City beat McClaren's Twente in five-goal thriller
Robinho scored a brilliant 25-yard goal
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Thursday, 06, Nov 2008 10:00
Manchester City overcame Steve McClaren's FC Twente side 3-2 in a pulsating Uefa Cup match at Eastlands this evening.
Shaun Wright-Phillips had given City and early lead and Robinho and Benjani scored to make the score 3-1. But McClaren's spirited side refused throw the towel in and fought back to 3-2 through goals from Eljero Elia and Rob Wielaert. But City managed to hold on for the win despite late Twente pressure.
City got off to a sensational start as Wright-Phillips swapped passes with Jo before drilling the ball past Sander Boschker from 15 yards out to give his side the lead inside two minutes.
Mark Hughes' men were by far the better side in the first quarter of the game and dominated possession. But they found themselves pegged back as they conceded a dubious goal.
The City defence stood still as they waited for the referee to blow his whistle for a foul when Twente striker Elia lifted his foot high to snatch the ball away from Zabaleta, who was attempting to head the ball away. The referee waved play-on and Elia sprinted clear and finished well to bring his side level.
The goal for Twente completely changed the outlook of the game as the Dutch side grew in confidence and enjoyed more of the possession. They had a great chance to take the lead when a through ball from Youssouf Hersi gave Blaise Nkufo a run on the City goal and only a superb last ditch tackle from Javier Garrido saved City.
City struggled to find their best form in the first-half, and with a half empty City of Manchester Stadium, they could draw little inspiration from their fans. The only other real other chance of the first-half was made by Jo who cut inside the Twente defence before seeing his shot come back off the keeper's legs.
With no doubt a few harsh words from Hughes, City started the second-half at a much higher tempo. Wright-Phillips was inches away from scoring his second goal as his shot from the edge of the box just went wide of the post.
City got the goal they deserved after 57 minutes and it was an absolute beauty from the Brazilian magician Robinho. The winger cut inside from his left-wing and curled the ball past the Twente keeper from 20 yards out.
The Premier League side had a two goal cushion five minutes later when substitute Benjani saw a speculative effort from the edge of the box take a deflection of Douglas, which beat the wrong-footed Boschkor.
However, City saw their lead halved only a couple of minutes later when Twente captain Wielaert rose highest to head home from a corner.
The last 15 minutes were unbelievably open and both teams created numerous chances to win the game. Robinho twice hit the inside of the post and Twente should have equalised in the last minute of the game, but Stein Huysegems could only blaze a shot over the bar from only five yards out.