PA Photos: Yaya Toure spanked Manchester City onto level terms and the Premier League champs kicked on from there
After the joy and wonder of an Olympic fortnight that will never be forgotten, English football delivered a fiesty opening to the new season as Manchester City came from behind to beat 10-man Chelsea at Villa Park.
Second-half goals from Yaya Toure, Carlos Tevez and Samir Nasri gave the Premier League champions their first Shield triumph since 1972.
Amid a succession of niggly tackles, eight yellow cards and a straight red for Branislav Ivanovic Chelsea lost out, despite Fernando Torres and Ryan Bertrand scoring the first and last goals. Referee Kevin Friend struggled to keep control almost from the first whistle.
Stefan Savic was booked after 10 minutes, which set the scene for a niggly opening period in which both sides were guilty of going too far at times. Ivanovic was the worst offender. Forced to challenge for a stray John Terry pass, the Serbian slid straight into countryman Aleksandar Kolarov, studs raised.
It was not two-footed, but it was dangerous. And though Chelsea protested, Friend was justified in dismissing Ivanovic, who must now miss next week's trip to Wigan, plus home encounters with Reading and Newcastle.
Earlier, David Luiz had been cautioned followed by Frank Lampard, and in the immediate aftermath of Ivanovic's exit, John Obi Mikel.
In addition, Savic raised an eyebrow when he flattened Torres in an incident Friend chose to see as a free-kick in favour of the Montenegro defender when it was not inconceivable the decision would go the other way, with dire consequences. It amounted to some introduction into English football for one-time City target Eden Hazard.
There are immediate comparisons to be made between Hazard and former Blues favourite Joe Cole in both appearance and running style. The Belgian evidently has plenty of guts too.
Targeted by the City faithful over his summer snub, Hazard had the character to respond when he attempted a back-heel at full speed and met only with a comical fall headlong into the turf, having got his manoeuvre badly wrong.
Hazard was a bystander when Chelsea got their opener. Ramires created it, nipping past Pablo Zabaleta before surging into the box and flicking an astute pass past Hazard to Torres on his right. The £50 million man showed signs last season of starting to find his old form and, with Didier Drogba embarking on his new life in China, manager Roberto di Matteo needs Torres to justify that massive price tag.
Today's contribution was clinical, beating the advancing Costel Pantilimon with the predatory instinct of old. Pantilimon had been given a rare start due to Joe Hart's back injury and having been the least busy of the two keepers, probably felt hard done by.
Carlos Tevez, Samir Nasri and skipper Vincent Kompany had all gone close for the Premier League champions. As so often on showpiece occasions, though, Toure was the man who did the damage. Seizing on John Terry's poor clearance, the midfielder drilled a fierce shot straight back through a crowd of bodies, giving Petr Cech no chance of keeping it out.
Now City had the momentum with them and made their extra man tell. Six minutes later, neither Luiz nor Terry were able to check Tevez's darting run along the edge of the penalty area.
From a central position, Tevez belted a superb shot into the top corner to put the champions ahead. Six minutes after that, City scored again as Kolarov streaked past makeshift right-back Ramires and curled a cross to the near post which Nasri touched home.
If Ramires had not managed to steer James Milner's cross over the bar, an unmarked Tevez would have had a tap-in as a rampant City poured forward. Yet it was Chelsea who scored 10 minutes from time, through substitute Bertrand, who promptly became involved in a spat with Pantilimon as he tried to wrestle the ball away to restart the game.
City came closer to grabbing a fourth than Chelsea an equaliser though, as Sergio Aguero somehow managed to turn Milner's cross wide in the final minute when it seemed easier to score. The five goals did amount to decent entertainment. As Ramires got away with a cynical bodycheck on David Silva that should have brought a second yellow, it reminded that the behaviour just reinforced old stereotypes football needs to shed. Source: ESPN Soccernet
Scorer:
Manchester City - Yaya Toure (53') ; Carloz Tevez (59') ; Samir Nasri (65')
Bayern
had much the better of the game, missed numerous chances in the
first-half and were made to wait until the 83rd minute for the opener
when Thomas Muller appeared at the back post to head past Petr Cech.Despite
a lack of ambition until then, Chelsea were not done and equalised in a
thrilling finale when Didier Drogba headed home from the Blues' first
corner of the game with two minutes left to go.Drogba almost
turned from hero to villain as he tripped Franck Ribery in the box in
the first period of extra-time but Cech saved Arjen Robben's penalty low
down to his left. The rest of the game yielded no goals and it was left
to penalties to decide the winner.It looked like Chelsea would
lose the shootout as Juan Mata missed, but Ivica Olic - with his last
kick as a Bayern Munich player - and Bastian Schweinsteiger missed and
Drogba stroked home for glory.From his place in the stands, owner Roman Abramovich was clearly overjoyed, as was the
suspended John Terry, who watched the tense shoot-out unfold from the touchline.Assisted by the obvious advantage of playing at home, Bayern got themselves on
the front foot immediately and were rarely pushed back.The nearest they came was when former Chelsea man Arjen Robben glided past two
defenders, then drilled a low shot towards goal, which Petr Cech managed to
deflect high onto a post, with Robben barely able to believe he had failed.Robben had another couple of chances before Muller volleyed wide.Robben and Muller combined to create an opening for Mario Gomez that he looked
certain to capitalise on after a deft body movement had left Gary Cahill
stranded, only for the Bayern sharp-shooter to lash over.Handed a
surprise start, Ryan Bertrand coped well. It was the first time a
player has made his debut in the competition in the final in the
Champions League era.
It was on the other side where Franck Ribery was proving to be a
complete menace.What they did at the Camp Nou gave Chelsea immense belief in their
own durability. Indeed, they might have had something to celebrate themselves had Juan Mata
kept his curling free-kick down or Salomon Kalou been able to direct a shot away
from Manuel Neuer after Frank Lampard and Drogba combined to set him up from an
admittedly acute angle.The pattern continued after half-time and Ribery thought he had grabbed a
deserved opener when he snaffled the loose ball after Cole had blocked Robben's
goalbound shot. The offside flag cut German celebrations short.Cole's
involvement was part of an outstanding contribution from the full-back,
who seemed to be in the way of nearly all the threats to Chelsea's goal.
He denied both Robben and Toni Kroos as Chelsea, enhancing his status
one of
the few truly world class players Roy Hodgson will have at his disposal
at Euro
2012.In response, Drogba, possibly making his last appearance for the club,
unleashed a speculative long-range volley that dipped wide.Bayern
found the breakthrough seven minutes from time when Kroos curled a
cross to Muller who intelligently headed the ball hard and down, which
meant it bounced up
towards the crossbar, possibly catching Cech by surprise.But Abramovich's team are made of stern stuff. And with barely two minutes
remaining, and Muller replaced by an extra defender in Daniel van Buyten, Drogba
rose at the near post to power Mata's corner home.This time there was nothing the goalkeeper could do, the ball speeding past
Neuer at such pace there was no time for reaction.The drama
continued into extra-time as Drogba bundled Ribery over in the box.
Whilst the contact might not have looked much, it was enough to end the
Frenchman's evening and it was a definite spot-kick.Robben hit
his penalty towards the bottom right but he failed to find the corner
and Cech was equal to it, making a fine save to his left and then
smothering the rebound.It was the kind of moment that made you think fate had decreed a Chelsea win, a
belief only strengthened by Bayern passing up two clear openings in the second
period of those additional 30 minutes.Drogba kept his nerve as
Olic and Schweinsteiger failed to ensure Chelsea erased the memory of
their misery in 2008 by conquering Europe for the first time. Source: ESPN Soccernet 20/5/2012
