Late Second-half goal from Yaya Toure helped Manchester City beat Stoke City 1-0 in the FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium and land first major trophy in 35 years.
Carlos Tevez was included in the starting line up for Manchester City, while Stoke were boosted with the return of Robert Huth and Matthew Etherington after the duo passed late fitness tests.
City started off aggressively as Tevez picked up a loose ball 25 yards from goal and forced a save from Sorensen who had to dive to his left to make a brilliant save. City came close again as Ryan Shawcross almost scored an own goal from Kolarov's cross. Minutes later Sorensen came to Stoke's rescue again as he produced another brilliant save from Balotelli's curling right-foot effort.
Silva should have given them the lead in the 34th minute when Tevez slipped in Balotelli and a block from Sorensen met Silva who bundled the ball over the crossbar from six yards out. Jones had the only real chance of the half for Stoke in the 38th minute when Pennant's pass met him inside the box but he dragged the shot wide. Robert Huth, who was lucky to get away without a booking after he caught Balotelli with an elbow was then booked for a reckless tackle on Richards in the 40th minute, Balotelli was the liveliest player on the pitch and City totally dominated the first half as Stoke struggled to get out of their own half.
City started the second half in almost the same fashion as the first as Tevez slipped in Silva inside the box, but the former hesitated to shoot allowing Shawcross enough time to track back and bundle the ball away. Stoke started to show some intent by now and came close to taking the lead in the 62nd minute when Jones latched on to a long ball, playing one-on-one with the Hart after shrugging off Lescott, but Hart produced a splendid save to keep the scores level.
Stoke replaced Etherington with Dean Whitehead after 62 minutes, while City brought on Adam Johnson in place of Gareth Barry. Manchester City's efforts were soon rewarded in the 74th minute when Silva slipped in Balotelli on the edge of the area whose deflected shot met semi-final hero Yaya Toure who blasted it past Sorensen to make it 1-0.
Silva then had the chance to make it game set and match for City but was denied twice by Sorensen. Stoke piled on some late pressure but couldn't pierce City's defence which allowed City to land first major honour in 35 years at the final whistle. It has been a dream season for Manchester City as the £300million club has now registered UEFA Champions League qualification and landed FA Cup.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
Show/hide comments
Show/hide comment form
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
