An Emmanuel Adebayor hat-trick gave Man City a 3-1 win over Lech Poznan and sent them top of Group A.
Plucky Poles denied as Adebayor opens account for season
An Emmanuel Adebayor hat-trick gave Manchester City a 3-1 win over Lech Poznan and sent them top of Group A.
The Togo striker put the ambitious Blues in control as he opened his account for the season with a well-taken first-half brace.
And although Lech almost equalised after Joel Tshibamba gave them hope of a comeback in the 50th minute, Adebayor struck 17 minutes from time to seal victory and become the first City player to score a hat-trick in Europe.
Lech came into the game above City on goals scored but Adebayor's treble saw the Blues leapfrog the plucky Polish outfit, who drew 3-3 away to Juventus on matchday one.
City are now firmly on course for the Europa League's knockout stage as Juventus drew 1-1 at Red Bull Salzburg, leaving Roberto Mancini's men four points clear of third-placed Juve with three games remaining.
Mancini had made six changes to the side which won 3-2 at Blackpool on Sunday with the likes of Vincent Kompany, Gareth Barry and Carlos Tevez given a well-earned rest.
Decision vindicated
Adebayor remained in the starting line-up despite a lacklustre performance at Bloomfield Road but that decision was vindicated after a lively start saw Lech's Slawomir Peszko and City's Adam Johnson flash shots wide.
Patrick Vieira then threaded the ball into Adebayor, another ex-Arsenal player, and he turned smartly on the edge of the box before side-footing beyond goalkeeper Jasmin Buric and inside the far post.
The visitors threatened on the break with Kamil Drygas testing Joe Hart before Sergey Krivets played a corner straight to Jakub Wilk just outside the box but the Lech midfielder blazed over.
And Wilk would rue that miss as City went straight back upfield to double their lead, Johnson finding the excellent David Silva down the left wing and Adebayor drifted off his marker to head the Spaniard's cross inside the far post.
A superb right-wing cross by Johnson almost presented Adebayor with his third goal just before the break, with Marcin Kikut managing to head clear as the City striker was preparing to head home at the far post.
Poor defending
But Lech made a positive start to the second half and pulled a goal back after some poor defending by City.
Pablo Zabaleta was caught in possession at left-back, allowing Peszko to charge into the box and the Blues fluffed two chances to clear before Kikut's shot deflected into the path of Tshibamba, who swept home from close range to give the fantastic away support something to cheer.
City regrouped with Silva forcing a near-post save from Buric while Adebayor volleyed wide from Johnson's ball inside, but the visitors spurned a great chance to equalise as Tshibamba blazed over from 10 yards as another Lech shot squirmed into his path.
Adebayor then eased City's nerves, steering the ball home from Silva's superb through-ball, while Johnson clipped the outside of the far post late on after beating two men deep on the right.
| Manchester City |
Team Statistics |
Lech Poznan |
| 3 |
Goals |
1 |
| 2 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 6 |
Shots on Target |
5 |
| 4 |
Shots off Target |
9 |
| 2 |
Blocked Shots |
8 |
| 5 |
Corners |
10 |
| 12 |
Fouls |
14 |
| 4 |
Offsides |
2 |
| 0 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 80.2 |
Passing Success |
72.4 |
| 24 |
Tackles |
28 |
| 87.5 |
Tackles Success |
89.3 |
| 58.2 |
Possession |
41.8 |
| 48.9 |
Territorial Advantage |
51.1 |
|
