City thumped away at Santander
Mark Hughes will turn his attention to the Premier League now
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Thursday, 18, Dec 2008 10:05
A lacklustre Manchester City side suffered a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Spanish outfit Racing Santander in the Uefa Cup this evening.
Having already qualified for the knockout stages, City rarely got out off first gear and were punished as Santander scored through Jonathan Pereira, Oscar Serrano and Juan Valera. City scored a consolation goal through Felipe Caicedo.
Young Danish keeper Kasper Schmeichel was at fault for the first goal as he only palmed a Serrano cross straight into the path of Pereira and he fired home from inside the penalty area.
City managed to get over the early blow and started getting more of the possession and looked dangerous when Brazilian duo Elano and Robinho were in possession.
But just as they looked to be getting a grip on the game, City were 2-0 down on the half-hour mark. The City defence were slow in closing down Santander and Serrano swapped passes with Pereira, before guiding the ball into the bottom corner of the goal.
The second goal took away any impetuous City had going forward and it looked like the Premier League side, who had already qualified for the knockout stages, were not that interested in winning. Mark Hughes even decided to take off Robinho at half-time, replacing him with Stephen Ireland.
City's miserable night in Spain continued in the second-half when they conceded a third goal. This time they failed to clear a corner and Santander defender Valera thumped the ball past Schmeichel .
With Robinho off, City were almost non-existent as an attacking threat and were actually lucky not to concede a fourth goal. Mohamed Tchite rounded Schmeichel but his shot went wide of the goal.
City substitute Caicedo scored a consolation goal out of the blue as he fired in a low shot past Coltorti. But it was a night to forget for City and now they can concentrate on the Premier League.