Domestic

Manchester City won a surprisingly attack-minded game at Wembley. Roberto Mancini was without David Silva, so started Sergio Aguero after his excellent goal at Old Trafford on Monday. Costel Pantilimon continued as City’s dedicated FA Cup goalkeeper. Rafael Benitez used his three creators behind Demba Ba – Frank Lampard and John Terry continue to be left...
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Manchester City produced a fine performance to record a rare victory at Old Trafford. Sir Alex Ferguson played two attack-minded wide players, with Ryan Giggs in the centre and Tom Cleverley only on the bench. Phil Jones continued alongside Rio Ferdinand in the centre of defence. Roberto Mancini left out Sergio Aguero, favouring Carlos Tevez as...
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An interesting battle between two sides both without their key attacking player. Gareth Bale was injured – as were Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon. Andre Villas-Boas was forced to select a ‘mezzala’ on either side – Clint Dempsey and Gylfi Sigurdsson – in the absence of natural wide players. Jan Vertonghen was at left-back. David Moyes...
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Despite a numerical disadvantage and two men injured early on, Fiorentina came back from 2-0 down to keep their Champions League hopes alive. Vincenzo Montella was surprisingly able to call upon Stevan Jovetic – although he didn’t look 100% fit, and didn’t make it to the second half. Gonzalo Rodriguez was unavailable, so Nenad Tomovic...
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Juan Mata and Demba Ba combined for a brilliant goal in an otherwise quiet match. Rafael Benitez made various changes from the side that lost at Southampton on Saturday – he fielded his three exciting creators together behind Demba Ba. Sir Alex Ferguson left out Robin van Persie and Shinji Kagawa, while Wayne Rooney was injured,...
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