Adebayor fires blank as Chiefs beat Man City

The 25-million-pound signing from Arsenal came closest early in the second half at Loftus Versfeld when he pounced on a clearance and rounded a defender only to fire over. Other new strikers Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz were not used by City while ex-Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry was the only player from the […]

The 25-million-pound signing from Arsenal came closest early in the second half at Loftus Versfeld when he pounced on a clearance and rounded a defender only to fire over.

Other new strikers Carlos Tevez and Roque Santa Cruz were not used by City while ex-Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry was the only player from the big-spending English Premiership outfit to have a first-half shot on target.

Chiefs won a lively match through a 42nd-minute goal from defender Jeffrey Ntuka with some City players claiming he controlled the ball with a hand before firing home.

Republic of Ireland international Given was hardly troubled before Ntuka struck while Dunne was substituted by Pablo Zabaleta after 37 minutes on a chilly, clear winter afternoon in the Highveld city.

The first half looked set to end goalless until Chiefs went ahead after Given dived low to his left and pushed away a Nkosinathi Nhleko shot at the expense of a corner.

City failed to clear the third corner forced by the South Africans and the ball took a deflection off a head to Ntuka lurking at the far post and he drove the ball into the opposite corner of the net.

After forcing their only corner of the half a minute before the break, City substitute Ben Haim headed wide while Togolese Adebayor committed a stoppage-time foul when he battled for possession in the goalmouth.

In the second half it took City just two minutes to force a corner as they sought an equaliser and Adebayor should have done better on 55 minutes than blazing over from an acute angle when a rebound fell into his path.