The Manchester City Project

The Kaizer Chiefs have won the Vodacom Challenge after beating Manchester City 1-0 infront of over 30,000 fans at the Lofus Versfeld Stadium.

Towards the end of the first half Ntuka fired home from close range during a mix up in the penalty area from a corner. There was a suspicion of hand ball as Ntuka controlled the ball, however the Chiefs deserved to win the match following a below standard performance from Manchester City.

Gareth Barry and Emmanuel Adebayor played well, Barry’s defensive qualities will be much needed in the forth coming campaign and Adebayor’s all round team play can give Man City fans something to look forward to next season.

There were a number of injury worries for City with Dunne, Onuoha and Vidal all having to be replaced. City struggled against the pace and fitness of the Kaizer Chiefs. The Chiefs goalkeeper denied Craig Bellamy on 24 minutes and on 29 minutes both Wright-Phillips and Bellamy failed to convert a Martin Petrov cross. A minute after the break Ben Haim went close with a header from a Petrov corner. Adebayor almost scored in the 55th minute but watched his shot sail narrowly over the cross bar. Robinho came on the field towards the end of the game and almost equalized in the final moments of the game as his shot skimmed past the upright after fine work on the wing from Vlad Wiess.

Clearly City need to strengthen at the back and must surely dip into the transfer market once more for one or two defenders before the start of the season. Manchester City’s performance clearly showed that the majority of the players are not match fit, once City arrive back in England tonight this will be one of the main focuses in order to have the team ready for the opening fixture of the Premier League.

KAIZER CHIEFS 1 (Ntuka, 42)
MANCHESTER CITY 0

KAIZER CHIEFS: Khune, Mmbooi, Rooi, Jambo, Ntuka, Lebese, Bulu, Yende, Masenamala, Mathebula, Nhleko.

MANCHESTER CITY: Given, Vidal, Bridge, Dunne, Petrov, De Jong, Ben Haim, Barry, Wright-Phillips, Adebayor, Bellamy.