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'Manchester City held by Paris St Germain in UEFA Cup'
UEFA Cup: Manchester City 0-0 Paris St Germain
Mark Hughes saw his Manchester City side maintain their unbeaten record in the UEFA Cup group stages at Eastlands.
But
after the exertions of the derby against Manchester United - and a
morale-sapping defeat - they were running on empty in the last 20
minutes.
City, however, could have put the game to bed in the first quarter when they should have been two goals to the good.
Welsh boss Hughes must have been alarmed at how wasteful his side were in the opening stages.
The first chance fell to Daniel Sturridge in the fifth minute when Elano released him with a defence-splitting pass.
Sturridge raced on but the ball got away from him and goalkeeper Mickael Landreau was able to make the clearance.
Sturridge
was left frustrated at seeing that chance go begging and City
squandered another good opportunity in the 13th minute when Jo sent
Darius Vassell clear.
Vassell had only the goalkeeper to beat but showed a lack of confidence by dragging his effort wide of the post.
There were groans of disapproval from the home supporters after City again failed to capitalise on a clear chance.
Sturridge then got on the end of a cross from Javier Garrido but as he shaped to shoot the ball was taken off his toes.
Elano
tried his luck with a free-kick from an acute angle in the 31st minute
but only succeeded in sending his effort wide of the target.
PSG
were showing little ambition and looked content to play on the counter
even though they need points to advance to the last 32.
City
were struggling to break them down and Hughes was continually out and
about in the technical area trying to urge his players on.
Stephen
Ireland tried to put Vassell away in the 41st minute but put too much
weight on the pass and Landreau booted the ball to safety.
Then Zabaleta picked out Jo but his weak header from close range did not give the goalkeeper too much difficulty.
Two minutes later, Landreau did well to parry Zabaleta's effort around the post after Vassell had pulled the ball back.
PSG
responded immediately and former Chelsea striker Mateja Kezman was
clear in the penalty area but Tal Ben Haim made a superb block.
Sturridge then tried his luck on goal in the 48th minute but his effort whistled past the post.
PSG hit back nine minutes later when Peguy Luyindula stung goalkeeper Joe Hart's fingers with a 25-yard drive.
Vassell was wasteful a minute later after substitute Benjani Mwaruwari and Ireland linked up.
He got into a good position on the edge of the area but failed to test Landreau, hoisting his effort high over the bar.
Play
broke down the other end and Kezman, on loan to PSG from Fenerbahce,
skipped past Ireland, only to send a poor shot off target.
City were caught napping in the 63rd minute and Luyindula raced clear only for Hart to divert his effort to safety.
PSG had suddenly stepped up the pace and the impressive Luyindula released Guillaume Hoarau in the 73rd minute.
But he somehow clipped his shot the wrong side of the post when it seemed easier to score.
Hoarau then got clear in the 82nd minute, only to send his cross behind Luyindula and City held out to finish on level terms.
The Daily Telegraph
Manchester City play down reports of £129 million bid for Real Madrid's Iker Casillas
Manchester
City executive chairman Garry Cook has insisted that the club will keep
their prospective transfer dealings in-house after dismissing reports
from Spain claiming that a £129 million bid has been lodged for the
Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
With the Spanish radio
station, Cadena Ser, reporting that Casillas's agent, Luis Garcia Abad,
had received a written offer from City via an Arab intermediary, the
Premier League club have moved swiftly to dampen the latest incredible
story emanating from Spain.
In October, City were forced to
distance themselves from similar reports linking them – via another
alleged intermediary – with the Liverpool striker Fernando Torres.
Officials
at Eastlands are now resigned to a lengthy 'silly season' of
speculation during which the club is likely to be named in association
with many of the world's leading players as a result of the transfer
funds placed at manager Mark Hughes' disposal by owner Sheikh Mansour.
And
while Hughes has assembled a January hit-list that is understood to
include Blackburn forward Roque Santa Cruz, Chelsea full-back Wayne
Bridge and Portsmouth midfielder Lassana Diarra, major investment at
the level of the £32.5 million British record signing of Robinho is not
expected to take place until next summer.
But with various
agents and hopeful intermediaries beginning to surface ahead of the
opening of the transfer window on Jan 1, Cook insists that City will
not be diverted by outside influences as they attempt to strengthen
Hughes' squad.
Cook said: "Manchester City have a clear
strategy for the future – we want the right players who will take this
club forward and, through discussions and meetings between myself, Mark
Hughes and his technical staff, we have identified a list of targets.
"We
will be working to bring those players to the club ourselves and we
have not given another party or individual a mandate to negotiate on
our behalf.
"We are not using intermediaries to negotiate with
players. In fact, only last week we refused two agents permission to
seek out players on our behalf.
"Mark Hughes and I very
recently met the chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, to discuss this matter
and we are all in agreement that the mandate for seeking out and
securing new playing personnel for Manchester City is ours and ours
alone."
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