Seydou Doumbia with a brace sends City into a world of pain.
Man City were losing to CSKA Moscow when their Champions League campaign went from miserable to downright cataclysmic as Yaya Toure and Fernandinho were sent off. Two minutes from the start, CSKA found themselves on top as a snoozing Yaya Toure let an unchallenged Seydou Doumbia head the ball off a Bibras Natcho free kick past Joe Hart for the the first of his brace. City got back on track after Toure atoned with one of his signature unstoppable free kicks. Clichy, bumbling all evening long, proved the weak link with a shoddy clearance straight to Natcho who found Doumbia racing in for a perfect finish. Nice. In doing so, he snatched back the Cote D’Ivoirian of consequence title from Toure.
At halftime, CSKA led 2-1 and that scoreline remained intact right to the end. Fernandinho and Toure departing after each received a second booking, opened up a giant sinkhole from which City could not clamber out of. Two points from four matches may sound dire but City still have a half decent chance of hauling themselves out of this misfiring group with Roma and CSKA marginally ahead with four points to join an already qualified Bayern.
The PL champions continued travails in Europe pose a conundrum of the sorts Inter under Roberto Mancini as Serie Champions endured as perennial continental also rans. Under Mancini, Inter won the Serie three times on the trot, the first time being awarded the Scudetto after Juventus was stripped off the title following the 2005 Calciopoli scandal, the next two outright. Their record in the CL was relatively poor, with their best showing a quarterfinal finish in Mancini’s first complete season followed by two quick exits in the round of 16. The reason for the difference in performance was attributed to Inter’s magnificent back four and the goal scoring prowess of Zlatan Ibrahimovic overwhelming the Serie. In Europe, that was not enough without a creative playmaker connecting the midfield to the isolated striker. Inter was able to find that balance under Jose Mourinho with the arrival of Wesley Sneijder linking up with Diego Milito and the back four with Thiago Motta putting up defensive clinics. That proved instrumental in finding their oasis in the 2010 CL final beating Bayern.
That does not appear to be the issue with Man City who have their clever playmakers and Sergio Aguero to score goals. What is lacking is a defensive solidity and waxing and waning motivational levels. In short, the new City shares similarities with Arsenal and their all too familiar struggles. The difference is Manuel Pellegrini is in danger of losing his job.