Chelsea 3-4 Manchester City: Dzeko inspires stunning City comeback
Brian Kidd's side pulled off an unlikely comeback with Javi Garcia and Micah Richards also on the scoresheet after Rafa Benitez's men had raced into an undeserved three-goal lead.
Manchester City came from three goals down to record a remarkable 4-3 win over Chelsea in a friendly at St. Louis' Busch Stadium Thursday.Rafa Benitez's men got off to the perfect start when Demba Ba headed home from close range early on. Goals either side of halftime from Cesar Azpilicueta and Oscar had given the Blues what looked like an unassailable lead.
But Brian Kidd somehow inspired his side to scratch out the three-goal deficit and shock the crowd of 48,263 by snatching a late winner. Javi Garcia started the comeback, before Edin Dzeko leveled the score with two strikes allowing Micah Richards to win the game in added time.
Benitez used the friendly as an opportunity to hand Andreas Christensen and Ruben Loftus-Cheek their first team debuts for the Blues, while Kidd offered up the same honor to Albert Rusnak.
Manchester City made a quick start out of the blocks, but it was Ba who opened the scoring by turning in Juan Mata's accurate cross. The Senegalese lost his marker and managed to sneak ahead of Joe Hart to head in from close range.
That was followed by a succession of chances for City that were stuffed by Petr Cech, but it was Chelsea who struck again. Juan Mata was clumsily brought down in the box by Karim Rekik, allowing Azpilicueta to clinically dispatch the resulting penalty and double the Blues' lead.
It soon got even better for Chelsea as Oscar rounded Joe Hart and remained composed to find a finish from a tight angle early in the second half. A Manchester City comeback at this point, despite the club's general dominance, looked highly unlikely.
That was until Dzeko entered the fray. The Bosnian was cheered on by a large contingent of his compatriots in Busch Stadium, and he was instantly involved in the corner which eventually lead to Garcia pulling one back, slotting home past backup Chelsea goalkeeper Jamal Blackman.
Minutes later, the former Wolfsburg man who is linked with a move away from City to Napoli, raced up the field from a Chelsea corner to meet a James Milner pass and calmy slot past Blackman to cut the deficit to one.
Blackman then bounced back to make a succession of impressive stops, most noticeably from Milner and Dzeko again, before he was finally beaten again with five minutes remaining.
Carlos Tevez persistently plugged away throughout the match and earned some reward by claiming a fine assist for Dzeko's equalizer. The Bosnian had the ball put on a plate for him to bring the score level.
City had all the momentum and through Richards it found a dramatic late winner to cap off a remarkable match, as Nasri's short pass across the face of goal was met by the defender, who had stayed forward from a corner.
The two sides meet again on Saturday at New York's Yankee Stadium.
That was followed by a succession of chances for City that were stuffed by Petr Cech, but it was Chelsea who struck again. Juan Mata was clumsily brought down in the box by Karim Rekik, allowing Azpilicueta to clinically dispatch the resulting penalty and double the Blues' lead.
It soon got even better for Chelsea as Oscar rounded Joe Hart and remained composed to find a finish from a tight angle early in the second half. A Manchester City comeback at this point, despite the club's general dominance, looked highly unlikely.
That was until Dzeko entered the fray. The Bosnian was cheered on by a large contingent of his compatriots in Busch Stadium, and he was instantly involved in the corner which eventually lead to Garcia pulling one back, slotting home past backup Chelsea goalkeeper Jamal Blackman.
Minutes later, the former Wolfsburg man who is linked with a move away from City to Napoli, raced up the field from a Chelsea corner to meet a James Milner pass and calmy slot past Blackman to cut the deficit to one.
Blackman then bounced back to make a succession of impressive stops, most noticeably from Milner and Dzeko again, before he was finally beaten again with five minutes remaining.
Carlos Tevez persistently plugged away throughout the match and earned some reward by claiming a fine assist for Dzeko's equalizer. The Bosnian had the ball put on a plate for him to bring the score level.
City had all the momentum and through Richards it found a dramatic late winner to cap off a remarkable match, as Nasri's short pass across the face of goal was met by the defender, who had stayed forward from a corner.
The two sides meet again on Saturday at New York's Yankee Stadium.
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