Villarreal vs Manchester City, 2011-12 UEFA Champions League, 2011 First Phase

· UEFA Champions League

Villarreal

FT
0 - 3

Manchester City

30': Yaya Touré
45'+3': Mario Balotelli (P)
71': Yaya Touré

About

Villarreal are hosting Manchester City at Estadio De La Cerámica, , Spain, starting on . The match is a part of the UEFA Champions League.

Match Timeline

0': Join us from 1930 GMT for build up to and live commentary of the Champions League Group A clash between Villarreal and Manchester City at El Madrigal.
0': Villarreal face a real uphill task tonight as they have a number of big players out injured. But coach Juan Carlos Garrido believes his inexperienced youngsters can defy the odds and beat City.
0':
Last time out, City beat Villarreal 2-1 at Eastlands thanks to Sergio Aguero's stopppage-time winner.
0': Right, 15 minutes to go until kick-off at El Madrigal and Mario Balotelli is back in the spotlight. He starts up front on his own, with Edin Dzeko and Sergio Aguero on the bench.
0': I'm just pinching myself a little bit as British broadcaster ITV have managed to get Roy Keane and Patrick Vieira - TOGETHER - doing their punditry for the game tonight.
0': Other team news from Manchester City is that Stefan Savic makes his Champions League debut. He is yet to start a Premier League match for City, having made five substitute appearances. Though he has started twice in the Carling Cup.
0': Villarreal have been absolutely decimated by injury and it couldn't have happened at a worse time for them. They have yet to claim a single Champions League point, have had a terrible start to La Liga this season and now they are without Giuseppe Rossi, Christian Zapata, Cani, Javier Camunas, Marco Ruben, Marcos Senna and Nilmar.
0': Villarreal face a real uphill battle here, and I fully expect City to walk away with a valuable three points. I will of course keep you updated on the goings on in the other Group A game tonight - Bayern Munich v Napoli at the Allianz Arena.
0': I'd be keen to hear your thoughts throughout the match, so feel free to contact me on Twitter @marklomasESPN is the place to go.
0': Players just in the tunnel at the moment, and we're almost ready for kick-off.
0': Stat Attack: Almost a quarter of Villarreal?s Champions League matches (6 of 25) have been 0-0 draws.
0': Let's hope that's not a sign of things to come tonight, my fingers are firmly crossed for goals.
0': And we're off...
0': Villarreal get us ubderway and there's an early hoof up field from the Yellow Submarine towards lone front man Joselu.
1': Eight of Villarreal's first-teamers out tonight, that's going to be so tough to deal with.
2': Clichy dispossesses Valero and now advances down the left. Good footwork from David Silva creates space but his through ball is overhit.
3': Marchena with a great ball to Joselu and the ball breaks to Perez, who strikes one from all of 30 yards....
3': Firmly held by Joe Hart.
4': City just keeping hold of the ball at present and a delightful flick from Balotelli fed Silva into space.
4': The move breaks down but City have the ball once again.
5': Clichy crosses in and Gonzalo rises highest to head it away. I think he may be rather busy this evening.
6': No English club has ever won at El Madrigal and City have not won away from home in Europe for five games, since they beat Salzburg last season.
7': Silva has been given far too much room so far in this game. He found himself with plenty of space to turn again then and he's unlucky that it ricocheted back against him and out for a goal-kick.
8': So far the Yellow Submarine has been sitting deeper than the USS Wahoo (I'm reliably informed that is a famous submarine). Really defensive outlook from the home team.
9': De Jong with a typically De Jong-esque challenge on De Guzman.
10': Villarreal corner now after Clichy heads it out.
11': A disastrous corner routine from Valero results in an opportunity to cross missed and a Man City throw-in a metre away from the corner flag. Comical.
12': Another misplaced pass from a player in yellow, this time Perez passed into space but there was not a team-mate in sight.
13': City free-kick as Catala tackles Silva late.
14': Stat Attack: Villarreal have faced English teams nine times in the Champions League and are yet to win a game (six draws, three losses).
15': Valero does well to pick the ball off Balotelli's foot but the Italian promptly goes and cleans out Perez.
16': I'm not sure how Balotelli managed to avoid a booking there.
17': Valero drops his shoulder to accelerate past De Jong before over-running it. Then De Guzman plays a perfectly-weighted 40-yard pass towards Joselu who is clean through...
17': But he couldn't bring it under control or even get a shooting chance.
18': Villarreal finally finding their stride and De Guzman again the creator-in-chief, finding Perez.
18': But this time he wandered a yard offside.
19': In tonight's other Group A game, Bayern Munich lead Napoli 1-0 through a Mario Gomez goal.
20': Clichy and Balotelli exchange passes and find Nasri in space, but the Frenchman strikes wide.
21': Zabaleta and Wakoso embroiled in a bit of a handbags. The City defender wins the free-kick.
22': Bayern are 2-0 up - it's that man Gomez again with his 14th goal in 11 games this season.
23': Balotelli frustrated by a throw-in decision going against him and he kicks the ball away. The ref was looking elsewhere though.
24': Silva gives the ball away (a collector's item) and Catala given space to run down the left wing.
25': De Jong to Yaya Toure and Man City pressing hard. Silva fouled on the edge of the area by Wakaso.
26': Wakaso penalised. Bad tackle and he got right in Silva's face.
26': Dangerous position this for City and I fancy it will be Silva to take it. Just right of centre, about 20 yards out...
27': Suspicion of handball as Silva's shot crashes into the wall, but Marchena clears.
28': Mancini just tried to step out of the dugout and smashed his head on his way out. Didn't look pretty.
29': Valero and De Guzman both looking good in possession but I'm not convinced about them defensively.
30': GOAL Yaya Toure nets the opener.
30': Villarreal 0-1 Man City. David Silva gave it to Yaya on the edge of the box and he took one step inside the area before bending a righ-foot shot into the corner past Diego Lopez.
31': Cracking finish and fully deserved on the balance of play so far.
32': Wakaso crosses from the left but Kompany stretches to divert the ball to safety.
33': Stat Attack: That was Yaya Toure's first goal for City since he scored the winner in May's FA Cup final.
33': De Guzman with a woeful shot - high and wide. Generally pretty rubbish.
34': Free-kick for Balotelli after he was brought down by Musacchio.
35': Toure again wriggles his way through, but couldn't quite engineer enough space to shoot this time.
36': Milner looks for Zabaleta with a long diagonal, but he can't match the sort of trajectory that De Guzman has managed so far - both with his passing and shooting!
37': Balotelli ruled offside from Milner's cross.
38': Great chance for City as a Toure pass slliced the Villarreal defence open - Silva sprinted away and squared the ball back, but it was behind a loitering Balotelli.
39': Catala pushed Silva over and gets booked for his troubles.
39': Stat Attack: City have had 63% possession so far to Villarreal's 37%.
40': Silva continues to pull the strings for City and tees up Nasri. The France midfielder's deflected shot fails to trouble Diego Lopez though.
41': Gonzalo hacks at Balotelli and it's a City free-kick on the left wing.
42': Bayern crusing against Napoli - it's 3-0 to the Bavarians and I'll give you one guess who scored.
42': Just to clear that up, it was Gomez. A hat-trick for the prolific Bayern striker and that's good news for City.
43': Villarreal sitting frighteningly deep for a team in need of a goal.
43': Joselu has put in a good shift up front but he's been feeding on scraps since that De Guzman through-ball.
44': Napoli have pulled one back in Munich - Fernandez making it 3-1.
44': One last chance for Villarreal to build an attack.
45': De Guzman hits it but it's deflected into Hart's gloves.
45': Penalty to Manchester City. Musacchio brought down Balotelli.
45': Musacchio.
45': Balotelli to take it...
45': GOAL Balotelli slots it home.
45': Villarreal 0-2 Man City. Very cool from Balotelli. Sent the goalkeeper the same way but the Yellow Submarine are incensed that a penalty was given.
45': Marchena booked for his protestations.
45': There goes the whistle for half-time.
45': HT: Villarreal 0-2 Man City. Certainly a deserved lead and I'm not too sure what Villarreal were so unhappy about with the penalty. Gonzalo slid in and won the ball but it was Musacchio who tugged at Balotelli and that's what the spot-kick was given for.
45': Villarreal really need to step things up in the second half - they showed flashes in the first half with Valero and De Guzman, but City have had too much quality thus far.
45': Remember, you can have your say on Twitter - @marklomasESPN is the place to go.
45': Just seen a replay of the Balotelli pen, it was actually a bit soft and he was already on the way down. But it's easy to see why the referee gave it, Mateo Musacchio shouldn't have put his arm anywhere near the City striker.
45': Comment from @rybell7 here on Twitter earlier in the game: "Not surprised to see 5 in midfield, but this is a must win for city, can't see them beating napoli AND bayern."
45': Absolutely, and they're doing a good job at the moment. I can't wait for the game away to Napoli - should decide who goes through.
45': To keep on top of all of tonight's other Champions League matches, join Chris Murphy for live chat and updates.
45':
Yaya Toure celebrates scoring Man City's opening goal.
45': We're off for the second half...
46': Stat Attack: Man City have scored 50 goals in 17 games so far this season.
46': Looks to be normal service resumed here, City knocking it around defence and midfield with ease. It's all very comfortable for Roberto Mancini's side.
47': Just as I mention that Wakaso goes on a storming run and Milner is forced to make a superbly-timed challenge inside the box.
47': Corner for Villarreal and Wakaso went down again, the referee ignored him.
48': Fantastic footwoork from Silva to escape the clutches of three yellow shirts - pure class from the conductor of Man City's orchestra.
49': Mario creates some space on the right and sets up Perez for a cross. Easily dealt with by Kompany.
50': Wakaso chases back impressively to tackle Balotelli but there's such limited movement or options up front for Villarreal.
51': Tweet from Oliver Kay, a journalist with The Times: Balotelli wins and scores pen, winds up home fans with his celebration. Monkey chants ensue, sadly
51': Not what we want to hear.
52': City corner after Balotelli's shot is deflected over.
53': Catala fouls Silva on the edge of the box. Similar position to the first half, slightly further right of centre and 20 yards out.
54': Balotelli looks like he also fancies it...
54': And he does hit it, but it's deflected out for another City corner.
55': Cleared to safety easily enough by the Villarreal defence.
56': Terrible touch from Perez with all the time in the world to control and run or cross from the right flank.
57': Yaya Toure ruled offside when he quite clearly wasn't. He had run a fair old distance to reach Nasri's through ball, but it was in vain.
58': Ambitious effort from Balotelli - struck well but too high on this occasion.
59': Perez, who played really well at Eastlands a couple of weeks ago, but he has had a stinker tonight. Another poor piece of control by him there.
60': Nasri slices a shot wide from the edge of the area.
60': Stat Attack: Prior to tonight, Man City had failed to score in their last three away games in European competition. Before Toure's goal they had gone a total of 313 minutes without scoring.
61': Valero has a shot from around 20 yards but it took a nick off a blue shirt and Hart again not really stretched.
62': Silva clutching his back, which is a touch worrying for City fans.
62':
Balotelli won and scored City's second from the penalty spot just before half-time.
63': Adam Johnson warming up for City, imagine he will be coming on for Silva.
64': Marchena looks to find Mario but it's another poor decision from a Villarreal player. Possession wasted.
65': Johnson on for Silva.
66': De Jong with a fierce tackle gives away a free-kick, around 35 yards out on the right.
66': Valero to deliver into a packed box...
66': Solid punch from Hart and moments later Wakaso fires in a shot. Well, fires out a shot. Nowhere near the goal.
67': Silva still grimacing in the dugout.
68': Savic with a nice but of skill to open up some room in midfield and Balotelli then draws a foul from Perez.
68': Perez.
69': About 35 yards away, left of centre. Milner plays it short and City happy to be patient in possession.
71': GOAL Toure with his second.
71': Villarreal 0-3 Man City. That was just so embarrassingly easy. Nasri to Balotelli down the left and then Balotelli found Yaya Toure, who marched into the area and then again showed the poise of a striker to slot it in.
72': Perez finds himself in the area and was at risk of a nosebleed for being so high up the pitch. Clichy challenges and City advance.
73': Aguero warming up, nice that an Argentine can happily do that in a Man City match away in the Champions League.
74': Aguero on for Toure.
74': Wow, that's a lot of boos!
74': Villarreal fans of course dislike Aguero after Yellow Submarine players accused him of rubbing last week's winning goal in their faces in the tunnel after the game.
75': Angel Lopez on for De Guzman
75': Lopez's first game since January. He's been out with a cruciate injury.
76': Bordas on for Wakaso.
77': Turning to Bayern v Napoli, Holger Badstuber has just been sent off for the hosts in Munich and Napoli have just scored - a second for Fernandez has made it Bayern 3-2 Napoli.
78': Valero wins a free-kick after Milner gives him a shove.
79': Best passing move of the game for Villarreal - i.e. they put six consecutive passes together - ends with Valero volleying a pass straight to a City shirt.
80': Aguero is getting rather vocal abuse every time he touches the ball.
81': Stat Attack: If Villarreal fail to score in the next nine minutes they will have not managed a goal in four of their past five games in the Champions League.
82': Kolarov on for Balotelli.
83': Wonderful skill from Clichy and a delightful through-ball with his right foot. But it comes to nothing. Shame as it deserved better.
84': Oriol on for Perez.
85': This game just drifting towards its inevitable conclusion now.
86': I'm sure Joe Hart would appreciate a clean sheet, going into this game he had gone five games without a shut out.
87': City just taking the mickey a little bit now just passing it around unopposed and Villarreal don't seem to have anything left in their tank.
89': I wish I could update you with some interesting happenings but there are none to report I'm afraid.
90': Free-kick now for Villarreal, tight to the right touchline. Valero to deliver.
91': Headed away with ease.
92': I am at risk of drifting off here, someone get me an espresso.
93': And there it is, the final whistle puts Villarreal out of their misery like a fallen horse at the Grand National.
93': FT: Villarreal 0-3 Man City. Not a lot to add to the first-half summary, aside from: Yaya Toure scored again. A walk in the park for the Premier League leaders and they leapfrog Napoli into second place in the group.
93': Right, look out for the report from this and other Champions League games up on ESPNsoccernet imminently, and if you want to discuss this match further - contact me on Twitter via @marklomasESPN .
93': Take care folks and don't forget to join us tomorrow for some relentless Europa League action.

Statistics

MNC		VIL
7	Fouls	15
1	Yellow Cards	5
0	Red Cards	0
3	Offsides	3
2	Corner Kicks	2
3	Saves	1
64.8	Possession	35.2
10	SHOTS	5
4	ON GOAL	3
0.4	On Target %	0.6
1	Penalty Goals	0
0	Penalty Kicks Taken	0
675	Accurate Passes	324
738	Passes	391
0.9	Pass Completion %	0.8
2	Accurate Crosses	0
7	Crosses	7
0.3	Cross %	0.0
46	Long Balls	47
37	Accurate Long Balls	32
0.8	Long Balls %	0.7
3	Blocked Shots	0
11	Effective Tackles	15
18	Tackles	22
0.6	Tackle %	0.7
0	Interceptions	0
8	Effective Clearances	6
18	Clearances	9

Game Information

Competition: UEFA Champions League

Venue: Estadio De La Cerámica
Location: , Spain
Attendance: 24,235

UEFA Champions League Table

#	TEAM	GP	GD	PTS
1	Ajax Amsterdam	0	0	0
2	Arsenal	0	0	0
3	Atalanta	0	0	0
4	Athletic Club	0	0	0

Full Table

Line-Ups

Villarreal (4-2-3-1)

No.	Name
13	Diego López (GK)
4	Mateo Musacchio
2	Gonzalo Rodríguez
15	José Manuel Catalá
14	Mario
5	Carlos Marchena
20	Borja Valero
41	José Luis Moreno
8	Jonathan de Guzmán
18	Mubarak Wakaso
11	Hernán Pérez

Villarreal Substitutes:

Fofo, Carlos Tomas, Cesar Sanchez Dominguez, Marcos Gullon, Gerard Bordas Bahamontes, Ángel López, Joan Oriol.

Manchester City (4-2-3-1)

No.	Name
25	Joe Hart (GK)
15	Stefan Savic
4	Vincent Kompany
22	Gaël Clichy
5	Pablo Zabaleta
42	Yaya Touré
34	Nigel de Jong
45	Mario Balotelli
21	David Silva
19	Samir Nasri
7	James Milner

Manchester City Substitutes:

Adam Johnson, Sergio Agüero, Costel Pantilimon, Aleksandar Kolarov, Joleon Lescott, Edin Dzeko, Gareth Barry.

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