftime with a well-deserved 2-0 lead.
The opening goal was aided by a very bad defensive error by CSKA's Mario Fernandes. He didn't step up with the rest of his defense, instead lagging nearly five yards behind, leaving Edin Dzeko well onside when he should have been out of the play. David Silva found him with a chipped ball over the top of the defense and he squared to Sergio Aguero for an easy tap-in.
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James Milner added another in the 37th minute, finishing off an excellent move. Yaya Toure started it with a diagonal ball to Pablo Zabaleta, who nodded down for Aguero. The Argentine's shot wasn't terrific and might have been heading wide, but Milner was in the perfect spot to redirect it into the back of the net.
CSKA didn’t look much like scoring early in the second half despite bringing striker Seydou Doumbia on for defender Alexei Berezutski, but Doumbia made his mark on the game with a surprise goal in the 64th minute. Bibras Natcho set it up with a stunning through ball to Ahmed Musa, who found Doumbia for an easy close-range finish.
Doumbia set up the equalizer too, and did it with some theatrics. He was clipped from behind in the penalty area by Aleksandr Kolarov in the 84th minute, made the most of the contact, and got the referee to give a penalty. Natcho stepped up and scored, saving a surprising point for his team.
CSKA Moscow: Akinfeev, Schennikov, V. Berezutski, Ignashevich, A. Berezutski (Doumbia 46’), Fernandes, Ermenenko, Natcho, Milanov, Musa, Tosic (Efremov 69’)
Goals: Doumbia (64’), Natcho (pen 86’)
Manchester City: Hart, Kolarov, Mangala, Kompany, Zabaleta, Fernando (Jovetic 88’), Toure, Silva (Fernandinho 78’), Aguero, Milner, Dzeko (Navas 72’)
Goals: Aguero (29’), Milner (37’)
UEFA Champions League
3 things
1. CSKA are alive - No, they’re probably not going to finish top two in this group. But by avoiding defeat against Manchester City, they’re at least still alive with a chance of getting out of the group. Or at least beating City to a Europa League spot.
2. Sergio Aguero is on one of his runs - Whenever he’s fit, Sergio Aguero is one of the best players in the world. Unfortunately, he suffers multiple injuries every season. But he’s fit right now, and he’s playing at a level that puts him on a tier occupied solely by Real Madrid and Barcelona players. City need him to keep it up.
3. City are this group’s third best team - After only managing a draw away to CSKA by way of a late penalty, there’s no reason to believe that City are any better than Roma. Although that could change if the Italians get crushed by Bayern Munich later in the day.
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