A touch of Brazilian magic helped the Blues to a 2-0 win at Upton Park, with Elano’s great run setting up Bianchi in the first half and Geovanni slotting home with just three minutes to go.
Sven said: “I think that for the first 30 minutes and the last 20 we played brilliant football. We kept the ball and created a lot of chances, so I’m very happy.
“We suffered for a while as well, and they had a few chances after we went ahead, but you need a little bit of luck at times. You know you won’t control the whole game against any Premier League side, but defensively at those times we were excellent.”
With all the talk from outside the club being about how the new-look City squad would gel together as a team, how surprised was Sven that it worked so well?
“I’m a bit surprised,” he admitted, “because we had six players who have never played in the Premier League before, plus four from the Academy so surprised but very happy. We started well and controlled the game from the beginning.”
The opening goal was crucial, not just for giving City a great start but for the scorer, Italian striker Rolando Bianchi, and Sven also praised Nedum Onuoha’s part in the clincher, scored by Geovanni.
“Of course it was good for Rolando, he has not scored for a while but it was a nice goal. Elano was superb with his work, but it’s a characteristic of Bianchi, he gets into the right place at the right time.
“Nedum’s run was fantastic, but it was good for Geovanni to get a goal today. Sometimes substitutions go well, sometimes not, but today they went well!”
Despite the assured display of Kasper Schmeichel in goal, making his full City debut, the Manager reiterated that City are still looking to bolster the goalkeeping ranks with Andreas Isaksson out for around six weeks.
On the search to sign a keeper, Sven concluded, “I think it will happen, if not Sunday then something could happen on Monday. We’ll probably get a goalkeeper, even though Schmeichel showed today that he is ready but it’s not right to have two 20-year-old keepers in the Premier League.”
