FA Community Shield - Manchester City v Chelsea, Samir Nasri
Manchester City produced a swashbuckling
second-half display to beat 10-man Chelsea 3-2 in the Community Shield and warn the rest of the Premier League
that the club is ready to retain its title.
Roberto Mancini may believe Manchester United is the favorite to
win the league this season, but his City side was in fine form at
Villa Park and dominated this feisty match despite falling behind
to Fernando Torres’ 40th minute strike.
Yaya Toure, Carlos Tevez and Samir Nasri struck three superb goals
after the break as City took advantage of space in the Chelsea
defense created by the red card shown to Branislav Ivanovic in the
42nd minute for a horrible studs-up challenge on Aleksandar
Kolarov.
Ryan Bertrand grabbed a late goal back for Chelsea but City held on
comfortably to complete a successful day following the news that
the club had agreed a fee with Everton to sign Jack Rodwell.
There was certainly nothing charitable about the traditional season
curtain raiser as fierce challenges flew in with almost the same
ferocity as the rain pounding down in the west Midlands.
Nigel De Jong set the tone with a lunging foul on Frank Lampard,
while City defender Stefan Savic was booked as he took out his
frustration on Eden Hazard’s ankle.
Thousands of supporters arrived late due to traffic on the M6, but
they missed little action of note in the early stages as the
champions of England and Europe cancelled each other out in a
congested midfield.
In the third minute, Tevez forced the first save of note from Petr
Cech with a free kick from the corner of the penalty area that
curled over the wall but lacked the power to beat the Chelsea
goalkeeper at his near post.
City looked rather uncomfortable defensively with the 3-5-2
formation deployed by Mancini, but they began to take control of
proceedings, Nasri coming close but seeing his effort from a tight
angle smothered by Cech.
Hazard, the only summer signing to start the match for either side,
showed glimpses of his quality, taking the ball under pressure and
using his skill to move the City defenders.
The 32 million pound Belgian is certainly confident in his own
ability - but his first game on English soil is likely to be
remembered for the moment in the first half when he fell flat on
his face when attempting a back heel.
On 28 minutes, it was Hazard who drifted inside and fizzed a low
shot towards the bottom corner of Costel Pantilmon’s goal, the
first shot in anger from a Chelsea player.
Against the run of play, however, the Blues took the lead in the
40th minute, with Torres making a clear statement of his intent for
the new season after winning the Golden Boot at Euro 2012.
Ramires did all of the hard work for the Spaniard, taking the ball
on the edge of the penalty area and executing a neat reverse pass.
Torres’ finish was masterly, a perfect first touch with his right
foot and a deadly clipped finish with his left from eight yards.
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