Man City-Newcastle Live Blog

By: Patrick | September 29th, 2007

Ok, I’ve been a very, very bad blogger. I guess TheOffside isn’t in great shape considering they haven’t canned me after not posting for a month. Although I don’t get paid or anything, so I guess they don’t care that much.

Anyway, I have missed a lot of juicy things, from Stephen Ireland’s grandma dying (NOT!) to Sven being linked to Chelsea (which might make sense in about eight months, really, it might).

So all that said, I’m back (for now). City and Castel play in about 10 minutes and I will try to liven up the match with some coments as the game goes on. Here we go.

Pregame: Joe Hart is starting in goal instead of baby Schmeichel. First time that has happend in a Premier League game this year.

3 - Not much has happend. Actually, nothing has. What is bugging me is the field (pitch). The gardner cut it funny or something, it just doesn’t look right. I might just be crazy.

5 – Well, Newcastle goalie Shay Given (who also hasn’t played in awhile) almost handed City a goal when his first touch got away from him and nearly found the foot of Elano and in the net, but Given recovered.

9 – Mark Viduka just forced Hart to make his first save, which was a good one. Hart had to dive to his right, and got this hand on the ball to force it wide.

10 - Mpenza makes a nice run and gets tripped up by Butt about 15 yards from goal, but Petrov kicks the free kick into the wall.

12 - Some nice passing by City opens up Elano at the top of the box which forced Given to make what might turn out to be the save the weekend. It was absolute class (I love saying/typing that). Well, City looks really. So good in fact you would think that they were 3rd in the EPL, oh wait…

16 - Mpenza gets another good chance when Taylor mishandles the ball and Mpenze was through on goal, but Given forced a quick shot, which he smothered. I would say the over\under on Man City scoring is at the 32nd minute.

20 - James Milner embarrasses Javier Garrido as the right mid sprinted around the left back, but his cross in the middle was intercepted. As I type, Milner was causing more trouble as he fell in the box, I missed it, but the commentator said it wasn’t a penalty.

25 - This just in – City is very good at home. They look like Arsenal at times right now.

28 - Elano, Man City’s best player (not counting Richards), is limping around on his ankle. Not good.

29 - GOAL! All that brown nosing about City didn’t pay off. A ball came from the center line and Martins had the ball stick to his foot and his second touch was placed by Hart. 1-0 Newcastle.

33 - Hart almost scored a great own goal! It would have been a classic. He took a pass, and from an angle that would have been tough for Wayne Rooney, he slid the ball towards goal, and then sprinted after it and kicked the ball off the line. I never thought I would say it, but where is baby Schmeichel!

38 - GOAL! The good guys score this time . Petrov, who scares me (he looks like a vampire), finishes off a great pass across the 6-yard box by Elano, and pounds the ball past Given. So..Man City 1, Newcastle 1.

41 - Stephen “I hate football” Ireland recieves a world-class through ball from Elano, but fellow Irishman Shay Given ran out to challenge and made a nice save off his chest. It should be 2-1.

HALF - I was a little bit worried that I was going to start to fall asleep (this game started 4:45 am PST), but it’s been a roller coaster of a first half. This much I know. Elano is really good. Petrov is fast. Martins is really good. And Hart, well, he is lucky he didn’t score on himself, that goal could have been the end of his career. Seriously, it would have got more hits on YouTube than that girly guy giving the Britany defense under the covers. All in all, it was a great half.

46 – Richard Dunne gets the second half started by headbutting Milner (not on purpose). Both players hit the ground, but get up eventually.

47 - GOAL!!!Like I said, Petrov is fast. He sprints down the left flank, around a defender, then floats a ball to Mpenza which he heads by Given. Man City 2, Newcastle 1.

54 - As City proved last week, they are a little sketchy in the back, so this game is far from over, but the way they are playing offensively, you got to think they will find the net at least one more time. My money is Elano to get a goal.

63 - Had some computer trouble. Sorry, if anyone is reading this . But, Corluka, who picked up a knock, was subbed for Onuoha at right back.

67 - More computer problems (I have seen two of the last 10 minutes). That said, I did see Martins have a great chance to tie the score, but instead of passing to a wide open Viduka, he took a shot from a sharpe angle that went wide.

72 - Newcastle is putting on some consistant pressure for the first time in the match. A tying goal seems very possible all of a sudden.

77 - More pressure from Newcastle, but no clear chance.

79 - Richards recieves a pass after making a 70 yard run, and gets a clear chance on goal, but his shot looks like one from a center defender.

82 - Mpenza gets two more opportunites to put the game away. First, he gets a cross on the left from Petrov that he misses. Seconds later, from the right, he gets a cross from Ireland, this time he uses his foot, but his shot goes terribly wide. This game should be over.

87 - GOAL!!! Elano with a ridiculous goal. Actualy, ridiculous doesn’t give it justice. Let’s just say, if David Beckham did that, it would be considered the greatest goal in MLS history. It was a 25-yard free kick, that didn’t bend an inch, just a bullet around the wall and into the top corner. Man City 3, Newcastle 1.

FINAL - Man City stays perfect at home. A very strong performance overall. Elano and Petrov in particular looked great. Here is an interesting question. I you had to bet if City was going to finish in the Top 6, what would you say? It’s very close, but I do think they are the sixth best team in the EPL (The top four and Blackburn are ahead). Lastly, I’ll try and post more than once a month for now on. Oh, and please excuse my many grammar errors that I surely have in this post.