Dynamo Kiev 1 – Manchester City 3
Dynamo Kiev isn’t Barcelona, and for that, Manchester City must have been happy. But the Ukraine side didn’t make life easy for the Citizens in today’s Champions League matchup. Kiev had a solid game plan and they executed it will, apart from a few mistakes that lead to City goals. A late goal from Yaya Toure, however, probably puts this tie beyond doubt as it heads back to Manchester.
City started out on shaky ground, frequently losing the ball in the middle of the park. An early save by Joe Hart kept it scoreless, but Kiev showed they could trouble Manchester City.
It was the visitors that started the scoring, however. From a corner, Toure headed the ball down to Sergio Aguero who time and space to smash the ball into the back of the net. It was sloppy defending from Kiev, but Toure deserves credit for knowing where Aguero was and setting him up perfectly.
Sergio Aguero’s 16th goal in his last 17 #UCL starts gives Man City a 1-0 lead at Dynamo Kiev. @HeinekenSoccer https://t.co/RuNIiZn0u2
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) February 24, 2016
City doubled their lead shortly before half-time when a long ball to Aguero was backheeled to Raheem Sterling, who in turn crossed the ball across the face of goal. Sterling’s cross found David Silva who had little trouble putting the ball in the net.
Aguero –> Sterling –>Silva! Lovely team goal sees Man City take a commanding 2-0 lead in Kiev @HeinekenSoccer #UCL https://t.co/KL9GUsKVhO
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) February 24, 2016
After the interval, Kiev came out firing. They had some chances, but it wasn’t until the 59th minute that they managed to get on the board. A defensive mistake by Otamendi gave Buyalysky a chance to volley the ball behind Joe Hart.
Vitaliy Buyalskyi cuts Man City’s lead in half and gets Dynamo Kiev back in the tie. #UCLonFOX #UCL https://t.co/Ih0e7ND2SL
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) February 24, 2016
The game opened up after this as Kiev pushed hard for an equalizer. Their best chance came with a low shot from the edge of the box that Joe Hart had to fully extend to get a hand on it. Hart’s save was a turning point, and kept City from surrendering their two-goal lead. It looked as if the game would end 2-1, but shortly before full-time, Yaya Toure gave his side a third away goal. His strike curled in from about 18 yards out, and he made amends for his miss minutes before when he missed a free header from five yards.
Yaya Toure scores late insurance goal to all but seal Man City’s place in #UCL quarterfinals. #UCLonFOX https://t.co/EYBuMbXkMp
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) February 24, 2016
Manchester City should have no trouble qualifying for the next round after score three away from home. While Kiev certainly made things interesting, it seems likely that City will advance to the last 8 for the first time in their history.
PSV 0 – Atletico Madrid 0
The highlight of Atletico Madrid’s trip to Eindhoven to play PSV was a red card. Usually, that’s an indication of a poor game, but there was plenty of excitement in a match that ended 0-0.
Atletico had the better of the chances, with the best coming from Antoine Griezmann in the first half. He was played in from a long ball and sent on a clear break. He came close to chipping the ball over the keeper, but he was unable to beat Jeroen Zoet.
SAVE, PSV! Griezmann runs through on goal, but Zoet makes a sprawling stop to deny Atletico the opener. #UCLonFOX https://t.co/dtnSPGCORs
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) February 24, 2016
Atletico also had a goal disallowed in the second half. Godin managed to head the ball in from a corner but the ref called a foul on the center back. Godin appeared to climb all over the back of the PSV defender.
Just minutes later the hosts were dealt a blow as Gason Pereiro was shown a red card for his second bookable offense. Pereiro caught Godin with an elbow and was promptly sent off by the referee.
Despite the advantage, Atletico was unable to punish the home side. PSV went into a defensive shell, hoping to prevent Atletico from scoring the all-important away goal. Despite a few chances, including one from Fernando Torres, Atletico was held scoreless by PSV’s defense.
The game finished 0-0 without too much fuss, and PSV will feel happy that they kept the Spanish side from taking an away goal back with them. Despite that, the second leg in Madrid will be a tough task for PSV. Madrid, despite their inability to score, will still be favorites. But anything other than a win, will see the match go to penalties, or worse, see the 2014 finalists knocked out in the round of 16.
