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One of the CSKA Moscow defenders whose side have contributed to a new low for Manchester City in Europe has said that Manuel Pellegrini’s side are defensively vulnerable and that it is obvious how to beat them.
Pontus Wernbloom, who avoided dismissal in last night’s 2-1 in at the Etihad when the Greek referee booked his teammate instead of giving the Swede a second yellow, said that Manuel Pellegrini’s side were clearly vulnerable to the counter attack. CSKA also knew that their striker Seydou Doumbia was quicker than the City defence, he added.
“We know that they were going to come against us with big numbers and we know that they are vulnerable in the counterattacks,” Wernbloom told uefa.com. “We know this. We’ve played them four times now in two years and we know they’re going to give us space because like I said before they come forward in big numbers against us – almost eight men who are staying with two central defenders. We know that Doumbia is faster than them and if we just get out the press and get the first pass away from them, when they press us, we know we can counter them out and we managed to do that especially in the first half.”
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Wernbloom’s assessment was an accurate summary of how Pellegrini’s side were overcome. City pushed higher up the field in last night’s game than they had in either the Capital one Cup home defeat to Newcastle or the weekend Manchester derby which they won 1-0. But they were quickly overrun because they could not get back to catch the counter-attack.
The CSKA coach confirmed Leonid Slutsky confirmed that the Muscovite game-plan had been calculable and had worked to perfection. “We played our No. 2 and hoped for counter attack and our plan worked and we had chances in the first and second half and we are happy our plan worked,” he said.
But City manager Pellegrini and his players said they were at a loss to explain what had happened.
“I don't know why that was, but CSKA played well,” Stevan Jovetic said. “They were better than us and deserved the win. We were so much better against United, but this time it wasn't the same. It was difficult when you have a player less, but we just didn't play well.”
