Victory Not Enough To Save City

16 April 2009 21:09
Manchester City rediscovered that winning mentality in beating Hamburg 2-1 at Eastlands - but it was the German side who secured a place in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup with a 4-3 aggregate victory.[LNB]After being 3-1 down from the first leg the last thing manager Mark Hughes wanted was for his side to concede an early goal but that was exactly what they did as Paolo Guerrero scored from close range.[LNB]However City battled back gallantly and goals from Elano - with a penalty - and Felipe Caicedo gave them hope.[LNB]But City were left cursing their luck as Elano twice had superb free-kicks come back off the woodwork and to compound their misery skipper Richard Dunne was sent off in the second half for two bookable offences.[LNB]City midfielder Stephen Ireland told ITV4: "We had a lot of chances and we didn't take them, we should have been more clinical.[LNB]"I think Caicedo had a few clear-cut chances and didn't finish them, the same with Micah Richards.''[LNB]Hamburg manager Martin Jol, formerly in charge at Tottenham, said: "It's unbelievable, to get to the semi-finals is fantastic. I think we were the better team at home and the first half (tonight) we were probably the better team.[LNB]"The penalty was also harsh but the crowd was fantastic and they've got some good players."[LNB]

Source: Eurosport