Sport

Blue-tinted glasses: Man City stars light up international fixtures around the globe

Manchester City players featured everywhere from Beijing to Abidjan during the international break. 

There were European and African qualifiers as well as friendlies for members of the City team to get stuck into.

And fans will be delighted to hear that there is no injury news to report, though the air miles clocked up by some means they may sit out the Saturday lunchtime game against Tottenham.

Here are the highlights of the international fixtures through blue-tinted glasses:

Face-off in Bosnia 

Edin Dzeko‘s Bosnia and Herzegovina took on Vincent Kompany‘s Belgium as they played out a 1-1 draw in Zenica on Monday night. 

It was no surprise for City and Belgium skipper Kompany that his club team-mate grabbed Bosnia’s only goal in the European Championship qualifying game. 

“I was afraid that Edin Dzeko would score from a corner or something because he was my man to mark,” he said on Uefa’s website.

“Of course it’s a team sport – I congratulate him, but I’d prefer he did it on Saturday.” 

 

 

Bosnia captain Dzeko, 28, was pleased with the point that leaves his side fifth and Belgium third in Group B behind leaders Wales. 

“A draw was probably a fair result, I am happy with how the team played. It gives me hope that we can be more successful in the coming matches,” he said. 

On Friday, Belgium thrashed Andorra 6-0, while Dzeko made the short trip to Cardiff where they shared a goalless draw with Wales.

Trouble in Serbia 

City defenders Aleksandar Kolarov and Matija Nastasic were involved in a controversial game against Albania on Tuesday night. 

The game was abandoned in the first-half after a drone flew into the stadium carrying a flag which resulted in a mass brawl.

See the video here.

It was the first time Albania had played in Belgrade since 1967 and there were no visiting fans allowed to attend. 

Kolarov and Nastasic did manage to play a whole game on Saturday, where they drew 1-1 with Armenia.

Silva shines for Spain 

David Silva ensured Spain got back to winning ways on Sunday, grabbing the first goal in their 4-0 win over Luxembourg. 

The winger played 70 minutes in the fixture, though last Thursday’s 2-1 defeat to Slovakia meant it was a mixed bag for the current European champions.

Hart not beaten 

Goalkeeper Joe Hart kept clean sheets in both of England’s fixtures against San Marino and Estonia. 

The City stopper had little to do as England kept up their 100% record in the qualifying campaign. 

James Milner was an unused sub during Sunday’s 1-0 win over Estonia, though did play all 90 minutes against San Marino in the 5-0 rout at Wembley on Thursday.

Misery for Montenegro 

Coming on at half-time, striker Stevan Jovetic did not enjoy the best of weeks as Montenegro lost 1-0 to Austria on Sunday. 

This followed a disappointing 0-0 draw with Liechtenstein on Thursday, with one point from six leaving Montenegro fourth in Group G.

Click here to view the tables for all qualifying groups. 

Sagna and Mangala shore up Les Bleus 

As hosts of Euro 2016, France will have just friendlies to prepare themselves for the tournament. 

Defenders Bacary Sagna and Eliaquim Mangala both completed 90 minutes for the 1998 World Cup winners on Saturday, claiming a 2-1 victory over Portugal. 

Sagna bagged an assist in that match, though both of them sat out their 3-0 win over Armenia on Tuesday. 

Around the world: 

Shock for Yaya in Africa 

Yaya Toure and Ivory Coast face a fight to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations after losing an enthralling match 4-3 to DR Congo on Tuesday.

Toure grabbed the first goal spectacularly for the Elephants, though they soon found themselves trailing 3-1 and also down to ten men.

They managed to bring the scores level only to concede a late goal which condemned them to their second defeat in their group. 

All this came after midfielder grabbed an assist on their way to a 2-1 win over the same opposition back on Saturday. 

Argentina in Asia 

Sergio AgueroMartin Demichelis and Pablo Zabaleta were all on duty for Argentina as they headed to China to take on Brazil and Hong Kong. 

All three played in the 2-0 loss against Brazil thanks to a Diego Tardelli double, with Lionel Messi missing a penalty for Argentina.

Only Zabaleta made an appearance in the 60th minute during their 7-0 win over Hong Kong. 

Main image courtesy of Paul Currie/Action Images, with thanks.

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