Shevchenko strikes as Kiev punish sloppy City

Posted Friday, March 11, 2011 by UK.eurosport.yahoo.com

Andriy Shevchenko came back to haunt Manchester City by helping Dynamo Kiev complete a 2-0 win in the first leg of their Europa League last-16 tie in Ukraine.

Shevchenko netted for Chelsea when they routed City 6-0 in the Premier League four years ago, and proved he is still a potent force in the game with an opportunist opening goal on 25 minutes at a freezing Valeri Lobanovski Stadium.

The former Milan striker managed to steal a yard on visiting keeper Joe Hart to nudge the ball home from Andriy Yarmolenko's inviting cross for his 67th goal in European competition as the Ukrainian fans celebrated wildly.

It was poor defending by City, but their night would get worse in the second period.
The lively Oleg Huysev displayed his class at the second goal when he rattled an unstoppable volley beyond Hart from 12 yards after the ball had broken kindly to him from Vincent Kompany's attempt at a headed clearance.

Only a fine block by Hart from Huysev in the dying minutes kept alive the visiting side's hopes in the tie when he spread himself to prevent a killer third on a night that visiting manager Roberto Mancini would probably prefer to forget.

City now face an uphill battle if they are to make it through to the quarter-final stage of the competition in next week's second leg against a Kiev side who are notable for the swiftness of their counter attacks. It was a ploy that left City exposed several times.

City first host Reading in the last eight of the FA Cup on Sunday, but will surely have to play better than this if they are to claim a place in next Friday's Europa League quarter-final draw.

City struggled to find any momentum with Aleksandar Kolarov walloping a volley at goal on 21 minutes only for home keeper Olexandr Shovkovski to make the save.

Kompany was fortunate to avoid conceding a penalty on 38 minutes when he clipped Shevchenko, but the striker opted to stay on his feet when he would have earned the spot-kick if he had gone to ground.

Mario Balotelli returned from the dressing room at half-time 15 seconds after the second half action had kicked off. He was later booked for a foul on Ayiila Yussuf before being replaced by Carlos Tevez on 57 minutes.

It has been claimed that Balotelli suffered some type of allergic reaction on a night of dipping temperatures, but it was evident early on that he was not going to be a dependable figure for his side.

City's best moment of the match arrived on 58 minutes when Shovkovski dived to tip Yaya Toure's shot from the edge of the box past a post, while he was in the right place at the right time to halt Joleon Lescott's howitzer 10 minutes later.

City will have to consign Kiev to an old UEFA Cup record away defeat. Their worst defeat away from home in the competition remains a 3-0 loss to Stuttgart in 1973.