Gritty win makes the headlines |
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Sunday Telegraph
"Manchester City hold on as Amr Zaki misses open goal"
Kaka
better pack his shinpads. Manchester City might aspire to the image of
superstar cosmopolitan aesthetes but, when Richard Dunne got himself
sent-off, City’s bloody and muddy victory over Wigan was all about
desperate defending and no little luck.
“We had to try and
focus on the game which was difficult because of the interest that has
surrounded events earlier in the week,” Mark Hughes said. “I thought we
really stuck to our test. We showed great qualities for the
circumstances we find ourselves in.”
Earning £500,000 for a
week’s work might appear a little less worthwhile when Lee Cattermole
is dragging you around the pitch with your Achilles in his teeth.
Wigan
have got class but they are also hard the combination has been the
reason they have been so impressive this season. Kaka better prepare
for the rough stuff.
It is best embodied in Wilson Palacios,
the hard-running Honduran midfielder, who was superb in what is almost
certainly his last game for Wigan, although it won’t be his last game
on this ground by the sound of it.
Palacios had almost signed
for Tottenham over the weekend but Steve Bruce hinted that City had
come in for the player themselves on Friday night.
What with City also closing on Craig Bellamy of West Ham, it will be the second time they have gazumped Spurs in a week.
City
are moving more quickly in the market than anticipated. Kaka’s
representatives will speak to City this week but the signals coming out
of Milan suggest they are resigned to his departure.
Wayne
Bridge, the best-paid full back in the world, made his debut here and
if Bellamy and Palacios arrive they have also made a £14 million for
Hamburg’s Nigel de Jong City will be nearly halfway to a new team.
City
started with flair and conviction. For 20 exciting minutes this didn’t
seem such an unlikely place for a Brazilian to flourish. Robinho was
fully-charged and with Elano scheming in the playmaker’s role, City
played some thrilling stuff. Elano twice gave Robinho great chances to
score.
The first, after 11 minutes, was a simple lob over the
top of the Wigan defence, which Robinho went haring after. His pace was
not matched by his composure however and he scuffed his shot wide.
Ten
minutes later and Elano again opened the Wigan defence when he stabbed
the ball into the box with outside of his boot. It slowed up nicely to
allow Robinho to chip the ball over the advancing Chris Kirkland. Titus
Bramble, covering, hooked the ball off the line.
The game
slowed dramatically into half time, but then burst back into action 10
minutes into the second half as City took the lead. Robinho brought the
ball forward, cutting in from the left and found Daniel Sturridge.
The
City striker stumbled through a tackle, cut back and crossed Scharner
headed out but the ball dropped to Zabaleta and he sent a volley
swerving into the net.
It took all of two minutes for Richard
Dunne to spoil that hard work. He went up with Zaki for typically
physical aerial contest and came down clutching his head, hit by the
Egyptian’s stray elbow. Dunne, down on his hands and knees,
donkey-kicked the prone Zaki.
It was an astonishingly stupid
thing for the City captain to do and referee Lee Mason can’t have had
many easier decisions to make than producing the red card.
The
late assault on the City goal was pretty relentless, with Scharner’s
header blocked in the line by Elano and Cattermole denied a penalty
when fouled by the same player.
The biggest miss was Zaki’s,
though Cattermole went up with Bridge and unknowingly headed towards
goal, the ball looping over Joe Hart and coming back off the bar. Zaki
was there following up, but unbelievably headed over with the goal
open.
“I think he’ll be appearing in those videos that come out
at Christmas time with all the gaffes,” Bruce said. “It’s an
unbelievable chance we’ve missed.” It’s not the last surprise we are
like to see on this pitch this season.
The Independent
"City close in on Kaka and Bellamy"
The
owner of Milan, Silvio Berlusconi, appeared to clear the way for Kaka's
departure to Manchester City yesterday, declaring it would be difficult
for him to say no to the club's riches. Milan's match with Fioren-tina
at the San Siro last night provided Berlusconi with a sense of the
scale of opposition to the player leaving for £100 million. But the
Italian prime minister believes the club can weather the storm, and his
declaration that he cannot match the wage being offered by City is a
deliberate piece of positioning, aimed at creating the impression that
Milan are powerless to stand in City's way.
Kaka is understood
to be hesitant about accepting the deal, but Berlusconi said the money
on offer may persuade the 26-year-old to move. "It is still 'No' and
nothing is decided," Berlusconi said. "But it is very difficult to make
someone stay after they've seen such a wage. For a man that does not
have a job for life, it would be difficult to say no."
Berlusconi
said Milan had no plans to try to match City's salary offer. "I can't
raise a wage that is already at the maximum level," he said. "If so I
would have to raise the wages of all our players, which frankly isn't
possible. I hope he stays, but let's see."
City were awaiting a
response last night to their increased bid for Newcastle's keeper Shay
Given, believed to be about £10m, and Steve Bruce was also resigned to
Mark Hughes signing Wilson Palacios. "I don't know whether the [£13m]
offer has gone in officially,"the Wigan manager said. "But how can I
deny the lad the opportunity?" Hughes sought to deflect attention away
from the bid for Palacios. "I wasn't concentrating on his performance,"
he said. But he did not disguise his desire to bring Kaka to Eastlands.
"I'd love the opportunity to work with such a natural player," he said.
City's
1-0 win against Wigan was not convincing, though it did take the side
up to 11th ahead of an initialmeeting with Kaka's father and chief
advisor, expected early next week.
Meanwhile, hot off the 'hold your horses' presses:
Daily Star on Sunday
"Kaka 'yes' - He's signed and sealed"
A top AC Milan official last night declared Kaka’s world record move to Man City ‘signed and sealed’.
In
a dramatic development to City’s £100m bid to land Kaka, Milan sporting
director Ariedo Braida reportedly told club shareholders: “He has
signed.”
Later, when asked to comment, an angry Braida,
responsible for all Milan’s transfers, refused to deny or comment on
the subject.
But City boss Mark Hughes said: “This is not a normal deal where everything’s done in 24 hours. We’re a long way from that.”
And a few more names to conjure with:
The People
"Moneybags Man City target £15m Alex"
Manchester City boss Mark Hughes is ready to offer £15million for Chelsea's Brazilian centre-half Alex.
City
will go back to Stamford Bridge - after signing Wayne Bridge - with an
offer for the big South American who is growing unsettled under Luiz
Felipe Scolari and wants to move.
Scolari could be willing to sacrifice Alex if he gets the money to bring in badly needed reinforcements.
Alex
arrived at Chelsea from PSV Eindhoven - where he had been 'parked'
during Roman Abramovich's big-spending days - but now he plans to leave
and the Londoners would let him go.
Despite Hughes's mega-money
move for Kaka, he is still searching for a centrehalf ...and City
insiders are confident that Alex can be landed.
Alex is a
powerful, commanding figure who would bolster City's weak defence -
with skipper Richard Dunne under pressure for his place and possibly to
be sold.
Meanwhile, Celtic are in talks with City about snapping up Welsh striker Ched Evans.
Parkhead
supremo Peter Lawwell and general manager John Park were at Eastlands
yesterday for top-level discussions about a deal for the young City
reserve and hope to do a deal.
Evans has been told that the Bhoys
want him - and Celtic have been told they must either buy the
home-grown kid now or take him on loan with a guaranteed signing in the
summer.
Gordon Strachan is keen on Evans who may decide to quit the club with City ready to bring in a host of big-name players.
Citydo not want to lose Evans but accept that he may have to go for his own
good. However it will take a fee of around £1million plus extras to
make it happen.
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