Pre-match
Mark Hughes makes just the one forced changed from the defeat at Wigan as Richard Dunne’s slight knock means Tal Ben-Haim comes in to replace him with Micah Richards taking the captain’s armband. Otherwise the Blues boss has indeed stayed true to his word of going with a strong line-up tonight despite the 2-1 first leg lead.
The match
The first meaningful action was the awful (from the first leg) Charalambous’ bad foul on Wright-Phillips just three minutes in. Somehow the French referee, although he reached for the top pocket, kept his cards away.
On six minutes an Omonia corner from their right was allowed to drift into the Blues’ box and bounce away to relative safety.
Robinho sprang into life on 14 minutes after some quick feet he smashed a cross-cum-shot across the face of the Cypriot goal, with Georgallides nowhere.
Omonia huffed and puffed as they meekly attempted to pull back the 2-1 aggregate score, but City held them at a safe distance, as they themselves struggled up the gears barely making it to second as the clocked ticked past the half hour point.
Nine minutes before the break, Robinho, Wright-Phillips and Ireland put together a decent move that ended with the latters slide rule pass being gobbled up by the keeper before the Brazilian could latch on to it.
A fairly drab first half drew to a conclusion with no addition to the first leg scores and little to trouble either keeper during the first 45 minutes.
HALF TIME: City 0(2)-0(1) AC Omonia
Just the one change for the visitors at the break with Mark Hughes sending his side out early after a slow first half.
Almost immediately Robinho opened the scores on the night with powerfully hit rising right footer that just flew wide. But City didn’t have long to wait for the tie winning opener.
It was Robinho who raced clear down the left before cleverly weighing up his options from just outside the corner edge of the box to find the late arriving Elano who connected with a fine shot with the outside of his trusty right boot.
The 25-yarder stayed low and beat Georgallides with ease and with three minutes on the second half clock City had one foot in the draw for the group stages.
A second could have followed soon after, but Wright-Phillips’ toe poke found the keeper’s grateful grasp, as the creaking Omonia defence feared the worst.
Indeed on 55 minutes it was 2-0, as following Zabaleta’s neat touch, Shaun Wright-Phillips smashed in his fourth goal since returning home with a well hit half-volley from 10-yards.
With City in cruise control, Hughes made his first changes after 67 minutes, with Hamann and Evans replacing Kompany and Jo.
Robinho received his customary standing ovation as Martin Petrov made his return from shin then hamstring injuries as the Blues’ final sub as the Manager maybe started to think about Sunday’s Premier League clash with Liverpool.
City toyed with the Cypriots as they displayed some neat keep-ball before Zabaleta and Ireland combined well on 72 minutes only for the Irishman’s wayward chip to drop wide.
But with 12 minutes left a well flighted Omonia corner from the right was headed home by Alabi to give the vocal travelling support something to cheer from the night.
Martin Petrov almost announced his return to first team action with a goal after a trademark rocket shot from distance stung the keeper’s palms as the clock ticked down.
Petrov again was left cursing three minutes from time as he picked up a clever back heel from Wright-Phillips before only hitting the keeper from close range and earning a corner.
The final act saw a swift City break involving SWP, Elano, Evans and then Petrov who hammered goalwards only to be denied by Georgallides again.
But it didn’t matter as a 2-1 victory on the night meant a 4-2 aggregate win overall and a place in the UEFA Cup group stages.
FULL TIME: City 2(4)-1(2) AC Omonia
