Manchester City know it takes three to tango

Emmanuel Adebayor, making a rare start for Manchester City, scores his first goals of the season.

PARIS: Emmanuel Adebayor, making a rare start for Manchester City, scored his first goals of the season to secure a 3-1 win over Lech Poznan and gave his club an excellent chance of qualifying from Europe League Group A.

Spoilt-for-choice City boss Roberto Mancini brought in David Silva and Shaun Wright-Phillips and benched Carlos Tevez and James Milner with French veteran Patrick Vieira replacing Gareth Barry. But it was Adebayor who bagged the plaudits as he plundered a fine hat-trick - his club’s first ever in Europe.

“I’m very happy, very delighted and I’m training hard every day,” said Adebayor, keen to feature in a weekend Premier League tussle with former club Arsenal.

Good work by Adam Johnson and then defender Vieira set up Adebayor to draw first blood in the 13th minute. Poor marking then saw the former Arsenal man elude his marker to power home the second with a header on 25 minutes to double the lead.

Poznan had something to cheer about as Joel Tshibamba fired them back into the contest five minutes after the restart. City promptly stepped up a gear and Adebayor volleyed in from close range after a superb pass from Silva set up the chance on a plate.

Liverpool ‘alive’ despite draw

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson insisted his team was still alive and kicking after they held Napoli to a 0-0 draw. The Reds remained top of Group K with two home matches left and Hodgson believes this result, in a drab stalemate, can give his team the boost they need to climb up the Premier League table.

Hodgson picked a young and inexperienced team, leaving Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres back on Merseyside while Joe Cole started on the bench and Jamie Carragher was removed at half-time.

“We’re going through a very bad passage in the league, things haven’t gone our way for a variety of reasons and that’s why we find ourselves down the bottom and desperate to get away,” said Hodgson.

Porto continue winning streak

Meanwhile, two-time European champions Porto made it three wins in three games as they triumphed 3-1 at Turkey’s Besiktas despite having two men sent off. Falcao hit the opener and Hulk added the others before Bobo netted a consolation.

Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw at Salzburg while Spanish side Sevilla went home with mthree points courtesy a 1-0 win at Karpaty Lviv

Published in The Express Tribune, October 23^rd, 2010.