MANCHESTER CITY v WEST BROMWICH
ALBION
Barclays Premier League Monday 21st April, 2014,
8pm Etihad Stadium
MATCH
NOTES
The game is the 145th league and
cup meeting between the two clubs. City currently have the edge in terms of victories with
61 compared to Albion's 54.
Albion's last game on this date
took place in 2003 when they lost 3-2 to Spurs
at The Hawthorns in a Premier League clash. The Baggies' last victory on April
21 came in 2002 when
goals from Darren Moore and Bob Taylor gave Gary Megson's side a 2-0 win over
Crystal Palace at The Hawthorns, a result that saw Albion promoted to the
Premier League for the first time.
City's last game on this date came last year when they
suffered a 3-1 Premier League defeat away at Spurs.
Albion and City have met three times previously on
April 21 - 1982 (H) 0-1; 1928 (H) 1-1 and 1900 (A) 0-4.
The game will be
Albion's 300th Premier League match (W72, D82, L145).
Albion have
had 17 different goal scorers this season, which is the most in the league.
City are five goals short of their Premier League club record
of 93 goals in a single season, set in 2011-12.
Albion's last six games:
Tottenham Hotspur (H) 3-3; Norwich
City (A) 1-0; Cardiff City (H) 3-3; Hull City
(A) 0-2; Swansea City (A) 2-1;
Manchester United (H) 0-3.
Manchester City's last six games: Sunderland (H) 2-2; Liverpool (A) 2-3;
Southampton (H) 4-1; Arsenal (A) 1-1; Manchester United (A) 3-0; Fulham (H) 5-0.
TEAM
NEWS
Albion
Jonas Olsson (achilles) and
James Morrison (ankle) both face late fitness tests ahead of the trip to the
Etihad Stadium.
Winger Scott Sinclair is
unavailable due to the conditions of his loan deal with parent club City.
Squad from:
Foster, Myhill, Reid,
Ridgewell, McAuley, Dawson, Olsson, Morrison, Brunt, Dorrans, Mulumbu, Sessegnon,
Anichebe, Vydra, Berahino, Bifouma, Amalfitano, Lugano, Jones, Yacob.
Manchester City
City's Spanish duo David Silva
and Jesus Navas are both doubtful with ankle injuries whilst Yaya Toure will
again be missing due to his groin problem. Matija Nastasic is also definitely
out with a knee injury.
Squad from:
Hart, Pantilimon, Zabaleta,
Richards, Kompany, Demichelis, Lescott, Boyata, Clichy, Kolarov, Milner, Nasri,
Silva, Garcia, Fernandinho, Rodwell, Aguero, Negredo, Dzeko, Jovetic.
QUOTES
Baggies' boss Pepe Mel:
“The Manchester City/Sunderland game is something we have to
look at and is very positive for us. It shows it is possible to get points at
Manchester City. If we
want to get points at Manchester City what we need to do is score goals and in
order to score goals we’ll need to make sure Man City are worried about
defending.
“The only thing we’re talking about is winning. We really
haven’t considered anything else. In football anyone can beat anyone else so
we’re going there looking for the victory.
“Our feelings are very positive. We played against a good
side in Tottenham and to score three goals against them is a real achievement -
and we played well. We have to take the positives from that game. If the players
go about things in the same vain then I’d be extremely proud of them.
“This week has been positive as a whole. The players have
been on a hospital visit and on Thursday met with the disabled supporters. West
Bromwich Albion is a family team with a big heart and this will surely bear
fruit.”
www.wba.co.uk
MATCH
ODDS
Result
Albion Win: 10/1, Manchester City Win: 2/9, Draw:
11/2.
First Goalscorer Albion:
Anichebe 14/1, Vydra 14/1, Sessegnon 20/1, Thievy 20/1, Berahino 20/1, Brunt
25/1, Dorrans 25/1, Morrison 25/1, Amalfitano 33/1, Dawson 33/1, McAuley 33/1,
Mulumbu 33/1, Yacob 40/1, Lugano 40/1.
Manchester City: Aguero 2/1, Negredo 3/1,
Dzeko 3/1, Jovetic 4/1, Silva 11/2, Nasri 11/2, Navas 7/1, Kolarov 9/1,
Fernandinho 11/1, Milner 12/1, Rodwell 16/1, Garcia 16/1, Kompany 20/1, Lescott
25/1, Demichelis 25/1, Richards 25/1, Boyata 33/1, Nastasic 33/1, Zabaleta 33/1.
www.williamhill.com
REFEREE
Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)
Dowd has refereed three Albion games this season -
the 2-0 FA Cup defeat at home to Crystal Palace in January, the 2-1 defeat at
Newcastle United in November and the 3-0 win over Sunderland at The Hawthorns in
September.
The Staffordshire official has taken charge of four
City games during 2013/14 - the 2-0 home win over Chelsea in the FA Cup in
February, the 3-2 win at Swansea City in January, the 7-0 win over Norwich City
at the Etihad Stadium in November and the 2-0 win at home to Hull City in
August.
Dowd has issued 139 yellow cards and four red cards
in the 31 games he has officiated so far this season.
A full run-down of Dowd's history refereeing the
Baggies can be found here
TICKET INFORMATION
The Baggies have sold just 300 out of their 1,700
allocation for the televised clash with many fans boycotting the game due to
the exorbitant pricing of the tickets by City.
WEATHER FORECAST
Light cloud, 14°C.
FIXTURE HISTORY
Albion first met City in league action during the 1899/1900 season. The first
game between the two sides at Stoney Lane in December ended goalless in front of
a crowd of just 2,429. The return game at City's Hyde Road ground in April ended
in a 4-0 defeat for the Baggies with legendary City forward Billy Meredith
amongst the goalscorers.
Albion's biggest league win against City is 9-2,
coming at The Hawthorns in September 1957. Winger Frank Griffin grabbed
three of the Albion goals whilst full-back Don Howe notched two. The other
Baggies' goalscorers were Bobby Robson, Roy Horobin, Brian Whitehouse and
Derek Kevan. Other big wins for Albion include 7-2 at Maine
Road in 1936 when William 'Ginger' Richardson notched a hat-trick and 6-3
at The Hawthorns in 1960 in which Ronnie Allen bagged a treble.
Albion's heaviest league defeat against City came in April
1938 when the club lost 7-1 at Maine Road, City's all-time leading goalscorer
Eric Brook hit four of the goals. Other big wins for City include 6-1
in 1921 when Horace Barnes hit a hat-trick, 6-2 in 1936 and 6-3 in 1903.
In April 1896, prior to the first league meeting of the two
clubs, Albion met City twice in Test Matches, a very early forerunner to the
present day play-offs. Albion won the home match 6-1 and drew 1-1 at City on
their way to retaining their Division One status.
After
winning four of the first seven meetings at Premier League level, Albion have
now gone eight games without a win against City in the league, losing seven of
them.
MATCH
HIGHLIGHTS(Click on game to view)
Wednesday 22 September 2010 - Albion 2-1 Manchester City - Carling Cup 3rd Round - The Hawthorns
Sunday 21 December 2008 - Albion 2-1 Manchester City - Premier League - The Hawthorns
Saturday 8 September 2001 - Albion 4-0 Manchester City - League Division One - The Hawthorns
Wednesday 1 March 1989 - Manchester City 1-1 Albion - Second Division - Maine Road
Saturday 28 November 1987 - Albion 1-1 Manchester City - Second Division - The Hawthorns
Saturday 29 August 1981 - Manchester City 2-1 Albion - First Division - Maine Road
Saturday 2 February 1980 - Manchester City 1-3 Albion - First Division - Maine Road
Saturday 5 September 1970 - Manchester City 4-1 Albion - First Division - Maine Road
Saturday 7 March 1970 - Manchester City 2-1 Albion - League Cup Final - Wembley
Saturday 3 August 1968 - Manchester City 6-1 Albion - Charity Shield - Maine Road
LAST LEAGUE MEETING AT THE ETIHAD STADIUM
Manchester City
1-0 Albion Barclays Premier League Tuesday 7th May 2013,
7:45pm
Manchester City:
Hart; Richards, K
Toure, Lescott, Kolarov; Garcia, Rodwell (Maicon 76); Milner, Tevez (Razak
90+1), Nasri (Barry 83); Dzeko. Subs not used: Pantilimon (gk), Nastasic,
Silva, Aguero.
Goalscorer: Dzeko 35
Booked:
Kolarov 25 (foul),
Nasri 65 (unsporting behaviour)
Albion: Myhill;
Tamas (Long 81), Dawson, Olsson; Jones, Mulumbu, Morrison, Yacob (Dorrans 70),
Ridgewell; Rosenberg (Odemwingie 76), Lukaku. Subs not used: Foster (gk),
Popov, Reid, McAuley.
Booked:
Yacob 65 (unsporting
behaviour)
Attendance: 46,158
Referee: Phil Dowd (Staffordshire)
Edin Dzeko struck against
West Brom for the third time
this season as FA Cup finalists Manchester City edged an open contest at the
Etihad Stadium. The Bosnian, whose double at The Hawthorns in October
included a last-gasp winner, guided home a volley after 35 minutes of a Barclays
Premier League clash lacking in intensity but not incident. Both sides spurned
numerous chances with City hitting the woodwork twice through Carlos Tevez and
James Milner in the first half and Marcus Rosenborg doing likewise for
West Brom after the break.
The build-up to the game had a distinct lack of edge to it
with both teams making a number of changes and fans slow to make their way into
the ground. City, although not mathematically certain of second place, made
clear Saturday's date at Wembley was their priority as they fielded a team
showing eight changes. Captain Vincent Kompany and influential players Yaya
Toure, Pablo Zabaleta and Gael Clichy were rested completely while Sergio Aguero
and David Silva were among those on the bench. Joe Hart, Milner and Samir Nasri
were the only three men to survive from the stalemate at
Swansea, meaning a whole new
back four. West Brom made four changes themselves, giving a chance to goalkeeper
Boaz Myhill and also bringing in James Morrison, Craig Dawson and Gabriel Tamas.
But despite the visitors' lack of obvious incentive, coming
into the game comfortable in eighth place, they started brightly. Romelu Lukaku
had three good chances inside the opening six minutes but failed to trouble
Hart, shooting and heading at the keeper and dragging another effort wide. Tevez
had City's first attempt after linking well with Nasri and cutting inside but
his shot was well off-target. Lukaku teed up Rosenborg at the other end but he
too fired the wrong side of the post. City settled and Jack Rodwell had a chance
after Myhill failed to deal with an Aleksandar Kolarov free-kick but shot over
from close range. Kolarov was perhaps lucky to stay on the field after
committing an offence of his own when he caught Tamas on the side of the head
with a high boot. The Romanian left the field for treatment, later to return
bandaged up, while Kolarov escaped with a yellow card from referee Phil Dowd.
City then enjoyed a good spell as Tevez shot narrowly over from the edge of the
box and Milner slammed a good chance from a dangerous Nasri cross. Rodwell was
then inches away from turning a Kolarov corner towards goal and Tevez rattled
the crossbar with a powerful drive from the edge of the box. The opening goal
came moments later as Tevez broke away down the right and clipped back a
delicate cross for Dzeko. The Bosnian, guilty of a glaring miss at
Swansea, watched carefully and
guided a well-weighted volley past Myhill.
City maintained the momentum and Rodwell had a shot cleared
off the line and another effort deflected wide before Milner drove against the
foot of the post. Tevez played in Rodwell after another good break but again the
otherwise impressive former Everton midfielder was out of luck and missed the
target.
The break came at a good time for
West Brom and they began the
second period with renewed vigour.
Rosenborg smashed a free-kick against the bar after being
tripped by Javi Garcia on the edge of the area and Hart then saved well from
Billy Jones' follow-up header. Hart was in action again soon after, tipping a
low effort from Morrison wide of the post.
West Brom applied pressure for a
spell but were unable to break through and City came back at them.
Nasri slipped past three defenders on a run into the box but
Tevez could not connect with his cross and Rodwell's attempt was blocked. The
ball came back to Rodwell but again he was denied as Myhill saved. Nasri won a
free-kick which led to a little squabble with Claudio Yacob but Kolarov wasted
the opportunity. Rosenborg connected with a volley from the edge of the area but
Hart grasped the ball and Baggies manager Steve Clarke made the controversial
decision to send on unpopular striker Peter Odemwingie. He was predictably
greeted negatively by the visiting support but
West Brom continued to press and
Youssouf Mulumbu got behind the defence before Jones had a goalbound shot
blocked. Another substitute, Shane Long, fired into the side-netting
with his first touch. Maicon came off the City bench and blazed over, prompting
a mass exodus as the game petered out in the closing minutes.
Sporting Life
CURRENT CONNECTIONS
Baggies' winger Scott Sinclair is currently
on loan from City whom he joined from Swansea City in August 2012.
PAST
CONNECTIONS
Amongst the players to have turned out at various levels for
both clubs are: Nicolas Anelka, Peter Barnes, Paul Beesley, Tommy Broad, Gerry Creaney, David Cross,
Andy Dibble, George Dorsett, Joe Dorsett, Frank Dyer, Tony Grant, Tony Grealish,
Henry Hancock, Asa Hartford, Robert Hopkins,
Derek Kevan, Steve MacKenzie, Ken McNaught, Ishmael Miller, Gary Owen,
Bruce Rankin, Nicky Reid, Uwe
Rosler, Barry Siddall, Jason van Blerk and Imre Varadi.
Former Albion boss Gary Megson spent three years as a
City player whilst another former Albion manager Ron Saunders also
managed City; Jimmy Hagan managed Albion during the 1960's and
later became a City scout; Former Albion assistant and caretaker manager
Arthur Mann played for City against Albion in the 1970 League Cup
Final; Ex-Albion players Asa Hartford and John Deehan both
later joined City's coaching staff; Former City and England goalkeeper
Joe Corrigan was goalkeeping coach at The Hawthorns from 2005-09.
ALL-TIME LEAGUE & CUP RECORD VS MANCHESTER CITY
VENUE |
P |
W |
D |
L |
F |
A |
Home |
73 |
38 |
17 |
18 |
138 |
79 |
Away |
70 |
16 |
12 |
42 |
97 |
163 |
Neutral |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
Total |
144 |
54 |
29 |
61 |
236 |
244 |
LAST
TEN MATCHES AGAINST MANCHESTER CITY
DATE |
COMPETITION |
H/A |
F-A |
GOALSCORERS |
GATE |
Wed 04 Dec 2013 |
Premier League |
H |
2-3 |
Pantilimon (og), Anichebe - Aguero, Touré 2 (1
pen) |
22,943 |
Tue 07 May 2013 |
Premier League |
A |
0-1 |
Džeko |
46,158 |
Sat 20 Oct 2012 |
Premier League |
H |
1-2 |
Long - Džeko 2 |
24,891 |
Wed 11 Apr 2012 |
Premier League |
A |
0-4 |
Aguero 2,
Tévez,
Silva |
46,746 |
Mon 26 Dec 2011 |
Premier League |
H |
0-0 |
|
25,938 |
Sat 05 Feb 2011 |
Premier League |
A |
0-3 |
Tévez 3 (2 pens) |
46,846 |
Sun 07 Nov 2010 |
Premier League |
H |
0-2 |
Balotelli 2 |
23,013 |
Wed 22 Oct 2010 |
League Cup |
H |
2-1 |
Zuiverloon, Cox - Jo |
10,418 |
Sun 19 Apr 2009 |
Premier League |
A |
2-4 |
Brunt 2 -
Robinho, Onuoha, Elano (pen),
Sturridge |
40,072 |
Sun 21 Dec 2008 |
Premier League |
H |
2-1 |
Moore, Bednar - Caicedo |
25,010 |
|