U23 World League

Etihad Stadium
Spectators: 7528 (Terracing: 5647, Seating: 1731, VIP seats: 150) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Anthony Carey kicked off to start the match. Stevie Colman sent away a hard shot on goal in the 3rd minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. 4 minutes into the match, Anthony Carey notched a goal, 1-0, to the right of Atlético Rio Cuarto's Celso Lonzo. Celso Lonzo was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. Jim Sutton didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Santos Montel went, in the 7th minute, to the upper right corner, 1-1 was the resulting score. 11 minutes into the game, Marcelo Roldan was given a yellow card after he appeared to trip an opposing player. Atlético Rio Cuarto's manager was livid on the sidelines, but the referee was unmoved and gave Manchester City the free kick. Stevie Colman recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 13th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. After 14 played minutes Atlético Rio Cuarto got a freekick which was hit by Saverio Otoniel. Celso Lonzo didn't succeed in stopping the ball in the 17th minute, which inside left pole to 2-1. In the 21st minute Santos Montel shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Jim Sutton saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 22 minutes had been played when some careless play by Manchester City's defense caused the ball to cross the line for a corner. Gaston Gitano was slow to take the kick. During this time Atlético Rio Cuarto's players had a chance to rest. Saverio Otoniel recieved an excellent pass in front of the goal in the 26th minute. Unfortunately, he received the ball on his off foot and could only manage a weak shot that went over the goal. Jim Sutton took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Saverio Otoniel, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Saverio Otoniel received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 35th minute. Jim Sutton tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 41st minute, Santos Montel left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Atlético Rio Cuarto fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 2-2. The score stood at 2-2 when the half time whistle went. Both sets of players seemed reasonably pleased with how the match was going.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Saverio Otoniel stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. After 52 minutes, Santos Montel made it 2-3 with a short kick to the right side. Manchester City's Jim Sutton tried to save the shot but he was too slow in reacting to the shot. When Santos Montel came up free with the goalie in the 56th minute, the Atlético Rio Cuarto fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Santos Montel couldn't finish the play. Jim Sutton showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Saverio Otoniel, who was totally free with the ball in the 57th minute. In the 62nd minute, Anthony Carey ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Celso Lonzo was frozen by the shot and now it was 4-3. After a rather tough play, Atlético Rio Cuarto's Omar Lovagnini got a free kick in the 65th minute. In the 70th minute, Santos Montel fired away a killer shot towards the goal that, to the delight of Jim Sutton, passed just outside the right post. An unexpectedly hard shot by Stevie Colman in the 80th minute of play forced Atlético Rio Cuarto's goalkeeper Celso Lonzo to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Atlético Rio Cuarto's Marcelo Roldan got his second yellow card of the match in the 81st minute. The referee ordered Marcelo Roldan off the ground. The supporters of Atlético Rio Cuarto booed when Manchester City was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 82 match minutes in a wonderful position. Stevie Colman didn't get a good kick on the ball. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Santos Montel during the 83rd minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. Saverio Otoniel fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 85th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Jim Sutton having to interfere. Atlético Rio Cuarto's Saverio Otoniel got a good chance for a goal in the 92nd minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. Antony Kingston kicked well hit freekick during the 93rd minute of the match. It was no surprise that this one had ended in a win for the home team. Manchester City had played much better football throughout.