After a dour first half in New York, the game sparked into life after the break when Jovetic opened the scoring. He showed his predatory instinct to pounce when Jesus Navas cross squirmed through Steven Gerrards legs in the 54th minute and tapped the ball home. Joe Hart, a second-half substitute, then came to his sides rescue as he gave Pellegrini a timely reminder of what he can do. The England number one had to watch from the sidelines in the first half as summer signing Willy Caballero put in a display that could have Pellegrini considering who his first choice is. Hart pulled off a good save to deny Philippe Coutinho, who was put clean through by a deflected Gerrard pass. But Liverpool did find a way back into the game in the 59th minute when Jordan Henderson fired home from inside the area. The Premier League champions almost hit back immediately but youngster Bruno Zuculini smashed off the bar with the goal at his mercy to add some slapstick to an end-to-end game. City were back in front soon after when Jovetic forced the ball home past Liverpool keeper Simon Mignolet amid some chaotic defending. They may have won the title last season, but City often struggled without Sergio Aguero last term. Having Jovetic to call upon this season will be a big boost for Pellegrinis side and the Montenegro man may even become a first- team regular if he stays fit. Both sides looked brilliant in attack, but equally as bad at the back and Hart had to come to Citys rescue again. He pulled off another good stop to deny Mamadou Sakho with seven minutes to go, but he could do nothing to deny substitute Raheem Sterling nicking an equaliser. The ever-improving England winger waltzed into the area before curling past his international team-mate and sent the game to penalties. Sterling should have got the winner in stoppage time, but he was wrongly flagged for offside before lashing the ball into the net with the last kick of normal time. Penalties decided the game and City deservedly lost after some woeful spot- kicks with Aleksandar Kolarov, Yaya Toure and Jesus Navas all fluffing their lines. Emre Can, Henderson and Lucas netted for the Reds to claim the win and put them on course to qualify for the final of this competition in Miami. And a potential clash with bitter rivals Manchester United is on the cards with both sides leading their respective groups going into the final round of games later this week. That could be interesting.
Posted on: Thu, 31 Jul 2014 07:18:01 +0000
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