Soccer
Man City win Europa opener
2010-09-16 22:33
Joao Alves De Assis Silva (AFP)
|
Salzburg - David Silva and Joao Alves De Assis Silva gave Manchester City a 2-0 win at Red Bull Salzburg in their opening Group A match in the Europa League.
Silva scored in the eighth minute in the first real chance of the match, beating goalkeeper Gerhard Tremmel from Joao's pass following a cross by Wayne Bridge.
Joao doubled the lead in the 63rd minute, tapping the ball into the net after collecting the rebound from Tremmel's save to stop an attempt by Carlos Tevez.
"It was important to start well, the Europa League is very important to us," City manager Roberto Mancini said. "We deserved to win here and were helped by an early first goal."
Man City, which has made a disappointing start in the Premier League with one win out of four games, dominated against the Austrian champions, who had been the only team to win all six Europa League group matches last season.
Tevez and Silva both came close to adding to City's lead in the first half before Salzburg defender Ibrahim Sekagya hit the crossbar in the 40th in the hosts' best chance.
"We gave away too much space, that's why we fell behind so early," Salzburg coach Huub Stevens said. "We played a bit better (in the second half) but if you are not at your best you are bound to lose against such a strong opponent."
In the other group match, Lech Poznan drew 3-3 at Juventus in Turin after scoring an injury-time equalizer.
In the next round on Sept. 30, City travels to Juventus and Salzburg visits Lech Poznan.