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Hughes gets City ball rolling
EB STREYMUR 0, MANCHESTER CITY 2
Mark Hughes began his Manchester City reign as manager with a win last night but his new team looked far from slick against an amateur Faroes outfit in this UEFA Cup first leg, first round qualifying tie. [>
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Martin Petrov and Dietmar Hamann had City in front inside 30 minutes but that was all they could manage.[>
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The second leg at Oakwell in two weeks will prove a formality but City were understandably short of match fitness after the summer break. City were given a scary couple of early moments with Peter Foldgast forcing a low save from Joe Hart after towering above Micah Richards in the air.[>
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But City soon started to show their superiority, with EB goalkeeper Rene Torgard at full stretch to tip away Darius Vassell’s header from a cross from the impressive Martin Petrov. [>
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Torgard could do nothing a couple of minutes later, though, when Petrov planted a powerful shot into the top corner after Michael Johnson had cleverly stepped over Vassell’s pass.[>
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New-boy Jo failed to make the most of a decent pass from Stephen Ireland, firing well off-target, but Hamann scored just before the half-hour. After EB failed to clear Petrov’s corner, the German veteran prodded a neat volley past garage mechanic Torgard from just outside the box.[>
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It took City half of the second period to threaten again, with Vassell’s curling strike deflected wide.[>
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Petrov then dipped a long-range strike just a few inches over and Hamann’s clever effort was held by Torgard before substitute Ched Evans hooked wide in the closing stages.[>