I just meant I haven't seen them winning something really important lately, but they're on the Premier League, and most English teams are able to compete well.
It's going to be an interesting game, tho.
They are on the premier league yes, but that really doesn't mean they're good :/.
Futbol Review!
Manchester City vs Inter-Milan @ Ravens Stadium in Baltimore, MD
This was my first soccer game (oh no, I said that dreadful word...), and I had a pretty good time. We got there about 20 minutes before the game, and found our seats at field level around midfield (yes, primo seats). We got there in time for the opening ceremonies where both teams walked out together with a young soccer player walking next to each of them. They lined up and the USA national anthem was played. I was surprised no other anthem was played considering neither being a USA team, but it is a small detail and I would've been pining for the game to start anyway.
Manchester City started out playing a defensive formation while Inter-Milan immediately took an offensive approach. For the first 20 minutes. Manchester City didn't allow a shot from Inter-Milan while racketing up 3 or 4 on them. They were continually causing congestion and setting up chances on the offensive side. I was surprised at how bad Inter-Milan seemed to be playing in the early going. Perhaps they were surprised by the Manchester City approach.
About the 20 minute mark, Manchester City forward tripped an Inter-Milan defender. A foul was called but the defender popped up and got in the face of the M. City forward. FISTICUFFS! While no punches were thrown, there was plenty of pushing and shoving as more than 8 players got involved. A yellow card was handed out to both the M. City forward and Inter-Milan defender and play continued.
30 seconds later, the ball was lobbed ahead into M. City territory where an M. City defender tried to head the ball. An Inter-Milan forward came up behind him to challenge. The defender reared his head back to head the ball and bashed the Inter-Milan forward in the forehead. It was completely unintentional and he had no idea the other guy was there. The forward needed stitches to stop the bleeding (major gash) and the defender was given a red card.
20:30 into the game and M. City is a man down to one of the best teams in Europe. Let's just say this was the deciding factor in the game.
Inter-Milan would go on to get a goal before the 40th minute on a beautiful give & go move. The game went into halftime at 1-0 Inter-Milan.
M. City came out in the 2nd half with another defensive formation and, as my smasher friend stated, "started camping harder than MK players." It was an ill-advised strategy that I can't understand why they wouldn't get aggressive. They were down a goal in a game where they were still looking strong by limiting Inter-Milan's opportunities. The first half only had 3 Inter-Milan shots (one being the goal). The defensive formation proved to be futile as Inter-Milan scored their 2nd goal before the 60th minute.
Down 2 goals, M. City continued with a defensive formation and refused to try and put together an offensive attack. Inter-Milan would go on to net a 3rd goal later in the game to ice it (ball was cleared out of the box and the halfback was right there to put it away in the top corner... beautiful shot).
The final score was 3-0 Inter-Milan even though it should've been 5-0. There were at least 2 open netters missed. One went wide that a young player had the goalie fooled, and the other was from their star player Eto'o. He had a 1v1 with the goalie and jammed his toe into the ground when he tried to shoot. He tripped and lost his head of steam allowing the defender to catch back up to him.
All in all, I had a good time and the game definitely had its moments. I wish I had a stake in the game (a favorite team) because I would've enjoyed it more. From a completely neutral stance, the game was dominated by Inter-Milan, but it would've been a much better game had the red card not played such a heavy factor so early.
