Dynamo pose a test for City
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Article summary
Manchester City FC will look to sustain their impressive home record when FC Dynamo Kyiv come to the Rainy City in the UEFA Europa League, looking to defend a 2-0 lead from the first leg.
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Manchester City FC will look to sustain their impressive home record when FC Dynamo Kyiv come to the Rainy City in the UEFA Europa League, looking to defend a 2-0 lead from the first leg.
• In Kyiv, 34-year-old Andriy Shevchenko showed he has lost none of his predatory sharpness by turning in Andriy Yarmolenko's inviting cross on 25 minutes. Then, when City were enjoying their most promising period of the night, Oleh Gusev doubled the hosts' lead 13 minutes from time.
Previous meetings
• The sides are meeting for the first time in UEFA club competition, and this is also City's first game against Ukrainian opposition.
• Dynamo's 19 fixtures against English sides have ended W4 D5 L10 (W0 D1 L8 in England). They have never won in England, and lost both their previous matches in Manchester – against Manchester United FC – without scoring.
Match background
• Dynamo are unbeaten in seven European games since a 2-0 loss at FC Sheriff in the UEFA Europa League group stage.
• City are unbeaten in 11 home matches since losing 1-0 to FC Midtjylland in a UEFA Cup qualifier on 14 August 2008; to date, their only loss at the City of Manchester Stadium, where their record in 15 continental games reads W11 D3 L1. They have won – and scored three times – in each of their last three UEFA Europa League home fixtures.
• Dynamo are on a three-game winning streak away from home in Europe, following a 2-1 win at AZ Alkmaar with 4-1 victories against both FC BATE Borisov and Beşiktaş JK.
Team facts
• This is the only tie in the round of 16 in which neither side have ever played in a UEFA Cup final.
• City's Shay Given is one of two Irish players left in the tournament along with FC Spartak Moskva's Glasgow-born Irish international Aiden McGeady. This season's UEFA Europa League final will be staged in Dublin on 18 May.
• Dynamo's Roman Eremenko has been responsible for six assists since the start of the UEFA Europa League group stage, setting up more goals in this season's competition than any other player.
• Dynamo's Artem Milevskiy has been fouled 40 times since the start of the group stage, 17 more occasions than any other player in the competition.
• Dynamo are two goals shy of conceding their 50th in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Europa League; this is their 52nd game in the competition.
• Yuri Semin is the third coach to lead Dynamo in Europe this season following fellow Russian Valeri Gazzaev and stand-in boss Oleh Luzhny.
• Andriy Shevchenko faced City twice during his time at Chelsea FC, featuring in 3-0 and 6-0 home wins, and scoring in the latter. He has thus never featured in a game in which City have scored or avoided defeat.
• City coach Roberto Mancini took on Dynamo twice as an S.S. Lazio player in the 1999/2000 UEFA Champions League group stage; his side won 2-1 in Rome and 1-0 in Kyiv.
• Former Dynamo star Olexiy Mykhaylichenko was among Mancini's team-mates when he won the Italian title with UC Sampdoria in 1991, while the Soviet Union side that beat Mancini's Italy 2-0 in the 1988 UEFA European Championship semi-finals featured 13 Dynamo players.
• The first-leg win was Semin's first victory against English opponents at the seventh attempt. While coach of FC Lokomotiv Moskva, his side lost home and away to Leeds United AFC before recording a defeat and a draw against Arsenal FC. He then lost away to Arsenal before drawing at home in his first spell at Dynamo.
Penalties
• City have had two previous UEFA club competition ties settled on penalties – both against Danish opponents. They overcame FC Midtjylland 4-2 in Herning in the 2008/09 UEFA Cup second qualifying round, and beat Aalborg BK 4-3 away in the round of 16 of the same competition, Shaun Wright-Phillips the only current Blues player on target.
• In Dynamo's only previous European penalty shoot-out, they won 3-1 at AC Sparta Praha in the 1998/99 UEFA Champions League second qualifying round. A young Shevchenko missed their third spot kick.