Man City 2-2 Ajax

Manchester City are on the brink of an
early exit from the UEFA Champions
League after they were held to a 2-2
draw at the Etihad Stadium by Ajax on
Tuesday night.
Things could have been even worse for
Roberto Mancini's men as they needed
goals from Yaya Toure and Sergio
Aguero to wipe out two early strikes
from Ajax captain Siem de Jong, but
their plight in Europe's premier
competition is now even more
precarious having failed to win any of
their opening four group games.
City had made a promising, purposeful
start to the game and, having seen an
early penalty appeal turned down,
could have hit the front when Samir
Nasri threaded a clever pass into the
box for Pablo Zabaleta, only for the
Argentine full-back to blaze wastefully
over.
Ajax took full advantage of the let-off
with the opening goal just moments
later; City's defenders allowed a corner
from the right to drop and, after Niklas
Moisander had prodded forward, de
Jong slid in from an acute angle to lift
a deft finish over the prone Joe Hart.
The visitors doubled the lead on 17
minutes as de Jong punished more
slack City defending at a corner.
Christian Eriksen swung in a delivery,
this time from the left, and the Ajax
skipper was allowed to drift
unchallenged to the near post by Yaya
Toure where he glanced home a
simple, clinical header.
To their credit City responded quickly
and reduced the deficit within five
minutes. Moisander failed to deal with
Nasri's cross and his unconvincing
header dropped to Toure who, whilst
fending off Ricardo van Rhijn,
controlled on his chest before spinning
and flashing an acrobatic volley past
Kenneth Vermeer.
Van Rhijn was then forced to clear
from underneath his own bar,
although Gareth Barry's challenge on
him was subsequently deemed illegal
in any case, while Vermeer had to be
alert to stop a Zabaleta header after
another enterprising dart into the box
had been picked out by Javi Garcia.
But, despite those scares, the visitors
were decent value for their lead at the
interval with the controlled midfield
promptings of de Jong, Eriksen, Lasse
Schone and in particular Christian
Poulsen ensuring they remained the
more cohesive, measured unit.
With victory imperative, Mancini went
on the offensive as he brought on
Mario Balotelli for Garcia at half time
and, after a noticeably lifting the
tempo, his side had the chance to
draw level on 50 minutes as the
unmarked Matija Nastasic volleyed over
after being picked out by a Barry free-
kick from the left.
Sergio Aguero did find the net with a
smart finish only to see his effort
correctly ruled out for off-side, but
Ajax and de Jong served a potent
reminder of their continued threat as
the midfielder fired in a vicious long-
range strike and then a curling free-kick
that Hart had to be alert to push away.
But City's urgency paid off on 74
minutes with a simple equaliser; Hart's
long clearance was flicked on by
Balotelli and Aguero showed pace to
get ahead of Toby Alderweireld and
then typical composure to direct an
angled finish into the corner from the
edge of the box.
The Argentine thought he had won the
contest in the dying moments only to
see another effort ruled out for
offside, although this time the call
against Aleksandar Kolarov looked
dubious, and the game ended in
controversy as Balotelli saw what
appeared a convincing penalty shout
ignored by Danish referee Peter
Rasmussen who instead chose to blow
the final whistle.