SOCCER: Manchester City 3 SV Salzburg 0: MANCHESTER CITY are through to the knockout phase of the Europa League with a game to spare. As snowy nights go, this was hardly a night to compare with the 'Ballet on Ice' served up by Manchester City's class of 1967, but it still represented a night of quiet satisfaction, with two goals from Mario Balotelli and a wonderful individual effort from Adam Johnson ensuring they will be free of pressure when they travel to play Juventus in their final group game.
Roberto Mancini’s men were comfortably the better side, Balotelli scoring in each half and Johnson beating three defenders in the mazy run that led to him producing the game’s outstanding moment.
The only downside for Mancini was a possible groin injury for Balotelli, who barely offered a flicker of a smile as he turned in the second goal, his hand instinctively reaching down to where the pain originated. He was substituted five minutes later.
Balotelli now has five goals in his six appearances for City since signing from Internazionale for €29.7 million in the summer and, if he can stay fit and resist getting into trouble with referees, his presence will be a huge encouragement for Mancini considering the team’s over-reliance on Carlos Tevez so far this season.
Tevez was rested from this tie, Mancini experimenting with a frontline of Balotelli and Jo, and the new-look team quickly set about establishing their superiority against the side currently third in Austria’s Bundesliga.
The frustration for Mancini, after watching his team fail to score in their previous three home games, was that their dominance in the first half was not rewarded with more goals. Balotelli was among those culpable, opting to shoot from a difficult angle when a simple pass would have left Jo with an open goal, but the 20-year-old made amends three minutes later with his first Eastlands goal.
The goal originated from the left, with Pablo Zabaleta curling in the cross and Balotelli getting marginally ahead of his marker, Martin Hinteregger. It was not an easy chance, the ball coming at an awkward height and angle, but the striker improvised well, hooking a left-foot volley beyond the goalkeeper, Gerhard Tremmel.
Throughout this half there was virtually nothing to trouble Shay Given, making only his third appearance of the season in City’s goal. Salzburg looked a poor team, struggling to cope with the passing and movement of the home players, though there was a disappointing note, too, with Balotelli attempting to dupe the referee into awarding a penalty and Jo going to ground clutching his face and gesturing that he had been elbowed when television replays showed he had not.
There was a brief spell at the start of the second half when Salzburg threatened to get back into the match but it was short-lived. After 64 minutes Adam Johnson dispossessed Stefan Hierlander and played in Patrick Vieira for a shooting chance.
The Frenchman’s misdirected shot fell kindly for Balotelli to turn in his second.
Johnson’s goal came after 78 minutes as he cut in from the left, danced through the Salzburg defence and scored with a lovely right-foot finish.
GuardianService
MANCHESTER CITY: Given, Boateng, Toure (Richards 81), Lescott, Zabaleta, Wright-Phillips, Vieira, Milner, Adam Johnson, Balotelli (Adebayor 71), Jo. Subs not used: Hart, Kolarov, Barry, Silva, De Jong.
SV SALZBURG: Tremmel, Schiemer, Sekagya, Afolabi, Hinteregger (Svento 46), Mendes Da Silva (Augustinussen 67), Hierlander, Leitgeb, Cziommer (Alan 57), Jantscher , Boghossian. Subs not used: Walke, Zarate, Ngwat-Mahop, Offenbacher. Booked: Afolabi, Boghossian, Sekagya.
Referee: Libor Kovarik (Czech Rep).
